JUST SAY "NO"!

Nancy Reagan led an anti-drug-use campaign 30 years ago with the slogan, "Just say no!"  The inference was that someone tempted to use drugs (judged a bad thing), could simply avoid taking them altogether - it was easy!  And, if enough young folks just said "no", then the problem of drug addiction would disappear.  Today, dozens or marches opposing the Trump election have taken place across America chanting, "not my president."  But, no amount of chanting, marching, sloganeering, sign-waving, and shouting will make President-Elect Trump go away.  No matter how loud or frequent the chant - "not my president" - becomes, it's not like the Trumpworld show will be cancelled due to bad ratings. The time for active opposition crested on election day and the wave of opposition turned out not to be quite enough - we lost.  Well... sort of.  Hillary won the popular vote by more than a million votes but lost the electoral vote to Donald Trump (290 to 232) by losing virtually every "must-win" states on the board.  Still, Donald Trump will take the oath of office on January 20th, 2017 at high noon as the nation's 45th President.

For those who were too busy to vote, and those who now march but didn't exercise their franchise on election day, and those who thought that Hillary would certainly win and didn't send in their absentee ballot, I feel for your loss.  So, while you can feel the sting of disappointment, there is no denying that Donald Trump won the election.  For better or worse, Trump is the president of ALL OF US.  And, as such, he has the burden to govern.  Does that mean that we have no right to stand up and be counted?  That we should simply lay down and surrender?  That we should abandon the battlements of policy, progressive issues, fairness, and equity for all Americans?  Of course not.  In fact, I have taken some steps to keep the drum beat going - and you can too.  Letters to the editor in your local press and/or on social media, calling out the Trump machine on social media when they threaten the rights of yourself, your family, or others, opposing the Republicans in their mad dash to a conservative Supreme Court intent on a repeal of Roe v. Wade and protecting the role of big, dark money in campaigns.  The US Constitution's First Amendment protects your right to free speech and "peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The time for mourning is coming to a close.  The time to organize, scrutinize, speak out, and resist has just begun...