I am your neighbor, a farmer, a person who would help you if your car broke down, your apartment flooded, you were in trouble and there was something that you needed. Did you mean for your newly elected president to do all these scary things? When you voted for change, did that mean that you didn’t want an independent press anymore? Were you aware that Donald Trump was “at war with the media” as he announced to the CIA on his first day in office?
I am concerned about any government that puts gag orders on our governmental agencies and forbids them to speak directly to the public. Does it worry you that everything coming from a government agency now has to be vetted by the White House? Really, I want to understand this because I thought his campaign slogan was “Make America great again?” What does America mean to you?
I thought it was about democracy, about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Isn’t that what you thought too? Democracy — a system of government with three distinct branches of government — the whole idea of checks and balances on power. Isn’t that what the Founding Fathers were trying to ensure? Isn’t that what democracy depends upon? The very first amendment in the Bill of Rights is about freedom of the press and free speech. When did transparency in government become a liability?
By definition a patriot is someone who “vigorously defends” their country. Are you willing to actively pressure the government that you have elected to defend the basic tenets of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights? Don’t we all have an obligation to ensure that this president, who has vowed to do many things that are in direct contradiction to the spirit of democracy, things that threaten to unravel the very fabric that this country was founded on. Aren’t we all obligated to hold him accountable?
You wanted your voice to be heard, well, I wanted mine to be heard too, but he’s not interested in listening to my concerns. Trump does not care about people like me. But you, you are his constituency; you are the people that put him in this position of unprecedented power. Can we count on you to be the patriots that you claim to be, to make America great by defending what for almost two hundred and fifty years has been a symbol of democracy throughout the world? Seriously, are you willing now to ensure the safety of our democratic union, to stand up for liberty, and for truth?
I cannot help but believe that somewhere beneath your willingness to vote for someone as extreme in his rhetoric as Donald Trump, there was a belief that you were doing what you felt was right for the country. I want to believe that you would define patriotism as protecting our system of government, defending the very things that have actually made America great. And just in case you have forgotten who I am, I am an honest, hard working, compassionate person who loves her community and her country. I am just like you. We may differ in the details, but I am every bit as patriotic as you are. Which is why I am terrified by what is happening to our country and what looks like the distortion of a free society into an authoritarian rule where the rights and liberties that we have taken for granted are not only not guaranteed but are under attack.
But since you are patriotic too, I am counting on you to do the right thing. I am counting on you to protect us, to be every bit as proactive in protecting democracy as the people like me who are so alarmed that we are pouring out into the streets by the hundreds of thousands.
Maybe you had your misgivings about some of Donald Trump’s policies but were afraid that your vision of a strong America was not being respected. I vow to try to understand why you chose to take the risk of electing a man of his character, but I get it. He speaks for more than himself — he speaks for you. So, I owe you that, to try to understand your concerns and your fears. But I can’t believe that this is what you wanted to happen to our democracy.
What are you going to do? Can I count on you to defend the Bill of Rights? Will you safeguard the Constitution? Will you make certain that the rights and privileges of citizenship are upheld? You love America, you want to make America great, I want to believe you. Will you step up and defend our democracy?
Ceacy Henderson lives in Colrain.