Photo credit: Gage Skidmore
Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States. It is an astounding victory that shocked the political world, myself included. I truly wish all the best to our nation’s next President. While from a pure analytical standpoint I worry about the consequences of his administration I have no desire to see him fail.
I hope that he keeps the good promises he made to the American people. I hope he succeeds at repealing and replacing Obamacare. I hope he succeeds at securing the border, and I hope he appoints the right people to the Supreme Court and high offices. I hope he defunds Planned Parenthood. I hope he manages to curtail the expanse of the regulatory state. I hope he succeeds at being Commander-in-Chief and keeping our country safe. I hope he rejects the path of divisiveness he took in this campaign and chooses to be a President of all Americans.
I hope that the gravity of the task before him leads him to humble himself and seek wisdom. I pledge to pray for the new President and to treat him with the respect that his office commands, and I hope that he will behave himself in a way that is worthy of his office. Regardless, he is our nation’s President.
I have no intention of spending the next four years automatically opposing everything President Trump does or says. He has earned the chance to govern. When he is right, I will agree with him. When he is wrong, I will respectfully oppose him.
I also concede to Mr. Trump’s supporters. The Republican Party is your party and Mr. Trump is the head of it. It’s President Trump’s Party and no longer mine but I pray for Republican leaders as they govern our country.
Today, there are many Americans for whom the election results fill them with fear and dread. I’m not talking about celebrities who threaten to leave the country if the election doesn’t go their way. This sort of narcissistic threat hopes to cause voters to change their mind as their heart is filled with dread with one thought, “How will this country go on without Miley Cyrus?”
I’m talking about abuse victims for whom the last eighteen months have been a nightmare that have called to mind all their suffering and for whom the next four may be unbearable should Trump govern in the way he’s campaigned. I’m talking about law-abiding Hispanic and Muslim Americans who look at the alt right and look at people who are suspicious of them because of their skin color and wonder if there is a place for them in this country. I’m talking about the disabled who struggle against a culture that labels them as useless and worthless, and now will have to deal with a president who mocked the disabled. I’m talking about those who are concerned about the influence Russia may have over the next President.
Their concerns are legitimate. As an American, I owe the new president my respect and my prayers, not my undying loyalty. I’m loyal to America and all of its citizens before I’m loyal to any politician and will pledge to stand against any effort to stoke the fires of racial and religious bigotry and misogyny in our country. President Trump is elected as a servant to the American people and if he abuses any of them, he should be held to account.
I’d ask those on the left who applauded President Obama’s use of executive orders to push through initiatives he couldn’t pass through the democratic process to reconsider their support for an almighty federal government led by an unaccountable executive.
The reason presidential elections frighten us is because we’ve let the federal government and the president in particular accumulate too much power. The federal government has become an unaccountable monster. It is a monster that will be under the control of Donald Trump for the next four years. If that fills you with dread, don’t focus on getting your candidate the next turn running the monster, support depowering the monster so Americans don’t have to fear their federal government regardless of who wins an election.
Donald Trump is our next president, but my values haven’t changed. My loyalties are to God, my fellow Americans, and the principles of liberty. When President Trump sincerely stands for these things, in his deeds and in his words, he will have my support. When he opposes them, I will be with the loyal opposition and respectfully stand for the values that will truly make America great.