Since the election of Mr. Donald J. Trump to the Office of the President, a role he’ll officially assume in mid-January despite being unqualified for it, a mass resistance began across America, and the dissenters leading, and participating in, those revolts have already vocalized their intent to not recognize the president-elect as legitimate – Mr. Trump, a political novice who is said to have been surprised by the scope of duty America’s commander-in-chief must fulfill when he visited the White House and met with outgoing U.S. President Mr. Barack Obama, lost the popular vote by a wide margin though he outperformed Mrs. Hillary Clinton with the Electoral College.
The protests thus far haven’t communicated much more than a disapproval of an impending Trump presidency, and the rejection of the racism, sexism and xenophobia that will likely accompany it.
And though the anti-Trump protests have been criticized by some as pointless and reactionary – a sizable number of critics of these demonstrations have assumed that the protesters didn’t vote to prevent Mr. Trump’s ascension, and a Portland news report confirmed that suspicion to a degree: of the 100 activists arrested during an anti-Trump protest, 34 didn’t vote, and 35 more weren’t registered to cast ballots in Oregon – the energy behind the resistance can be directed in ways that’ll mitigate the divisiveness of a Trump administration.
Either unaware or indifferent to the fears and concerns many Americans are expressing about the forthcoming administration, Mr. Trump has recently made appointments that are widely perceived as divisive and/or insensitive, most notable among them were the selections of Mr. Steve Bannon, an accused anti-Semite and former CEO of a news organization seen as the home of the alt-right, to chief strategist; and Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, a man who in the late 1980s was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to serve as a U.S. District Judge but was rejected by the Senate due to his racially insensitive remarks – Mr. Sessions called the Voting Rights Act a piece of intrusive legislation and declared the NAACP and ACLU “un-American” – and concerns that he couldn’t be fair and impartial, to Attorney General.
Mr. Bannon’s hire doesn’t require a Senate confirmation, but Mr. Sessions’ does, which provides anti-Trump protesters in every city and state an opportunity to exhibit true organizational skills and initiative by lobbying the appropriate officials for his rejection.
In this effort, the anti-Trump protesters will surely find allies in elected offices who will echo and legitimize their call: Representative Ms. Barbara Lee of California said in a tweet that “the idea of Sen. Jeff Session – who was rejected for a judgeship because of racist comments – leading the Justice Department is appalling,” and Senator-elect Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada wrote on Twitter that Mr. Sessions “supports anti-immigrant policies and was deemed too racist for federal judgeship by GOP Senate.”
If the Trump resistance is to continue, a few achievable goals should be outlined. Ensuring that president-elect Trump, who appears no more restrained or dignified from the unscripted candidate version of himself, doesn’t get all the appointments he desires should be one of them.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™
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