Letter to the Editor / NEITHER COMPLACENCY NOR NORMALIZATION

ROGER C. KOSTMAYER

An article in The New Yorker Magazine by Adam Gopnick, “Radical Anti-Americanism”, raises the question of what a reasonable majority should do in the face of a Trump autocracy.  After only days under the new administration there’s a sense among many that the so-called President doesn’t understand America, its founding principles, our so-called Constitution and our nation’s commitment to individual liberty and the rule of law.  Failing an unlikely epiphany, we’re headed for a collision.

The so – called facts show Trump won the electoral college and is President, but is a minority President without a mandate because he failed to get a majority in the primaries, lost the popular vote in the general election, and only received 24% of votes by eligible voters.

For those who grew up in the 20th century and saw the face of fascism, man’s capacity for hate and inhumanity always lurk beneath the surface. And this should remind us that America is an idea, a fragile idea, that can only be preserved by vigilance and courage.  Other countries can become fascist or communist and retain their identity.  Not so with America.  America isn’t a race, a religion or an indigenous population, and the identity of our revolutionary, multicultural and immigrant experiment is what we believe – our history, tradition, precedents, democratic principles, and government of, by and for The People.

So how should the American majority respond?  Pretty much the same way Americans have always responded to threats both foreign and domestic, with what Gopnik calls “shared defiance”.   It’s in our DNA.  The judiciary and Constitutional checks and balances, voting, demonstrating, blue states and sanctuary cities, State Attorneys General, State Department dissenters, telephone calls to Congress, OpEd pieces, and being active within your sphere of influence, are all part of freedom’s tapestry.

Ultimately, political leaders in our democracy are dependent on the trust and support of the majority.  When followers don’t follow, leaders can’t lead.

Roger C. Kostmayer