DOWNTOWN L.A. ARTS DISTRICT – So when I awaken each morning, as I have for the past three months, I wonder yet again if it’s just the world’s longest bad dream…?
And as soon as I get my bearings, I realize no, alas, this is our new reality, and Donald Trump is our president. All of ours. Elected fairly according to the law of the land. Yes he may be mercurial, dangerous even, and no I did not vote for him, but “Not My President” is a cop out. People, he IS our president, and he got there by being the smartest guy in the room – at least, smarter than the media, Hollywood, the political analyst establishment, the Democratic Party, and even his own party.
Indeed, Donald J. Trump, celebrity and TV star, knew what he was doing when he lied, misled, twisted the facts and used braggadocio and ego more than experience and knowledge to persuade the electorate that he should be president.
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My point here is that the “Not My President” movement needs to die a quick and painful death. We must accept reality and join the party, at least, attend the event even if our heart isn’t really in it.
America has to accept that fact that Hillary Clinton hatred ran deep, deeper than any of us really understood, and thus D.J. Trump walked away with the prize to our astonishment. Being in denial has expired, the mourning period is over, and it is time for us to at least selectively try to get behind our president to support at least some of the things he is doing.
Humorously, The New York Times wrote about a 23-year-old Canadian college student named Erica Baguma who started a Twitter feed called @Trump_Regrets, which has attracted 220,000 followers with only 1,500 posts – almost all of which say “please act more presidential!” or some variation thereof. Even those who voted for the man are concerned.
Of course, I am horrified at the prospect of Trump and Pence flirting with overturning Roe vs. Wade. I am incensed at their defunding of Planned Parenthood and for that matter any charity worldwide that even deals with reproductive counseling and women’s health education on the subject of contraception. Among many other aspects of the Trump/Pence presidency.
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But as Women That Do, ladies, it is time for us to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and find bits and pieces of what Trump stands for to get behind. For example, at his speech to the Boeing employees this past Friday, February 16th, 2017 in South Carolina, he stayed on point and focused on bringing manufacturing jobs back to America, motivating large companies in the aerospace and automotive industries to keep U.S. plants open – and punish them financially for moving jobs overseas. He pledged to put America first. You know what…I find myself saying that these are good messages that will in fact help the middle class regain some of its former glory if he can deliver on these objectives.
He has also moved noticeably left on the Mideast, backing off his previous pledge to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and telling Netanyahu that more settlements on the West Bank will not help the peace process. Again, some sound strategy from President Trump and reason for some encouragement.
Furthermore, I noticed while returning from an overseas trip going through customs at LAX, a sea change in how the Immigration and Customs officers were dealing with passengers. As in, assuming everyone, including full Caucasian U.S. citizens, not just immigrants and non-English speakers, is “guilty until proven innocent.” Indeed, I was questioned about where I had been and why I was returning, just as the Chinese couple with Canadian passports in front of me and the Filipino senior citizen with a U.S. passport who spoke no English behind me were. At first, I will admit to being kind of offended, but upon thinking it through, it is not really a bad thing for all of us to be a little bit grateful about being granted admission to the world’s greatest democracy. This should be considered a privilege not a “right” per se.
The truth is, we all probably don’t agree with Trump’s policies and plans. Considering the amount of “Not My President” protests that have taken place – and are still to come – that “probably” is closer to “definitely.” However, the priority of our nation should be to come together and the put the well being of our country first – not argue over how left or right we think our “real” president should be.
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Even under President Obama, America was rife with division. According to some analysts, People even elected Donald Trump because they wanted the antithesis of Obama, who some viewed as “pitting” races, classes, businesses and political ideologists against one another. Now is the time to stop the pendulum from swinging from the extreme left and extreme right, and put all of our efforts into coming together. Regardless of who the president is, we – as the American people – need to commit to standing behind him or her.
I could go on but my point is: while as Women That Do it is easy to feel violated and threatened by the Trump administration, there will inevitably be some good things, too, that come out of his presidency. All I ask is that we try to remain non-partisan, we get past the “Not My President” thing which on some level is unproductive, and go about our business of finding some common ground with all women as American citizens, not by political affiliation.
Let’s put our collective energy into things we can help or change — recognizing that the next four years of executive power is not one of them.
