Why I am marching
I love my country and I care about it. It’s been said it is a city on a hill, a beacon of democracy and a beacon of morality. The US has held other nations to account for corrupt elections, corruption in their governments and by their government officials. It has upheld the standards of the freedom of the press and the freedom of speech which Trump has attacked most recently at his first press conference in six months when he refused to answer a CNN reporter’s question and said CNN was fake news. He has bullied and intimidated reporters, even most notably Megyn Kelly, Fox News reporter at the time.
Under George W Bush, in particular, but not exclusively, has promoted democracy around the world, particularly in the Middle East. The hallmark of this democracy was free, unfettered elections. Ironic then, as today, Trump is inaugurated as President, there are serious and credible reports put forward by the nation’s intelligence agencies, that Russians, by Putin’s orders, have interfered in the US election in November. However, the Republican Party and Republican Congressional leaders, with a few notable and courageous exceptions (thank you John McCain) have been troubled by this. Rather, they want to skate over this and say it doesn’t matter. It does matter and is a matter of national security.
Below are my reasons for joining the March for Women tomorrow, January 21st, 2016.
- Symbolic Trump violates norms of presidency in so many ways. As a patriot, my duty to protest, to say it’s not okay and to say I will be holding him to account to act ethically, morally and with decency to all regardless of sex, race, gender, dis/ability and ethnicity. Tomorrow, I will say this President does not represent the highest values of this country and should be held to account. He has spent the time from the election until now gloating over his victory, calling his opponents losers and has patently refused to try and heal the divides that he stoked during the 2016 Presidential Election Campaign. It’s not on.
- Most importantly, as a feminist who believes in the equality of women, I do not agree with the new President with respect to his treatment of women. It is not okay to sexually harass women and say grab them by the pu$$y, something which the President was recorded as saying. More than 20 women have accused him of sexual harassment. His statement has been used to legitimize groping and sexual harassment of women by others. It is not okay. After the tape came out where he said he could grab women by the pussy, thousands of women shared how they have been raped, sexually abused and sexually harassed including several my own friends, myself and relatives. Contrast this to Joe Biden who’s campaigned against domestic and sexual abuse as Vice President. Women’s rights are human rights!
- He has mocked the disabled, accused a Mexican judge of bias because of his ethnicity, he’s displayed bigotry on numerous occasions.
- By marching, I will be standing up and speaking out against the hypocrisy of Republican Party officials, party activists, Congressional leaders and Evangelical Christian spokespeople like Franklin Graham, Jr., Paula White and Jerry Falwell, Jr. who hold Trump to a different moral standard than Democratic Presidents and leaders. I am a Christian and I expected better from evangelical Christians who were willing to excuse Trump of behaviour that they’ve never tolerated before. This ranges from his treatment of women, his sexual infidelities, his corruption and clear conflicts of interest and his unwillingness to confront Russia for its interference in the US election. Ronald Reagan, the Cold Warrior personified, has to be spinning in his grave.
- Trump is a minority president who campaigned and capitalized on fear and anger. By joining the March, I say I prefer the approach of love and hope. By joining the M Also, I want to say that he lost the popular vote by 3 million people. He does not have a clear mandate to make sweeping changes in the country and where I disagree with him, I will campaign and protest and lobby for alternative policies as is my right and responsibility as an American citizen.
- I disagree with any attempt to quarantine Muslim American citizens in the way in which Japanese American citizens were interred during World War II. Muslim Americans are not the enemy. ISIS is.
- I disagree with his intent to build a wall between Mexico and the United States Walls are never the answer. Just ask Israel. Rather, how can we build bridges to Mexico and its citizens and address the issues presented by immigration, in a fair, humane and compassionate way. Building literal walls doesn’t work.
- Russian intervention in the election needs to be properly investigated and the findings made public. If Trump’s campaign officials or Trump himself are shown to have cooperated, then impeachment proceedings should begin immediately. If they are not, then that’s great news. I would far rather they not have colluded as it’s troubling and worrying to think that they might have done.
- I am marching for transparency and ethics in governance. Trump’s conflicts of interest need to be mapped, outlined, investigated and made transparent. His cabinet appointees should not be confirmed until they’ve been properly vetted by the Ethics committee. Trump needs to step away from his companies and sign them over as he promised. As of the Inauguration, 20th of January, he had failed to do so.