What follows is a letter I've drafted but have not yet sent. Not sure I will. It helped to write it.
If you're struggling with your own feelings about this election, or trying to manage fears about what's going to happen next, I encourage you sit down and write. It really is cathartic!
I always welcome thoughts, comments, different ways of seeing. Feel free, but be kind.
This blog is a hostility-free zone.
If you're struggling with your own feelings about this election, or trying to manage fears about what's going to happen next, I encourage you sit down and write. It really is cathartic!
I always welcome thoughts, comments, different ways of seeing. Feel free, but be kind.
This blog is a hostility-free zone.
Dear Electors,
Encouraging violence and hatred by passively supporting threatening chants - should have disqualified Trump from candidacy. There's something wrong here that we're about to put into office someone who ran on hate and fear and threats of violence.
Leadership in a civil society must help settle hatred and violence among its own people, within its own borders - not fuel it.
I believe that few people thought that in the United States of America, we could or would elect someone who so brazenly rejected all norms of decorum, threatened reasonable functioning of our institutions (calling into question the knowledge and ability of virtually everyone serving in all of them), trampled the most basic rules of civility, and without apology incited and contributed to hatred and violence.
To allow Trump to take office is to affirm governmental sanction of and support for hate speech, hostile action, the inciting of violence, and behavior with little or no regard for others. This all flies in the face of what our country stands for, and what we fight for elsewhere.
How can we have ‘hate crime’ legislation mean anything if we can play video clips of the President of the United States spewing hate, and passively watching (if not encouraging) supporters chanting messages of hate and unconstitutional action?
So many have fought so hard to make this country safer for themselves, and for their friends and neighbors. We had made progress. We still had a way to go, but we had made significant progress. Trump's campaign undermined so much of it, and his inauguration will jeopardize it completely.
Already, Trump has caused considerable pain suffering. So many women, people of color, those with disabilities, and others who have been victims of abuse have relived their torment as Trump stood at a powerful pulpit and brutalized so many. To have him become President, is to watch a perpetrator of the kind of abuse we reject in our laws get handed the keys to the kingdom.
The Republican Party had a chance to stop Trump – to have someone else represent their interests and the interests of Trump supporters. They didn't take that opportunity.
Instead, many within the party made it perfectly clear they did not believe Trump was fit for office, but then they supported him anyway. They put their own careers or agendas ahead of the well-being of the country.
Trump gave voice to people who are fearful, frustrated, and exhausted, and feel abandoned by our system and left behind by social, economic, and technological change. Their voices needed to be heard. Their concerns and issues must be addressed..
This whole of the election made clear that the country wants change; that people are fed up with ‘business as usual,’ that there’s a deficit of trust in many, perhaps most, of our institutions.
The message is clear - from both the left and the right.
I have to believe that the message has been received.
But to vote for change at any price is a dangerous thing.
I do value Democracy, and I do recognize the importance of peaceful transitions of power.
So, what happened? Already, this has not been one.
Had there been a genuine commitment to the peaceful transfer of power, this election never would have gotten where it went – things that occurred during it would not have been allowed to happen.
To reject now, what so many of us thought we would collectively reject by vote – is simply to right a wrong before we pay an even higher price than we already have.
Our system allows for such action.
As I understand it, the intention of the electoral college was to create another means for checks and balances; to allow time and opportunity for a smaller group of people to bring their best judgement and careful consideration of all evidence and knowledge to bear on the 'actual' vote for President.
Many, including Trump, have argued that the electoral college system is obsolete and we should go strictly by popular vote. But at least for now, this is what have. And with it, we also have this bit of room to correct what never should have happened in the first place, and is already is having serious negative consequences for the country.
Flipping a vote would not actually constitute disregard of public choice; Clinton did win the popular vote. What's more, electors wouldn't have to vote Clinton in, it would be enough to simply bring Trump's electoral votes below 270.
To be clear, this is not about sour grapes, or being a 'sore loser,' as some suggest. This is not about trying to overturn a Republican victory, per se.
This is about rejecting a president-elect who demonstrated and encouraged abusive, hostile behavior, that stands in stark contrast to our espoused values, beliefs, and even laws. It's about rejecting a man who has absolutely no experience and only minimal knowledge appropriate to hold the most powerful position in this country, and arguably in the world. There are no 're-tweets' to 'fix' things or back paddle from the oval office.
I’m asking you to draw on your best judgement and your conscience, and to take this opportunity to use the laws of our democracy as they currently exist, to take a stand against the perpetuation of hate, violence, abuse, and the blatant disregard for basic civility.
The fact that something has never before happened - that "faithless electors" have never changed the outcome of a race - should not influence behavior. This whole election has been one big 'first' for this country. Clearly, anything is possible.
I appreciate your service as an elector, and ask with all due respect, that you
You hold an awesome power and responsibility. How will you use it?
I do hope you will take a stand for a less violent, less hostile, more compassionate, diplomatic United States of America.
Respectfully submitted,
Encouraging violence and hatred by passively supporting threatening chants - should have disqualified Trump from candidacy. There's something wrong here that we're about to put into office someone who ran on hate and fear and threats of violence.
Leadership in a civil society must help settle hatred and violence among its own people, within its own borders - not fuel it.
I believe that few people thought that in the United States of America, we could or would elect someone who so brazenly rejected all norms of decorum, threatened reasonable functioning of our institutions (calling into question the knowledge and ability of virtually everyone serving in all of them), trampled the most basic rules of civility, and without apology incited and contributed to hatred and violence.
To allow Trump to take office is to affirm governmental sanction of and support for hate speech, hostile action, the inciting of violence, and behavior with little or no regard for others. This all flies in the face of what our country stands for, and what we fight for elsewhere.
How can we have ‘hate crime’ legislation mean anything if we can play video clips of the President of the United States spewing hate, and passively watching (if not encouraging) supporters chanting messages of hate and unconstitutional action?
So many have fought so hard to make this country safer for themselves, and for their friends and neighbors. We had made progress. We still had a way to go, but we had made significant progress. Trump's campaign undermined so much of it, and his inauguration will jeopardize it completely.
Already, Trump has caused considerable pain suffering. So many women, people of color, those with disabilities, and others who have been victims of abuse have relived their torment as Trump stood at a powerful pulpit and brutalized so many. To have him become President, is to watch a perpetrator of the kind of abuse we reject in our laws get handed the keys to the kingdom.
The Republican Party had a chance to stop Trump – to have someone else represent their interests and the interests of Trump supporters. They didn't take that opportunity.
Instead, many within the party made it perfectly clear they did not believe Trump was fit for office, but then they supported him anyway. They put their own careers or agendas ahead of the well-being of the country.
Trump gave voice to people who are fearful, frustrated, and exhausted, and feel abandoned by our system and left behind by social, economic, and technological change. Their voices needed to be heard. Their concerns and issues must be addressed..
This whole of the election made clear that the country wants change; that people are fed up with ‘business as usual,’ that there’s a deficit of trust in many, perhaps most, of our institutions.
The message is clear - from both the left and the right.
I have to believe that the message has been received.
But to vote for change at any price is a dangerous thing.
I do value Democracy, and I do recognize the importance of peaceful transitions of power.
So, what happened? Already, this has not been one.
Had there been a genuine commitment to the peaceful transfer of power, this election never would have gotten where it went – things that occurred during it would not have been allowed to happen.
To reject now, what so many of us thought we would collectively reject by vote – is simply to right a wrong before we pay an even higher price than we already have.
Our system allows for such action.
As I understand it, the intention of the electoral college was to create another means for checks and balances; to allow time and opportunity for a smaller group of people to bring their best judgement and careful consideration of all evidence and knowledge to bear on the 'actual' vote for President.
Many, including Trump, have argued that the electoral college system is obsolete and we should go strictly by popular vote. But at least for now, this is what have. And with it, we also have this bit of room to correct what never should have happened in the first place, and is already is having serious negative consequences for the country.
Flipping a vote would not actually constitute disregard of public choice; Clinton did win the popular vote. What's more, electors wouldn't have to vote Clinton in, it would be enough to simply bring Trump's electoral votes below 270.
To be clear, this is not about sour grapes, or being a 'sore loser,' as some suggest. This is not about trying to overturn a Republican victory, per se.
This is about rejecting a president-elect who demonstrated and encouraged abusive, hostile behavior, that stands in stark contrast to our espoused values, beliefs, and even laws. It's about rejecting a man who has absolutely no experience and only minimal knowledge appropriate to hold the most powerful position in this country, and arguably in the world. There are no 're-tweets' to 'fix' things or back paddle from the oval office.
I’m asking you to draw on your best judgement and your conscience, and to take this opportunity to use the laws of our democracy as they currently exist, to take a stand against the perpetuation of hate, violence, abuse, and the blatant disregard for basic civility.
The fact that something has never before happened - that "faithless electors" have never changed the outcome of a race - should not influence behavior. This whole election has been one big 'first' for this country. Clearly, anything is possible.
I appreciate your service as an elector, and ask with all due respect, that you
- vote against a 'pass' for abuse, threat of violence, and the perpetuation of hatred, and
- take a stand against political officials identifying a candidate as unfit or unqualified for office, then helping him get into office anyway.
You hold an awesome power and responsibility. How will you use it?
I do hope you will take a stand for a less violent, less hostile, more compassionate, diplomatic United States of America.
Respectfully submitted,
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