Standing Together

The President-Elect and the President meeting at the White House

Like so many others in this country, the results of the Election came as a shock to me, the outcome a possibility so mind-numbingly terrifying that, until the very end, it did not even seem worth thinking about. Yet here we are, watching as lobbyists fill out the transition team, Washington insiders are considered for Cabinet positions, and Trump promises to at least consider keeping parts of the Affordable Care Act that he and other Republicans pledged to repeal and replace immediately. While politicians often don't keep their promises, the speed with which so many of the President-elect's campaign promises have been abandoned is dizzying.

My initial shock, and deep sadness, in the first few days have gradually begun to give way to anger instead. I've wondered how something like this could have happened, how a know-nothing charlatan blustered his way into the highest office in the land. Much ink has already been spilled about how we came to this moment, and more will surely continue to be written about it for decades to come, by many who are far more qualified than I to diagnose the causes. Yet while it is important to look backwards, it is equally important to cast a glance forward, to consider how we will meet the challenges of the next few years.  

Progressives and left-leaning voters have a lot to learn from what happened last week, and some are already beginning to look around and blame anyone possible for the rise of Trump. Forming up a circular firing squad and attacking others on the left may feel gratifying to some, but it surely serves no productive purpose. Hillary Clinton was a flawed candidate, to be sure. But every candidate is flawed in some way, regardless of who they are or the office that they run for. Savaging her won't stop any of the worst excesses of a Trump Administration. It's easy for some pundits to imagine that another Democratic candidate would have succeeded where Clinton failed, but this speculation won't change what happened either. These accusations and finger-pointing come out of the anger, and outright fear, that many millions in this country are feeling as we begin the transition of presidential powers. These actions, however, will serve only to divide us as we enter into a period where all those who declared their opposition to Trump in the election will need to stand united more than ever. The threat that he poses to many of our fundamental values is too great to allow us the luxury of attacking each other, rather than focusing our energies on the real problems.

What exactly our next steps should be seems to depend on who you ask. Reform of the Democratic Party, so beholden to corporate interests that it abandoned many working-class, traditionally Democratic voters to the GOP, would seem a good first priority. Efforts to mitigate or abolish the Electoral College, one of the last remaining vestiges of a system designed to qualify and modify the will of the voters, should proceed as quickly as possible. Yet it is likely that efforts at effecting progressive change will largely be on hold while Republicans are in power, meaning that the role of the left will be to mitigate the damage wherever possible. Given that, it is imperative that elected Democrats, Independents, and even some centrist Republicans, be willing to stand up and fight. The next Administration has the right to push forward its agenda. But whenever they attempt to curtail the Constitutional rights of minorities, anti-Trump elected officials must use every tactic to oppose it. If they are not willing to do this, if they would rather keep their heads down to get along, then they should step aside and let someone who is willing to fight stand in their place. There is no room for cowards in what is likely to come. 

Yet even if our Senators and Representatives stand up for the rights of citizens, there is only so much that they can do as a minority in Washington. It can't be just them in this fight. It will be essential for ordinary men and women to speak out and take action. A show of popular will can do what even a filibuster cannot. It will be upon all of us to be more engaged with the political process than many of us have been before, to be participants rather than spectators. I'm guilty of standing on the sidelines just as much as anyone, but there is no longer room for bystanders. If Trump and his Cabinet put forward good proposals to fix a broken economy and to end corruption in Washington, I will be happy to support it. But if he proposes un-Constitutional acts that will strip citizens of their rights, we must all stand ready to protest, petition, phone our elected officials, to throw up whatever roadblocks we can to stop it. Above all, we must stand together. With Republicans in charge of all the levers of power, we will be steamrolled if we do not.