It has been suggested, rather sarcastically, that we treat President-Elect Trump with the same degree of respect and cooperation that has been shown President Obama during the past four years. My initial emotional reaction to this is to agree wholeheartedly while almost immediately asking myself what are the residual consequences of responding in kind apart from the very transitory satisfaction of revenge. Perhaps a better response would be the continual positing of an alternative model of behavior by which we all might benefit.
As we enter what will surely be, in some respects, a very dark time in our history, a guiding light may be shown as we exhibit and embody the values and mode of being that we envision for the future. In response to the negative reaction in the wake the popular uprising throughout the nation by the peaceful protests of millions of outraged American citizens, I would suggest that this is a clear manifestation of the value of free expression in a democratic context. Indeed it is the duty of responsible citizenship to respectfully stand in opposition to policies and decisions antithetical to core values and the best interests of the global population. These spontaneous expressions are sending the unmistakable message that the election of Trump, a vile, contemptible, potentially dangerous, and radically extreme individual, is profoundly unacceptable. In addition to clearly stating opposition, we must not, at the same time, actively subvert the new administration in the manner that Mitch McConnell and the Republican flock attempted to do during the Obama years by relentlessly working to undermine his success but rather actively assert alternative answers to the questions of the day and to do so with an intention which is at once inclusive, respectful, incisive, and mindful of the future well being of our country and the world of which America is merely a part.
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