With very few exceptions, I avoid talking or writing about politics. This is changing. Because I love you so much, I want you to know why.
If you are a conservative or a Republican: our country needs you now more than ever. We need people who question why a thing is being done, who move forward with caution, who want businesses and investments to thrive, and who honor the best of what America has always been. I love you for doing all these things.
If you are a liberal or a Democrat: our country needs you now more than ever. We need people who imagine bold futures, who press for rapid progress, who want to protect our workers and our planet, and who help us reach for the best of what America might yet be. I love you for doing all these things.
But I do not believe that Donald Trump is a Republican (though he ran on a Republican ticket) or a Democrat (though he claims to represent us all). He gained office with the aid of a foreign power. He has assaulted and disrespected our mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters. He claims financial success, but refuses to show proof of that success. He refuses to rid himself of massive conflicts of interest. He mocks the disabled. He tells lie after lie. And when he does not get his way, this man, the leader of the free world, throws a tantrum on Twitter.
He may be our president, but he is not presidential. He may be in the Oval Office, but he is not worthy of that office.
If you voted for him — whether out of hope or fear, party allegiance or a hatred of Hillary, a belief in Mr. Trump’s reputation as a businessman or a desire for something (anything!) other than the status quo — I think you may already sense that you didn’t get the president you hoped for.
If you voted for someone else, it’s time to wake up, stop licking our wounds, and rise above the political trickery that pits us against each other instead of our common enemy.
Whoever we voted for, whatever we stood for, whatever labels we adopted or banners we marched under — we must set these petty differences aside. We must reach across the aisles. We must build faith in each other, because the only way to stop the spread of darkness is to find what is best in all of us and, on that common ground, build unity.
Instead of posting silly cartoons or sharing mean-spirited jokes, we must do our homework. We must know the facts. When we don’t know the facts, we must commit to finding them. We must protect the truth because, in an age where Mr. Trump’s top advisor calls lies “alternative facts,” Truth is already under assault.
I hope my quest to find my voice will encourage you to find your own: to speak up, to make a difference, and to let the light of love drive out the darkness that, even now, longs to engulf us all.
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