Why I Must Be Against Trump and Trumpism

I am not anyone special. I make fairly low wages as what the French would call a "fonctionnaire." I live in Chicago and live a pretty uninteresting life. Politically, I am basically middle-of-the-road, possibly center-left. I find plenty to criticize on both sides of the aisle, and I do. My strong reaction against Trump and Trumpism isn't "sour grapes" over the election, and it is certainly not a "liberal" trying to pick fights with conservatives. I didn't vote for Hillary (obviously, I didn't vote for Trump), I didn't vote for Jill or Gary. I believe in politics based not on emotion, but sound reason and debate. I don't seek one party domination over another; in fact, I think a vibrant two-party state is necessary to preserve our democracy so that one political institution does not come to dominate all (and, ideally, there would be a multi-party system to allow for more nuance of positions).

My fight with Trump, and my stance against Trumpism, transcends the political. We can debate as much as the day is long about the ills our country faces, their causes, and the best way to address them. And we should, as participants in a representative government. But all that debate over the direction of the country means nothing if there is no country left to debate. And I believe that Donald Trump, his cadre, and Trumpism, pose not a political threat to this country, but an existential threat the continuation of America as we know it. His flagrant disregard and contempt for checks-and-balances, for difference of opinion, and for the voice of the People should be deeply concerning to all. He is a clear and present danger to the ideals of this country, and to the continuation of the American experiment.

I am first and foremost a student of history. I spend a lot of time reading about the past and assessing how certain events came to be. People act in patterns. And I cannot sit silently by and watch another common pattern -- that of a previously-representative government descending into authoritarianism and autocracy -- unfold in my own country without raising my voice (and maybe more) against it.

Resistance against Trump has been strong, but it needs to be ongoing. It needs to be unified and coordinated. I hope that I can use this blog to spread this message, which until now has been confined to Facebook. I hope this blog, one voice among many, can galvanize the People against the Orange Wannabe Autocrat, and can unify disperse opposition voices into one unified song that says that we will not let our government, our ideals, and our way of life go quietly into that good night.