Now that Tim Walz<\/a> is the pick to be Kamala Harris\u2019 running mate, the label \u201cweird\u201d is going to be getting even more attention. He is the one whose reference to Donald Trump as weird got so much attention and sparked the current movement.<\/p>\n I have seen a lot of mixed reactions, as well as some amusing memes, related to the topic of Donald Trump as \u201cweird.\u201d Most of the negative reaction has come from people like me, the nerds, the geeks, the ones who have been labeled as weird our whole lives and have embraced it as a label we\u2019re willing to wear with pride. That\u2019s why some of us are unhappy to share the label with an individual that we find to be the antithesis of all we stand for. \u201cKeep Portland Weird\u201d<\/a> is not an expression of support for the Republican presidential candidate.<\/p>\n I think that is why the label has proven so effective, eliciting such a strong reaction from Trump. Trump is a bully, part of that group that imagines that they are the \u201ccool\u201d kids. Coolness of course just means that people respect and want to emulate you. We nerds and geeks achieve amazing things, inventing the devices and writing the songs and stories that everyone decides they can\u2019t live without. That happens precisely because we don\u2019t follow the crowd into sameness. We chart new courses.<\/p>\n As an aside, on my recent trip to Australia, I did a lot of things that are expressions of my nerdy geeky weirdness. One of them was making an appearance at Sci-Fi Church<\/a> in Sydney<\/a> (actually Gordon-Pymble Uniting Church<\/a> in a suburb). We wore various cosplay and sang \u201cSoon I\u2019m Gonna Be a Jedi\u201d<\/a> by Weird (there\u2019s that word again) Al Yankovich. I think our rendition, accompanied by a ukulele-playing song leader wearing Princess Leia earmuffs<\/a> was better than the original. We geeked out about our faith as well as our fandoms, and explored the connections between the two. One of the things that the minister, Rev. Karen Mitchell-Lambert<\/a>, got us to do was to create our own beatitudes. One that I came up with went something like this:<\/p>\n Blessed are those who imagine other worlds, for they will transform the world they live in<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The weirdness of geeks and nerds does not always lead us in positive directions, but the ability to imagine and explore possibilities is crucial to making any kind of positive impact on the world. Influence without imagination won\u2019t take us anywhere we haven\u2019t already been.<\/p>\n Bullies know that imagination and creativity are threateningly unstable. They thus opt for the other way to achieve a measure of influence and feigned respect for a time, which is to threaten people. That ultimately fake and fleeting \u201ccoolness\u201d is what bullies thrive on, and one of the ways they seize power is by labeling others.<\/p>\n One effective way of undermining this strategy is to wear the label as a badge of honor. The other is to find a way to turn it back on the bully. There\u2019s nothing that a bully finds more disturbing than to be a victim of the kind of attack they use against others.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why calling Donald Trump \u201cweird\u201d gets under his skin so effectively. It is why it might be worth continuing to use the label even if you have serious reservations in doing so, as I do.<\/p>\n