It has been a long week.
President-Elect Trump.
How did we get here? What did we do? Where are we going? Will we ever be the same?
Do we fear for our rights? Our equality? Our financial security? Our very lives?
Should we “suck it up” and “give the man a chance?”
It has been a long week.
Last Tuesday the population of the United States of America went to the polls, or more accurately, about ½ of us eligible to vote went to the polls, and voted for a slew of ballot initiatives, referendums, local and state offices, national congressional races, and, at the top of the ballots, the two people who will serve as Vice President and President of our country for the next four years. If you go by the strict count of ballots, former Secretary of State, former Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton won, gaining the largest number of votes in history second only to our current President. By the rules of the land, however, the election will likely be ceded to the popular runner-up, reality TV star and real estate developer Donald Trump. He won based on the Electoral College votes gained from taking specific geographic areas of the country, rather than taking the country as a whole. These are the rules, of course, and both candidates and all voters should understand these rules long before they decide to run or cast ballots. After the long, tortuous campaign season, however, knowing the rules does not diminish the pain of the results. Nor does it answer the questions above.
President-Elect Trump.
The man who won the election based his campaign on a nationalistic, return to country to the glory days of its past, platform. He played on the fears of millions, tapping into the millions of lost jobs, the changing demographics of a growing country and shifting world, as well as the deeply embedded insecurities in all of us when faced with someone who doesn’t look or think exactly like we do. The man who won the election won based on promising to pull us back from the rest of the world, building giant walls, starting trade wars until we are treated “fairly”, turning our backs on long standing military and economic alliances, and denying basic science, threatening to turn a climate change situation that will be civilization changing into an event that could be civilization ending. He promised to deport anyone not here through legal channels. He promised to suspend refugee programs and work to identify and potentially even round up members of specific faiths until we could figure out who was safe. He stated he would be willing to violate the law of war and commit torture, and even go as far as killing the family members of terrorists. He spoke of limiting freedom of the press and freedom of speech, a proposal so inconsistent with U.S. values as to suggest that Mr. Trump doesn’t understand what it is to be American.
The vision he sold as “making America Great Again” often looked as if it would make American the 1950’s again. Tell me, what was so great about the 1950’s, other than our world economic strength? We had recently told millions of women that their services were no longer needed in the workforce, after they had literally helped save the world in factories during World War II. Women were paid and viewed as less than equal to men. We remained a legally segregated society, with blacks and other racial minority groups not allowed the same basic rights and dignities as whites. Crimes of horror against minorities were commonplace. There were no environment regulations to speak of, and companies could pollute and expose their workers to dangerous compounds to their hearts content. The Red Scare was in full swing, as fearful government officials used the threat of the U.S.S.R. to cultivate an environment of distrust among the population. And we had just basically lost the first “hot” war of the Cold War era, fighting to a stalemate on the Korean Peninsula. So tell me, how does returning us to the 1950’s qualify as “making America great again?”
President-Elect Trump.
There is no doubt that the Democratic Party is at least partly responsible for their own loss. For too long the Democrats have played the race card (justifiably so considering the hatred simmering in our country) while not doing enough to actually improve equality, cozied up to Wall Street and banks while claiming to look out for the little guy, and fully participated in the “rigged” system of electoral voting, tainted primary systems, gerrymandered districts and filibuster mechanics. All the while ignoring the mainstream concerns of Main Street. To paraphrase a former President, it is the economy, stupid. This may be just an opinion, but I feel most US voters don’t vote based on the greater good, or even the good of their local state and city. They vote based on who they feel will put more dollar bills into their household wallets. And they don’t even vote on that issue from a sound and educated base of knowledge. They vote based on who shouts the loudest and sells them based on the slickest presentation. We are a lazy electorate, and the Democrats have grown used to that laziness working in their favor. This year, it didn’t.
President-Elect Trump.
The danger isn’t all from Mr. Trump’s personal views and ideals, as I would argue we still have no idea what those actually are. The danger comes from the deeply conservative, business first, people second Congress. Human rights, freedoms and health will play second fiddle to lax banking and environmental rules. Civil rights too, could suffer. The folks in power now have no interest in a fair voting system, for example, since that would ultimately hold them accountable. Nothing will be done to address the financial inequalities gripping our society, where money continues to be concentrated at the top under the false and failed premise of trickle-down economics. Education will continue to languish, as our secondary system suffers from unequal funding and our post-secondary system’s costs continue to sky rocket. Health Care? Unless you are rich, forget it. Corruption in D.C.? Based on Mr. Trump’s personal record in business, it’s about to get a LOT worse. Mr. Trump doesn’t seem ready to “drain the swamp”, instead he seems ready to infest it with snakes and alligators.
So where do we go from here? Do we crawl in a hole, pound a few shots and hope we all wake up in four years to find out it was just a dream?
No. You don’t. You, we, we fight. We join groups dedicated to human rights and protection of the environment. Groups that fight for racial equality and understanding, not just “tolerance.” Groups that fight for equal treatment of women. Groups that protect worker’s rights. Groups that fight for a fair government, voting system and a reformed Congress. Not just join these groups. Donate. Volunteer time. If you can swing it, travel to events and join the fight in person. We are a nation founded by the largest protest the free world has ever seen, the Revolutionary War. Protesting is in our DNA. Use it not for violence and an excuse to go a little crazy, but as the tool it was intended to be.
I can also tell you what we shouldn’t do. We don’t adopt the same tactics that Republican extremists used for the last eight years. If President Trump’s administration comes up with a well thought out, carefully worded and beneficial plan for all, like the National Infrastructure plan that President Obama tried and failed to get through Congress, we don’t stand in their way just because he is Donald Trump and “they” (Congress) obstructed us for eight years. No. We pass it, rebuild our transportation and energy infrastructure and move on. Obstruction has its place – if they propose to abolish the EPA and uncork carbon use? Yeah, jump in line and take a number, because I will be advocating every form of obstruction possible. But preventing progress just because we can isn’t a tactic.
It is cowardice.
President-Elect Trump.
He is MY President. I will treat him, and the position, with the same level of high respect I did for President Obama, President Bush and President Clinton before him. I did not vote for him, but I will OWN his Presidency just as much as someone who did. I didn’t do enough over the course of my life to prevent someone like him from being able to gain power. I will also OWN the fight to help and develop our country, to guide it towards the true greatness it represents. A land of opportunity and equality for all peoples, no matter their ethnicity, their wealth, their religion or orientation. I will OWN the challenge to make that a reality for all.
I hope that all of you do.
It has been a long week.