Surprisingly, given my rabid liberal politics, I know a good amount of people who voted for Trump, people I REALLY like, love even. And what many of you told me, what you told everyone, was that you weren't voting for him because of the hateful things he has said and supported. You said you were voting for him IN SPITE of those things. You were voting against the Democrats, and the policies you dislike. And I believe you, because I know you, and I know you don't agree with those hateful things. But can we be honest with each other? There are a lot of people who did vote for him because of those things, and because he didn't do anything to tell them otherwise, they seem to feel emboldened to take those things and make a lot of people hurt and afraid. People you love and I love. I KNOW you don't like that.
I keep seeing a lot of Republicans (and Democrats, too) saying "Stop whining you sore loser and see what he can do. Give him a chance already!" Ok, fine. You have a point. Let's do that. I can do that. BUT, if I do that, I am going to ask you to do something too. Remember that part where you said you don't agree with all the hateful things he said? Now's the time to stand by that. If you truly believe that hate is not the way to move forward, you need to speak out against that hate. So if our president-elect tweets that people expressing their American right to free expression are "paid protesters," let him know that as a person who voted for him you expect more. When someone at his victory speech shouts out to hang Hillary and he doesn't reply by saying now is the time to move forward and put hate behind, let him know you expect more. If he tries to enact policies that will harm the people we both know and love, speak up. Get on Twitter, FB, email the White House and say we voted for you because we want to see change, not fear. Tell him to publicly denounce white supremacists who act in his name. Tell him to stop singling out Muslims and Latinos and LGBT folks as enemies because you know Muslims and Latinos and LGBT folks and you love them. Tell him you are WITH him, but you are not going to allow him to harm Americans. And for OUR children, please tell him to stop talking about women the way he does.
We disagree on a lot, you and me. But we agree on a lot, too. We don't want people to get hurt. And let's also agree that the President is not infallible. He or she can be criticized for making hurtful or harmful choices (lord knows Obama took his knocks). Just because Trump won does not give him a free pass to be a d-bag (oooh, Southie girls comes out!). We need the people that voted for Trump to hold his feet to the fire, because you guys get that privilege. My words mean nothing to him. But yours might....