Let’s name the last week of the first month of 2018, “The week of outrage!” There certainly was a lot of it.

The superstars of the entertainment industry were so outraged at the perpetual climate of sexual assault and harassment in their industry (that they have ignored for generations), they wore white flowers to the Grammy Awards. So outraged by the misconduct of powerful men toward women that they had the wife of one of the most famous perpetrators of such misconduct do a cameo appearance at the awards ceremony.

People were outraged by that cameo appearance of Hillary Clinton, at an event emotionally dedicated to the #MeToo movement, because her husband has been accused of multiple and repeated acts of sexual harassment and assault. Conduct that Hillary was at best complicit in, but if you want to believe her husband’s accusers, (which Mrs. Clinton says we’re supposed to automatically do), she also was a perpetrator herself, threatening and intimidating his accusers. I thought the irony was hilarious. If you are still getting outraged at the elitist and tone-deaf hypocrisy out of Hollywood, you haven’t been paying attention the past few decades.

Following the opposing outrages at the event itself, people were outraged by the winners of the Grammys. Bruno Mars swept every major category and people were mad. Apparently, the gender of an artist is to be taken into account when determining who is the best musical talent. Time to go the way of the Oscars. Best male whatever, best female whatever and move on.

There was outrage toward an airline that changed its policies after refusing to allow a woman to take her emotional support animal on a flight from New Jersey to L.A. The animal was a Peacock. Named Dexter. The woman? A performance artist. People are mad at the airline that they have to fill out more paperwork for future support animals. Don’t blame the airline, blame the pretentious New York performance artist. And Dexter. Blame Dexter.

People were outraged at a moment during a documentary where Tom Brady kissed his 11-year-old son on the lips. To me this moment proved he’s not only the greatest quarterback ever, he’s an awesome and loving father. But, no. People had gross things to say about gross thoughts they had and the outrage rolled in.

Of course, there was no greater outrage than that which came from the State of the Union (SOTU) address. People were offended that first lady Melania Trump wore white. (If she had worn white I would’ve been mad too, it’s not Memorial Day yet. She wore ivory, perfectly acceptable in fashion.) Some decided it was a direct affront to the women wearing black in the chamber in a stand of female solidarity. Others said it was a slap to Hillary because Hillary apparently now owns the right to wear a white-ish pant suit. Others decided it was in solidarity to the Grammys white flower movement and therefor a not-so-subtle attack on her own husband.

From the speech itself, the ACLU was upset that President Trump used the word “America” 80 times. Here’s some clarity for the ACLU: The State of the Union is about the state of America and delivered by the American president laying out his vision for America. People raged that President Trump told the story of a New Mexico police officer who rather than arrest a pregnant woman about to stick a heroin-filled needle in her arm, got her some help and adopted her baby into his own family. Some felt the president was disrespectful by not honoring the birth mother's sacrifice and painfully asked why her name and courage was not discussed. Yes, that’s rational. Call out the name of a woman for being addicted to heroin and giving her baby up for adoption. Imagine what they would have said if he had done that? People called the president a racist for saying we should stand for our national anthem and the list goes on.

The biggest outrage actually came just before the speech itself. President Trump sent out a message to supporters asking for campaign donations and in exchange the donor would have his/her name scrolled during the livestream of the SOTU on his campaign website. First people thought the president was hijacking every television network and somehow putting donors names across TV screens. Then it was outrage at the idea of raising money off the SOTU. “Sleeziest president ever!” “This is illegal!” “What a scumbag! This is our nation’s speech!” Woah! Slow your roll, folks. Every modern president has used the SOTU to raise money. Sending out fundraising emails immediately before or after the speech itself. Holding post-SOTU fundraising events.

As a 2013 Associated Press article notes, “The White House and outside supporters of President Barack Obama are launching simultaneous social media, public outreach and fundraising campaigns tied to Tuesday’s State of the Union address.” What’s different about Trump’s strategy? It was simply more clever. The Trump campaign used modern technology and social habits to raise money in a way no one had done before. It is no more disrespectful than the boring but same-intentioned use of email blasts in the past. But, as we all know, if you don’t like someone, you don’t rationalize actions, you simply rationalize your own opinions and get outraged.

Here’s hoping the first week of the second month of 2018 will be the week of “Everyone but New England is outraged.” Go Pats!

You can email Alicia Preston at PrestonPerspective@gmail.com.