Things the recovery industry will not tell you:
1. The drug worked. That is why people use it. Not weakness. Not moral failure.
A neurological event so complete and persuasive that any honest account of addiction has to start there.
The problem is not that the drug fails. The problem is that what it does is unrepeatable, and you will burn your entire life to the ground trying to get back to a place that no longer exists.
2. Shame is not guilt. Guilt says I did something bad. Shame says I am something bad. Guilt is appropriate. Shame is a cell with no windows. Most people use the words interchangeably. That mistake is lethal.
3. You cannot shame someone who has already named the thing you are holding over them. Say it first. Say it in plain light. The weapon drops.
4. Guilt can coexist with self-respect. Shame cannot. You can hold the damage and the dignity at the same time. I know because I live there.
5. Radical honesty does not give you back who you were. It hands you the clean slate of who you always wanted to be. The mask comes off. The cartoon other people drew of you stays on the page.
6. Nobody gets clean on a winning streak.
7. You have to be almost self-delusional in your forgiveness of yourself. (Go watch Chase Hughes)
8. The greatest sin was not the chaos. It was the absence. Being unavailable to the people who needed you.
9. Sustainable recovery starts with one thing: honesty with yourself. If you love an addict and want to help, that is the only door in.
10. I am only an expert on my recovery. Nobody is an expert on anyone else’s.
Lieu: The president is not well. He has tremendous difficulty staying awake on the job. He has repeatedly fallen asleep at Cabinet meetings, at White House events, at a Memorial Day ceremony, and most recently at a very loud NBA game last night.
The White House needs to explain why Donald Trump keeps going to the hospital and taking cognitive tests.
In recovery we learn the whole point is service.
Showing up for somebody besides yourself.
That’s leadership too.
Setting the tone.
Right now the tone is vengeance and yeah, I get the anger.
But anger isn’t leadership. It’s tyranny.
We can and should reach for each other. Demand better.
Enough is enough.
At what point do we stop pretending this is normal?
At what point do we stop allowing @realDonaldTrump to insult women, berate women, threaten women, degrade women, and then hide behind power like he is untouchable?
He has been doing this his entire life.
In business.
In politics.
In the courts.
In the Epstein circle.
And now, as president of the United States, he uses the most powerful platform in the world to attack women who speak out, women who stand up, women who dare to tell the truth.
Look at what he is doing to E. Jean Carroll. A jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming her — and instead of accountability, he keeps attacking. He keeps trying to intimidate. He keeps using power as a weapon.
And that is exactly the point.
This is not just about insults. This is about control.
He takes away women’s rights.
He attacks women’s credibility.
He covers up the Epstein files.
He protects the powerful men while attacking the women who survived them.
He wants women silent. He wants survivors scared. He wants the country numb.
I’m asking a simple question:
When is enough finally enough?
When do we stand together and say no more?
No more letting the media normalize it.
No more letting politicians excuse it.
No more letting powerful men abuse women and then call themselves victims.
No more silence.
I am calling on this community — women, men, survivors, parents, citizens, everyone with a conscience — to stand together as one voice.
Protect women.
Believe survivors.
Demand the Epstein files.
Hold Trump accountable.
And stop supporting any media outlet, politician, or platform that continues to sanitize, excuse, or cover for this madness.
Because this is not politics anymore.
This is about basic decency.
This is about right and wrong.
This is about whether we are still willing to stand up for the women of this country against a man who has spent his life degrading them.
Enough is enough.
It is time to stand up.
It is time to speak out.
It is time to fight back together.
After watching Trump melt down in narcissistic rage this morning, I’m close to saying that the entire U.S. government needs to be impeached for allowing this poseur to remain in office for even one more day.
No nation in history has ever had a more mentally ill leader.
Marco Rubio: “I have never seen Trump fall asleep.”
White House: “He’s blinking.”
Fox News: “He’s resting his eyes.”
Normal People: “THAT’S CALLED SLEEPING, YOU FUCKING PARASITES OF THE PRESIDENTIAL COLON SOCIETY.”
There’s been a lot of talk in this race about what makes a "real man."
A man does what’s right when no one is watching. He upholds his commitments to his family and neighbors. He doesn’t lie, cheat, & steal his way through life.
Real men serve others. Weak men serve themselves.