In a democracy there is a principle that governments rule by the consent of the governed, so what are we to do with a president who doesn’t respect the concept of consent?

Donald Trump, who ran a campaign that closely resembled an insult comic tour — ‘Tired Jeb’, ‘Little Marco’, ‘Lyin Ted’ and ‘Crooked Hillary’ — is unavoidably our next president.

While we must accept the results of the electoral college, we need not acquiesce to the buffoonery and bigotry that Trump has spewed. Simply accepting the results and “coming together as Americans” is an insult to the sexual assault survivors and minorities who have been targeted by the chauvinist, racist and xenophobic language of Trump.

While president-elect Trump may be a diluted version of his acerbic campaign persona, we need to be vigilant against the policies he has embraced and make sure his regime does not undermine democracy and lead us down the path to fascism.

Trump’s campaign statements and 100 day plan has specific policies that we the people simply cannot accept.

We cannot accept federal policies that discriminate against people based on their religion. Trump’s proposed immigration policies explicitly and unabashedly dismiss the ideals of our country, which was founded by people escaping religious persecution and guarantees freedom of religion as a constitutional right.

Mr. President, we won’t let you discriminate against people based on their religion. 

We cannot let you fulfill your promise to bomb alleged terrorists without regard for civilian casualties and reinstate torture as American policy. The American people and U.S. military cannot adopt Trump’s flippant approach towards international law and the Geneva Conventions. Refusing to obey international law will only reinforce the narratives of terrorist radicalization and undermine the security of our armed forces, our country and the world.

Mr. President, we won’t let you commit war crimes.

We cannot allow Trump’s treatment of women to go unanswered. The willingness of the American electorate to elect a man who boasts of watching teenage girls changing clothes at beauty pageants, kissing women without permission and grabbing them “by the pussy” is utterly reprehensible. Forgiving these crimes or writing them off as “locker room talk” is an insult to Trump’s victims and all victims of sexual assault.

Mr. President, we won’t let you continue to harass, abuse, demean and objectify women.

We cannot allow Trump and his industry allies to roll back climate change agreements and open up a free-for-all for fossil fuel extraction in the United States. Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Change agreement and pushing forward the Keystone XL pipeline are but a few early indications of the potentially disastrous environmental policies of Trump. We cannot mortgage off the inheritance of our youth and future generations for the chance at short-term profit.

Mr. President, we won’t let you ruin our environment.

We can not accept Trump’s unprecedented denial of access and threats to sue journalists critical of his campaign, which are direct attacks on the freedom of press that is the lifeblood of any democracy.

Mr. President, we won’t let you deny the freedom of press.

While this list of unacceptable behaviors is not comprehensive it is representative of the threats to the fundamental tenets of democracy and our nation that Trump’s presidency poses. Responding to these threats to freedom and democracy, thousands of people nationwide have taken to the streets to express their opposition to Trump. This is a good start but it is just that, a start.

Moving forward we need to stand in solidarity with those who have been targeted by Trump, as we work to understand and respond to the legitimate concerns of people who voted for him. We can reject racism, misogyny and xenophobia while working to improve the lives of working class Americans in the rust belt and struggling industrial communities around the country.

We can no longer assume that the future we deserve is inevitable. We can no longer take for granted a forward march toward greater inclusion, equality and decency. We can no longer assume that everything will be ok. We must make it so.

We must decide what kind of a country we want to live in, envision the future we want for ourselves and future generations and then act to make sure that it comes true. We are a nation of dreamers and must remain so. We can no longer sleep through our destiny, it is time we awake to our own agency and demand the world we deserve.

The post Segerstrom: No Mr. President, we won’t let you appeared first on Emerald Media.