I’m not happy with the 45th President of the United States. He is a self admitted sexual abuser. He is a bully. He is racist. He is a misogynist. He is thin skinned and self absorbed. He is a compulsive liar. He is without any of the qualifications necessary to lead our nation. And yet, enough people supported him that he is our 45th President. I don’t like it. But I cannot change it. Saying he is not my President does not face the reality that we all live in a country that will be governed by him for some period of time

I will resist his every action if he follows through on campaign promises to take away people’s health care, destroy the environment, ignore science, and implement racist policies. I will support him if he can actually find common ground and implement sensible policies that have the best interests of the American people as their goal. I can support infrastructure improvements. I can support sound foreign policy. I can support efforts to expand healthcare to make it more accessible and affordable. Do I think he will implement these things? No. Not for a minute. But one must have hope. We must have something positive to think about.

I will never, ever respect him. Respect is earned. It is not provided to you by taking a job or holding an office. His attitude toward women, Muslims, Mexicans, disabled people, and essentially all minorities prevents me from ever respecting him. Quite simply, respecting him is an insult to all those he has denigrated on his rise to power.

We must hold him accountable. I fear what is coming. I hope I am wrong. But I know I am not alone in my fears. Much of the Republican party did not support him until it became clear that he was their only hope to take back the Presidency. That is reprehensible. We must hold the Republican party responsible for what they have created. He was nominated by Republicans. He ran as a Republican. He is a Republican. They will be held responsible for his missteps, or, should he prove us all wrong, his successes.

If he takes away healthcare from millions of Americans, we must hold the President and the GOP congress accountable. It will literally mean that people die because of their actions. Americans will die. Good, hard working, citizens of this country that need health care but cannot get it because they cannot afford it and cannot get reasonable health care coverage will die.

If he fails to listen to the intelligence community and Americans die on his watch, he will be responsible. Republicans will be responsible. His attitude that he knows more than the intelligence services is extraordinarily dangerous. He skipped intelligence briefings and made it clear that he is not able to read long documents. He wants information to be consolidated into single pages. The world is not neat like this. The dangers we face are complex. Intelligence is a nuanced art with very few sure things. If he blows it, we will hold him and the Republican party responsible.

If he follows through on promises that result in a trade war, we will hold him accountable. If he acts recklessly and without proper guidance, it could cost jobs. America is more than manufacturing. Keeping jobs here is certainly a good goal. As long as those jobs pay well and support Americans. But the world is a complex place, not nearly so simple as he paints. Enacting tariffs and protectionist laws will have far reaching consequences. It will hurt our ability to sell products elsewhere in the world. If he screws this up, we will hold him and the Republican party responsible.

If he enacts laws that discriminate against women, minorities, disabled people, the LGBTQ community, or anyone, we will resist. We will rise up and we will fight him in anyway we can. Our constitution protects all citizens equally. If he acts to restrict rights of some, he will be failing to uphold his duty to the country. We will hold him and the Republican party responsible.

We have many fears. They are not without justification. He is not all powerful, but his office does hold a tremendous amount of power and responsibility. If he does not wield the power with great responsibility, we will hold him accountable.

We will survive. We will fight. We will become stronger.