I
took a hiatus from FaceBook and other social media for a short while after the
election. I found the hand-wringing by some and the crowing by others
distressing and boorish. The election did not solve any problems; merely
selecting a new captain the ship of state. While the presidency remains a
singularly powerful office, the constitution curtails that power with various well-conceived
checks and balances. President-elect Trump will soon discover that even those
in his chosen party remain bound to their individual constituencies and that the
levers of government are slippery and extraordinarily difficult to move;
especially for one untrained in their manipulation. Here are a few thoughts
regarding the upcoming days, weeks, and months.
For
my friends, stinging from the surprising defeat in the Electoral College, stay
focused. Harden yourself against the temptation to criticize every single perceived
misstep or un-presidential action. Each man, or woman, must grow into the
office. After the mantle of leadership descends, all presidents discover what
it means to represent the entire nation. Keep focused on important issues. Temper
your criticism. Always, always, always include a recommendation. Anyone can
point out faults or failures. Take the time to put forward solutions, well
thought out recommendations that have some hope of acceptance and possible
success. Any course of action that requires unobtainium does not help. Do not
succumb to the gadfly temptation. Developing and enacting true solutions to the
seemingly intractable problems that vex our nation will require work and
effort, not an endless stream of critique. Avoid becoming the party of “no.”
For far too long, congress has simply stood by and said “no” to anything that
did not issue from their own party. We need to hold our representative accountable
for inaction as well as action. Keep substantive issues in front of the body
politic. Work. Constantly work to better the lot of the poor and downtrodden.
Do not consign the next four years to positioning yourself to recover some ephemeral
aura of power. In many ways this time will truly test your devotion to the
causes you espouse. Stay in the fight, keep focused on your objectives, and abjure
descending to mindless attacks on character flaws which, in reality, do little
to improve the state of the nation.
For
my friends, rejoicing in their success; try to show a little grace in victory.
After all, Secretary Clinton garnered over 1.5 million more votes than
President Elect Trump. Our quirky and non-representative electoral college
delivered the victory into the hands of Mr. Trump, not the popular vote. It is
important for us to remember that more people voted for the ideas of the
Democratic Party than voted for the ideas of the Republican Party. While President
Elect Trump and his party will enjoy the fruits of victory, take care when
charting the course of the nation. The Republican Party did not win a sound
ideological mandate from the nation as a whole. When considering policy goals,
remember to look across the aisle, as it were, and inquire from the loyal opposition.
Listen to our friends who voted for Secretary Clinton, or even Senator Sanders,
there are considerably more of them. Besides, wining at the Electoral College
does not give one a corner on good ideas. We need everyone pulling together in
order to solve some of the big challenges we face. Belittling them will not
encourage cooperation or support and is manifestly un-American and
un-Christian. Do not feign surprise at protests and demonstrations. Prior to
wining, President Elect Trump, as well as many of his supporters, spoke darkly
of not accepting Clinton win. Lawful protest is a fine old American tradition
and part of our political process. It would be wise for us to listen carefully
to such demonstrations, as they may very well represent the majority opinion. Let
us work together, developing good, inclusive, plans to address the problems we
face.
All
of us need to abandon those pseudo news sources that continually spew out propaganda,
innuendo, and outright lies. These people traffic in harming others. They
profit by appealing to our baser instincts and encouraging hate, ignorance, and
division. We must deny them a platform for their libelous spasms. How can we
expect to make coherent, informed decisions when we continually consume such
slanted media? We must avoid the temptation to choose those outlets which make
us feel better by feeding our own particular narrative. They may feed a darker
need in our character, these vicious attacks on others, but we must rise above
them and embrace cogent discussion and thoughtful recommendations. True news
educates and informs. Consuming true news takes time and effort often resulting
in cognitive dissonance as we assimilate new information. When we start
tailoring our news, basing our choices on those outlets that make us “feel”
good, we give up our claim to be an educated person, and by extension, society.
Seek out and patron those media which provide insightful news. Avoid those
outlets which constantly issue retractions or corrections based on slovenly
reporting.
Those
of us who claim the name of Christ, must redouble our efforts to well represent
Him. We must stop conflating Christianity with a particular political party,
policy, or platform. When developing our world-view we must be careful to
extend the same grace that we depend upon to those who might view things
differently. After all, in those infrequent moments of true introspection, we
find ourselves churlish failures who poorly understand God’s deep, abiding, and
crazy love. Jesus calls us to a radically different way of living and loving. Whatever
our party we must seek out those who are weaker, those who are poorer, the
sick, the lost, the lonely, the indigent, and the frightened and tend to their
needs. After all, Jesus came and found us when we were estranged and in violent
opposition.
Two
final thoughts; we must stop thinking in terms of them and us. Whether we voted
for President Elect Trump, Secretary Clinton, or a third party candidate, we’re
all Americans. We should want saner minds to prevail and our leaders to succeed.
We will make better progress once we realize that the point of politics is to
move the nation forward, not destroy, totally own, or crush the opposition. If
our government fails, we fail. The stakes are too high to accept failure as a viable
course of action. Perhaps the time has come to revisit the need for the Electoral
College. Twice in my lifetime the popular vote has been reversed by our
antiquated and outmoded election system. As we continue to improve our ability
to engineer elections through carefully targeted appeals and gerrymandering, we
must expect more frequent occurrences of this type. For our national political
health we need to consider divesting ourselves of this unneeded system. 63.5
million voters justifiably feel disenfranchised. Continued results such as this
will erode trust in our institutions. It will take work, but our nation would
profit from such a worthy exercise of democracy.
