Protest from the very beginning of this “so conceived” nation has always been a staple, and shining personification, of our democracy. This past week the United States has been littered throughout with movements of vocal resistance against president-elect Donald J. Trump. Young and old, black and white, rich and poor, have poured out from every corner of our nation to externalize, what they view to be a move backward, rather than forward.
While I was a very strong, and vocal, Hillary Clinton supporter, and advocate for the “never Trump” movement, I do not agree with many of sentiments of these protests. I do understand the frustration of over half the country whose candidate lost this election (I am one of them), and I do believe wholeheartedly in the necessity of protest and expression of anger towards an outcome that represents very much the opposite of what America has come to represent. As a people, however, we cannot now so readily, and quickly, reject the new (fairly and legally) elected president of our country.
The chants of “WE REJECT THE PRESIDENT-ELECT” and #NotMyPresident, send a message of exactly the opposite we all should be trying to do, coming together. Yes, Donald Trump’s rhetoric and instances uses of racism, sexism, and misogyny on the campaign trail is almost too much to sum up in one article. Yes, the president-elect failed during his campaign to produce even the most basic of policy decisions he would implement. But, that does not make him any less OUR president. No matter who’s name you checked off on your ballot November 8th , we must remember that we are Americans first, not Republicans or Democrats. So now until at least our new leader resorts back to the tactics of division he has used so many times over his year and half marathon towards the White House, we have no excuse not to call him our president.
If he fails, then as a people, we do too. God bless the United States of America, and as reluctantly as I say this, God bless President-Elect Donald J. Trump.
