Around President’s Day, let’s take some time to note how lucky we were for the last 240 years, give or take, we’ve had presidents with relative integrity, qualification, and genuine regard for the wellbeing of the American people. From Washington, to Lincoln, to Roosevelt, to Kennedy, to Obama, the men that have had the privilege of sitting in the highest seat of our nation have been (generally) honorable and attempted, earnestly, to fix the most unsolvable problems. President Washington was handed a new nation and molded it into something incredible and unique. President Lincoln was faced with the question of human equality and governed over a country at war with itself. President Roosevelt grabbed this country by the bootstraps and took us out of an era of the deepest economic turmoil we have ever seen. President Kennedy stood tall in the face of injustice and, in his life, advocated for equality with lasting and historic impacts, many of which were executed in the Johnson administration. President Barack Obama showed this country that we are a nation of great diversity and that in that diversity there is beauty and pride. He brought our nation out from an economic crisis, gave affordable healthcare to millions, made strides in saving our planet, and handled the gross, racist backlash against him with dignity, grace, and decorum.
Today, in 2017, we cannot say the same about our president. This man has shown he is devoid of integrity, qualification, regard for the people’s wellbeing, and honor. Instead Donald Trump has shown America his capacity for deceit, divisiveness, and hate. His cabinet members and closest advisors reflect the disgrace of his administration. From Mike Pence to Jeff Sessions to Steve Bannon, trump has shown America that he stands for discrimination. With picks like Betsy DeVos and Rex Tillerson, trump has shown America that he looks out for his own – the wealthy. Donald trump lied to working class Americans on the campaign trail, and he continues to lie to all Americans.
The government is in place to serve and protect the people, and if it fails to do so, the people have the power and the RIGHT to disassemble and delegitimize it. This administration does not serve or protect American interests. Trump seems to have forgotten the democratic processes of legislation that are integral to the US federal government, or maybe he just doesn’t care what the people (or their Congressional representatives) think. Trump has signed an unprecedented number of executive orders in his first month as president. That’s not a democracy, that’s a monarchy. We have a tripartite government to balance the power and prevent absolute power lying with a single person or group. Donald Trump and his cabinet are self-serving political extremists, but they hold the highest positions in the land. So what can we do, but exercise our right to reject the government? What do you do when the people that are supposed to protect you turn against you? You fight back. Resistance rests with the people. The Trump administration is the most dangerous terrorism that our nation is facing right now, and it is our responsibility to step up and defend ourselves.
