Cry, My Beloved Country

I cried for my country today.  It wasn't because we have a new president (one I didn't vote for, by the way), but because of the divisions we the people of the United States, not the president, continue to create.  Today, instead of celebrating the privilege given them by those they represent to actively participate in the bloodless transfer of power in the most successful experiment of a republic ever attempted, 68 members of Congress did not attend the inauguration out of spite.  68 active, elected officials.  Shame on you.  Last night, Michael Moore led a rally held outside Trump Tower in Manhattan filled with protestors demanding a "legitimate" president and promising to oppose every policy and program implemented by the man who won our country's legally sanctioned election.  Shame on you, too.  Over the past three months, I've scrolled past innumerable articles and memes on social media platforms posted and liked by people I respect and value filled with accusations and mountains of derisive adjectives aimed at anyone who didn't vote/believe/support/endorse their world view.  Shame on all of us, America.

I usually stay fairly silent on the subject of politics because I am of the belief that you can't argue people out of theirs.  However, I started this blog because I wanted to have a platform to use when I had something to say.  I have something to say today.  If you want to argue with me, don't wait for a response.  I realize your views are just as valid as I believe mine to be, and they deserve the respect I expect mine to receive.  You're welcome to go start your own blog, and I will thoughtfully read what you have to say.  That's why I love America.  I LOVE America.  Nowhere else in the world are my ideas and right to be heard valued as they are here.  Nowhere else would I find the privileges and opportunities given to me in this country and protected as rights just because I am human.  Over the past 200-plus years, men and women have DIED protecting the idea of America, not to mention the actual soil of it.  This country is a gift.  Our freedom is a gift. We owe a tremendous debt to everyone who has gotten us this far.  What is happening here now, in OUR country, this minute, is a disgrace.  

I think you all know what I'm talking about.  I don't care what party or candidate you did or continue to support; we are all guilty to some degree.  Simply by allowing it to continue, you and I are implicated.  Maybe you didn't resign from one of the musical groups that agreed to perform today in protest or plan to march with a group of angry women within sprinting distance of the White House, but every time one of us shares an article filled with generalizations and opinions created specifically to wound or bases our opinion of someone's character on who they voted for, we are all culpable.  I don't expect it to stop. But I can stop. You can stop. We can teach our children to stop.  

The facts are these.  The 2016 election is over.  Immutable history.  Regardless of how you felt about the outcome of said election, It. Is. OVER.  The result of it will not change, no matter how many tantrums are thrown.  A new president was sworn in today. The AMERICAN president was sworn in today.  OUR president was sworn in today.  As much as I dislike him as a person (oh, and I DO dislike him), I will not hope for him to fail because if he does, my country, my beloved country, fails.  This razor-sharp antagonism between us all has got to end.  IT, not the man who holds the office, will destroy America.  WE will destroy America if it doesn't.  What happens four years from now if our sense of entitlement to violence because we didn't get our way has grown?  In eight years?  In twelve?  Will there continue to be a peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another if we rip our society apart solely for the sake of winning our point?  Will America survive?  The short answer is no.  

So I cried for my country today.  I cried because I want Trump to succeed, but I don't know if he will. I cried because the last eight years have done irreversible damage to the America I wanted to leave to my children.  I cried because not every single one of my fellow citizens supports the dignity of the office of President, if not the man.  I cried because I was overwhelmed by the gift I've been given just by being born in this country.  And I cried because I love America.  With everything I am.  I hope we deserve her.