I’m still heart-broken over the results of
our election. It’s
hard for me to see that so many Americans were willing to vote for this man who I believe has shown an obvious
disregard for truth, reason and education. But the fact is that they did. And now we all have to figure out our next moves.
There were 63 million people who chose
Trump. I don’t believe that all 63 million have hate in their hearts. Many of
them just couldn’t see themselves in the agenda of the Democratic party. How
can we ensure that they don’t make the same choice during the mid-terms in 2
years or during the general in 4 years? How can we reach out to reasonable
Republicans to help fight the more extreme parts of the Trump agenda? How can
we ensure that we eventually get back to a truth-based, fact-based political
discussion?
First, we need to
acknowledge that we’ll need some of them. We need to reach out to the more
moderate Republicans to help ensure that we protect certain democratic (small
d) rights over the next few years. We need to take control of the narrative and
call out hypocrisy and untruths when they happen.
Here’s my attempt at a list of (hopefully) non-partisan
values that I think are key to America’s identity. I’d like to call to my
friends across the political spectrum to help me ensure that we hold our
representatives accountable for protecting these values. Maybe we can develop a
values-based equivalent of Grover Norquist’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Maybe it could look
something like this.
My America:
-
Protects minority populations from
discrimination (whether that’s due to race, religion or sexual preference).
-
Invests in quality public education for ALL its
citizens, holds them to high standards and treats all children as valuable,
regardless of the zip code in which they were born.
-
Doesn’t deny well-documented science. BUT
doesn’t leave people behind while trying to make the environment better.
-
Looks at facts over what “feels” true. My
America holds elected officials accountable for telling the truth.
-
Isn’t made for just the 1%.
-
Values education, research and innovation and
isn’t afraid of progress. My America looks forward, not backward.
-
Values immigrants and the gifts that they bring
this country.
-
Doesn’t punish children for the acts of their
parents.
-
Is the land of the free and the home of the
brave. NOT the home of the people who cower and limit freedoms because of a
handful of hateful extremists.
-
Puts the Constitution (the WHOLE Constitution) above
everything else as the law of the land. The Constitution protects religion,
minorities, immigrants AND the press. It gives everyone in this country an
equal say. It protects access to the polls. And it protects the rights of
lawful gun owners.
-
IS GREAT NOW!
Thoughts? What did I miss? What should come off of this
list? Am I delusional to believe that these values are bipartisan? Admittedly, I'm liberal. Don't conservatives believe these things, too?
In my concept, any politician who isn’t willing to sign this
pledge would be asked to explain why. What specifically do they disagree with?
And anyone who does, but then supports a policy antithetical to the pledge
(like a Muslim registry or eliminating DACA) could also be called out.
I suspect that it will be up to us as citizens (on both
sides of the “aisle) to get much more involved in government over the next few
years. I hope I’m wrong, but we may need
to become more personally involved in protecting rights for some of our more
vulnerable neighbors. Even if our new president doesn’t use hate speech, his
success has already emboldened some who do to come out of the shadows. We may
need to personally support programs that lose government funding.
We will only be successful in all of this if we work
together with like-minded people, regardless of their political persuasion.
