By SEAN LEE
Staff Writer
On the early morning of November 9th, 2016, Hillary Clinton officially conceded to Donald Trump after a painstakingly close presidential race, ending one of the most bitter and divisive political elections ever witnessed in the history of the United States. Now, as Donald Trump prepares for his presidential term in office, widespread protests have erupted all around the country, specifically in areas such as New York, Los Angeles and Boston, some of which have turned violent and disruptive.
As protests have grown increasingly unruly and troublesome, the number of people opposing these protests has also grown. Washington state Senator Doug Ericksen has called for legislation that criminalizes protests similar to those that have appeared in response to Donald Trump’s election as president. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has called the protesters “a bunch of spoiled crybabies” during an interview with Fox News. Additionally, Tomi Lahren, a popular conservative commentator, has called the protesters a“bunch of sore losers.” Trump himself even tweeted, “Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”
The protests are understandable to an extent. Donald Trump has led a campaign fueled on racism, sexism, xenophobia and pure hate. He is a man who said that “we could use some more global warming” and who refuses to believe in climate change, claiming that it is a hoax. He mocked a disabled reporter, he claimed that President Obama wasn’t born in America, and he has engaged in childish antics online to the point that his Twitter account was taken away by his staffers because he was constantly tweeting controversial remarks. During a Twitter fight with Miss Universe Star Alicia Machado he encouraged people to “check out [her] sex tape and past.” He dismissed his blatant sexually aggressive remarks about women as simple “locker room talk.” The list of controversial, unpresidential actions that Donald Trump has carried out goes on and on.
During the Bill Clinton sex scandal, prominent Evangelical Christian leader Chuck Colson said, “character counts.” This very same principle still matters today. Character does in fact matter, and it is something that Donald Trump utterly lacks. What’s saddening is not the fact that Donald Trump has said such horrible things, but rather that the American people condoned his remarks and allowed him to claim the prestigious title of “President of the United States”, a title he does not deserve.
The protesters marching on the streets are disgusted in the very same way. They are disgusted with the fact that America chose an intolerant, fear mongering Machiavellian to be their next leader. They are genuinely angry that such a deplorable man has come into office. And so they have taken to the streets to show their displeasure, a completely plausible option in a free democracy such as America that guarantees this right in the First Amendment. Yet Donald Trump and his allies condemn such proceedings, showing the glaring hypocrisies in their value, which is a telling sign for the future governance of the United States
The people marching aren’t “sore losers” or “a bunch of spoiled crybabies”. They are American citizens, exercising their constitutional rights, protesting against a threat to democracy. Of course some protests turn violent, but the people who are not peacefully marching are not representative of the true cause. They are selfish cowards who ruin the true spirit of democracy. On the topic sore losers, the irony of this situation is that outspoken Donald Trump supporters seem to have forgotten the fact that during the presidential campaign, Donald Trump, a man who has shown subpar sportsmanship conduct in the past, said he would only accept the election results if he won.
Many Trump and Hillary supporters alike are calling for national unity after such a divisive presidential election. However, unity in this case is dangerous. Unity is defined in this context as accepting Donald Trump as America’s president, and supporting him during his presidential term. Such actions are extremely dangerous. Permissiveness is support, and if a whole country supports Donald Trump, its citizens will enable him horrible things. With national unity, no one will be able to keep Donald Trump and his cabinet in check, and an unrestrained Donald Trump is dangerous, and seen in his past. In this case, fighting against a borderline totalitarian leader is much more important and needed in this country. There are other ways to heal this nation, but being forced to accept Donald Trump as president is not one of them.
This nation is divided to a dangerous point. However, accepting Donald Trump should not be used as a tool to superficially unite this nation. People have their opinions, and unless people see Donald Trump radically change from his sexist, racist and shameful ways, this nation will never recover, and Donald Trump will be responsible.