THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN

 

Two days ago, Donald J. Trump was elected to be the 45^th President of the United States. In the spirit of transparency, I want it understood that I did what I could to defeat him and elect Hillary Clinton to the White House but I, and others like me failed. I truly believe that Trump will be a disaster for the United States and the world. I believe we will see our personal freedoms eroded, our Press less free, and a President that combines the worst features of Joseph McCarthy, Richard Nixon and J. Edger Hoover in the White House with a “rubber stamp” Congress and Supreme Court behind him.

With that said, I’ve watched large crowds protesting the election of Mr. Trump during the last two days, and realize that we who were against him in the election still have an obligation to the country that we must fulfill. We cannot allow ourselves to become what we believe him to be, or to emulate those whom Hillary dubbed a “Basket of Deplorables.”  There may have been collusion between Trump and Comey at the FBI to steal the election from Clinton, but the hallmark of a democracy is the peaceful transition of power from one administration to the next. No matter what Trump averred, the election was not “rigged” at the polls. Just as in 2000 when Gore won the popular vote but Bush won the Electoral College, so Trump has done the same thing. Until we change the system, however, we need to understand that we are not a “Banana” republic, we are the United States of America; the first successful republic in history and still the standard against which all others are judged.

Donald Trump will be the 45^th President of the United States and we, as a nation, have an obligation to accept that without protest or demonstrations. We can peacefully protest any acts of the President or Congress we do not like, and we can work to turn Congress back in the next two years, and defeat any re-election run by Mr. Trump in 2020, but he won the election and the only way we, even as “His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition” can be winners as well is to accept that and do our best to make sure that the next four years are not as bad as we’re expecting. I don’t like Donald Trump, and did not vote for him, but enough American citizens did to elect him President and, while I may protest his actions, and fight vehemently against the policies I don’t like, I accept him as President because I am an American, and that is what we do; “support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”