Resist the Resistance

Making that demand does not mean that I think that President Trump is perfect or that I do not see his faults.  Nor does it mean that I agree with his position and policy on every issue.  But, it does mean that I see the destructiveness of the anti-Trump movement due to its lack of understanding of and disregard for our government and its institutions.

Trump is our duly elected president.  As such, he is deserving of support and respect from all Americans.  That does not mean that those who disagree with his positions should not use every legal means available to disagree.  It does not mean that those who favored another candidate and are disappointed in Trump’s victory should not work hard to put forth a candidate who can win in the next election. 

But, in America, we have elections and sometimes someone we do not like wins.  That does not mean that we place that person under constant and unrelenting attack.  It does not mean that we use or encourage the use of political power to unseat someone based not on fact but on innuendo, hyperbole, and simply dislike.  What is going on with President Trump is that there has been a witch hunt since the day of his election.   Those leading the anti-Trump brigade simply cannot accept defeat.  Yet that is what this country and its elections are all about – there is one winner and the other candidates lose.  And, if we want to maintain our democracy then we need to accept that basic fact.  And, the response to that fact cannot be an unrelenting attempt to destroy the duly elected President and his administration.

The anti-Trump resistance seems to have one sole purpose:  to remove Trump from office.  And, while that is a legitimate goal if done via the elective process, via campaigning for a different candidate in the next election, in a democracy it is not done by simply not accepting that the duly elected president is the president or by working to create chaos, delay and obstruct his work, and name calling using distorted and unproven facts in an attempt to garner support for his immediate removal.  To demand his removal beginning on day one is not the act of people who understand and support our democracy.

I think that we all know that.  So what I don’t understand is why this resistance movement has so much support.  I see that it asserts its justification as some sort of means of dissent.  Of course dissent is a part of our democracy and should always be allowed.  But dissent does not mean destruction.  Dissent means speaking out against particular issues with which one disagrees and working to change current policy on those issues.  It may include peaceful demonstration; it may involve casting votes in a particular way, it may simply involve speaking out to any and all that will listen.  But it does not involve creating crises where none exist.  It does not involve an attempt to destroy the very institutions that comprise our government.  It does not involve refusal to listen to other views along with an attempt to silence them. 

Some point to the obstructionist Republican Congress during the Obama administration as justification for “the resistance.”  That involved congress people voting against Obama’s agenda.  It did not involve attempts to completely destroy his presidency.  And it certainly did not have the media in its pocket as a full co-conspirator and collaborator in its work.

Dissent is a necessary part of our democracy.  We expect and need people to come to the table with differing views on every issue.  It is only with a mature presentation and discussion of all views that we can develop the best policies surrounding each issue.  It is the dissenting voices that insure that a democracy does not become an autocracy or dictatorship.  But the resistance movement is not that form of constructive and democratic dissent.  Rather, it is a destructive movement filled with hate that attacks not only President Trump but the very democracy that tolerates their current actions.

I get it that people wish Trump were not president.  That happens in a democracy where the people vote and decide.  I get it that there is a 24-hour news cycle and people seem addicted to needing a new crisis every day to keep them entertained.  I get it that for many it is easier just to passively accept what one is told rather than take the effort to explore the truth of that telling or to discover if they have the complete story and all the facts. (I do realize it is hard to discover the objective truth when most of the media has become more of a propaganda machine than a purveyor of truth). But I don’t understand why people don’t see what is going on, why they don’t realize that they are letting others shape their opinions and their very view of reality, and that in so doing they are not only giving up their freedom of thought, but threatening our very democracy.

We need to resist the resistance.  We need to stand together as Americans and make it clear that we will not allow our democracy to be destroyed.  We need to support our institutions, including the office of the president, even when the man holding that office is someone we cannot tolerate.  For the best way to support our democracy is to come together and work together to reach compromise on those things about which we disagree.  It is to work within our systems to change policy, to vote for those whom we believe best reflect our voice, and, when our candidate loses, there are ways to make our voices heard, to dissent, while still supporting, not resisting, our democracy.

So, Resist the Resistance.  Show those who are resisting that Americans do it differently, that they do not make changes by destroying the very system that allows them to speak out.  Be patient.  Do not demand to have what you want immediately.  Take time: time to obtain all the facts; time to sort out the falsehoods; time to wait for election cycles to play out.  Take time to understand, and then to support, American democracy.