Rules for Political Engagement

I honestly have no idea if the White House has any cohesive plan for "Making America Great Again."  When you see them rolling back George W. Bush regulations, you kind of know that there is no overarching political philosophy on the purpose of government guiding decisions.  I also know that these actions are making me mad.  I'm not an angry person, generally, and being in a constant state of agitation is really starting to wear me down.

So, with this in mind, I'm trying to stay away from political labels, and look towards the actions and inactions of elected officials.  I also know that I need to find something to do that is more in keeping with my personality so that this action can be sustainable.  Doing nothing is not an option.

My assets are my big-ass Ivy-League educated brain and overwhelming Midwestern politeness.  Name calling as an argument is not a genuine option for me, so I can't play in the Trump / Spicer / Conway field.  What I can do is write researched and reasonable economic analysis of policy.  I can also write Thank You notes to those politicians who take public stands in favor of civil rights and upholding the Constitution. (Which has led to trying to find an address for Dick Cheney to write him a nice letter - that's how fucked up this whole situation is.)

The only limitation is that I need to distance my own personal opinions from those of my employer, so I really have limited hours to do these things. And, if my employer pays for my transit, can I draft a policy paper on the train even when I'm off the clock?  I'm going to have to err on the side of caution, but that still gives me about an hour each work day and the weekends to do things, and Blogger lets me choose a publication date so I can have these post automatically.

I have no idea if this will be effective, but if I lower my expectations to just making myself feel better about my own actions, then maybe this will work.  I'm not sure if I'm satisfied with this either, but it is better than doing nothing, and better than just shouting into Facebook that I'm angry all the time.