Can We Recalibrate?

I have debated all week writing this post. I hope you will spend some time with this. But to get there, I need you to see something. And I need you to see it raw, unedited, and vile. You need to read some stuff, but it is not for the faint of heart. What you are going to read is not redacted, not safe for work, but you need to see it and read it and then read past it. I apologize in advance and keep your kids away. But please read below and then keep reading. I challenge you.

These are some of the emails I have gotten this week. They are still coming, even now this morning. The only thing I’ve done in the first three emails is delete references to Megyn Kelly out of respect for her. Those three emails all called her horrific vulgarities, sometimes in even more horrific combinations.

But these are the comments about me.

COWARD TO A NEGRO DEMOCRAT DAILY ____YOU SUCK HIM DAILY WHILE HE INTERRUPTS AND RUNS HIS MOUTH TO DISRUPT A SHOW EVERY SINGLE DAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and this one

Hey Erick…. Go Fuck Yourself ya dipshit, not seeing it and then embracing it!…… MORON…. Bath in the TRUTH!….

and this one

You disinvited Trump! We’ve disinvited you. we had planned on streaming the event. That won’t be happening in our household. Hopefully you will become a conservative organization with some balls one of these days.

That one had a verse of scripture underneath.

Then there is this one.

Guess what, dumb bass, the non Washington Republicans, like us, want no fucking part of the current Republican Party, like you. Leave the real conservatives alone, quick mailing shit, quit begging for help, and most of all, KEEP BASHING TRUMP. You are incredibly fucking stupid.

and this one

Trump is the man! Fuck Eric Ericson. hope he and all women in his life are raped, beaten and murdered by illegal spics! Go Trump!

and this one

what a shill… u are just ordinary…..fukin Moron….I don’t even like Trump.. But u r the worst kind of hypocrite…I have never e-mailed a site like this..but u are what is wrong with the thinking, or lack thereof,, in the media….I will curse your site and ur name every chance I have…..Sell out mother fucker

and this one

Eric Ericson, you are a fucking despicable slob, you really are, a fucking slob. Like Trump said, you are nothing but a fucking slob and a loser. I can’t imagine how it is to be a fucking slob and a loser. You must have a fucked up life, a real fucked up life. I feel bad for you, but people like you have no shame or don’t give a fuck about what you look like and you baby fucking actions. Have a nice day ass hole.

My voicemail has had similar. My social media feeds have had similar.

I am getting, even here at the end of this week, at least twenty-five a day like this. The first part of the week it was about 100 an hour. There has been no escape.

Can we recalibrate here?

Conservatives have a real and legitimate reason to be pissed off at the GOP. Polling suggests conservatives hate the Republicans in Washington more than Democrats hate the Republicans in Washington. That anger has galvanized conservatives and pushed them toward Donald Trump. To his credit, he has capitalized on that anger.

But folks, this is anger at an unhealthy level. It is anger that has gone beyond the righteous anger of repeated betrayals from Washington. It is an anger that has become unhinged and is potentially uncontrollable. Anger at that level is more often destructive than constructive.

I want to beat Hillary Clinton next year. I want to beat her with a Republican who is not just another party apparatchik surrounded by lower level party apparatchiks within the Republican Party.

But I know we cannot beat Hillary Clinton with this level of anger. We won’t be able to draw people to our side and our cause like this.

I get the anger. I do. I am angry at the betrayal and the repeated lies from Washington Republicans who say they love children, but won’t even defund Planned Parenthood.

I get the anger of voters who sent men and women to Washington to fight Obama only to give him a blank check and keep Obamacare funded.

But I don’t get this anger. If this is the anger that flows out of Trump supporters, I do not think it is sustainable. Yet it comes daily. It is poisonous to debate, to democracy, and to the soul itself.

Yes, Republican voters have been betrayed. But I do not think people who are angered at the present President demeaning the integrity of the Presidency will ultimately side with any candidate whose base of support generates rage and hate. I refuse to believe that the people angry at Washington and the GOP have let their anger consume them. But the people in these emails and so many like them have been consumed by anger.

Those of you who see it within the ranks of the candidate you support, and not just with Trump supporters, need to try to channel the anger and draw out the happy warriors.

Conservatives must be happy warriors. Those of faith already know they’re on the winning team and the issues are far larger than the day to day politics of this country.

The people above and those like them are not happy warriors. They are malcontented souls who need prayer. If you read those emails above and nodded with them, I do hope you will consider that a recalibration of your anger is order.

We will not win if the loudest voices are these. You will not turn anyone toward your cause with a scowl and a pointed finger instead of a smile and outstretched arms.

Conservatives must rise to the occasion, not descend into a hell of rage.

I am a registered Republican and want to know why Trump is not invited to speak? This really pisses me off…. I am moving towards the independent party because of shit like this. Is Mr. Erickson really this fucking stupid? What an idiot….

U fat fuck. U r pathetic, chickenshit cocksucker

My family and I are lifelong Republicans but you want to, excuse the language, “FUCK THINGS UP FOR THE REPUBLICANS”, “YOU JUST SHIT ON A LARGE NUMBER OF REPUBLICANS ACROSS THE NATION”!! Keep up the good work, the Hillary Clinton Campaign is: “THRILLED WITH YOUR ACTION” and should put you on their payroll. See you at the Third Party Convention!

Erick Erickson is just a goddamn pussy like the democrats.

GO TO HELL ALL OF YA.

You continue to trash Trump you loser. Why don’t you face it, your red state gathering is nothing but a gathering of bunch of fuckheads like you who lost us the election the last time. Why should we listen to big establishment loving people like you who love yourself more than Amercia?

Trump loves America and he will make America great again. All of the assholes that people like you have selected for us so far have been nothing but losers like you!!!!

You and all of the fuckheads like you in the media who have no clue about us the voters.

Carson, though is a nice guy and much better than any democrat will never be a match for Trump. He has not run any business and operation the size of Trumps.

Trump will win the presidency whether you like it or not and you will have a egg on your fucking face!!!!

We are not nice because we are sick and tired of assholes like you telling us who you want us to select instead of letting us select our own candidate.

Mr. Erickson,

I hope you are blessed with an inoperable pancreatic cancer tumor. You’re a prime example of asswipes in the Republican party. I have voted Republican for 35 years and never again for a career professional politican. Trump or Carly or I do not vote.