TO DONALD TRUMP: YOU WILL NOT ROLL OVER ME!

I distinctly remember hearing President George H. W. Bush announce that the United States had won the Cold War when the Soviet Union collapsed. I turned to my wife and said: "We didn't win the Cold War, the Soviets lost first." What I meant at the time was that both countries had been on a path towards post-industrial status, and in fact, what we see today in late 2016 is the continuing decline of the late, great United States. One chilling demonstration of this is the result of a new study that clearly shows that people born in 1980 have only a 50% chance of making more money than their parents did at the same age, compared to a 92% chance for people born in 1940 (and those born in every decade since has had a smaller chance).

And now Donald Trump. In what I have called his "Cabinet of Deplorables," Trump is assembling a group of government leaders who will take office with the intent of tearing apart the very fabric of our society. They go into office with the goal of rolling back regulations, greasing the skids for corporations and the wealthy to make even more unfettered profits, establishing economic policies that will benefit the wealthy and harm everyone else. Trump will not and cannot save jobs in America. Trump cannot and will not "make America great again;" whatever that means.

Let me be perfectly clear: Donald Trump is a bad, dangerous person. And as President, he will be a total disaster for America and the world. As I have said before, I respect the office of President of the United States; I do not, and will never respect Donald Trump.  I will not look the other way now. I will not pretend that he didn't say so many horrific things as a candidate. I will not put aside my doubts and fears because he is the President-elect, and we citizens must accept that fact. I will not comply, and I will fight him all the way, until his minions have to pry my copy of the Constitution from my cold, dead hands! 

I was mistaken after 11/8 when I blithely stated that Trump had won the election, and that we all needed to accept that fact and figure out how to deal with it. I still think we need to accept that fact, but we also need to come together around one very clear objective: fight Trump and the Trumpsters every inch of the way. Those of us who are opposed to everything Trump stands for, and I believe our numbers will grow as his term plays out, need to be focused and organized. If we continue to be fragmented into single-issue camps, we will be doomed.

I'm seeing a groundswell of political activity in my circle of family and friends. This is encouraging. This activity will continue to build; we must be up-and-running as soon as The DOTUS (The Donald of the United States) takes office next month. I think many people are rolling up their sleeves, and I'm hopeful that we will resist to the greatest extent possible.

I am also looking for national leadership. I am hoping that progressives in government and citizen groups will pull together and develop a clear strategy for fighting back. We cannot afford to be fractionalized.

As we close out 2016, a year that will certainly be prominent in future history books, let us all resolve to work together, fight back, do everything we can to minimize the damage that looms ahead, and strive to make the world a better place for everyone.

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