“A person in a state of dread lives in a miserable forever present. A person in a state of dread is imminently controllable. The choice to protest, on the other hand, is the choice to take control of one’s body, one’s time, and one’s words, and in doing so to reclaim the ability to see a future.”

– Masha Gessen

In my state of dread over the election of DJT*, I keep coming back to one very germane fact: The majority of the American people (54%) did not vote for him. And I presume a sizable chunk of his voters, pulled that lever begrudgingly.

*I can’t bring myself to name him, especially as President. I’m looking for a workable alternative. So far I’ve considered: Trumplisconi, Mr. Minority President Trump, President 46% Trump, Mr. Unpopular President Trump, Abnormal President Trump, or just President Donny J (which, to tell the truth, sounds about right because it conveys his core identity as a celebrity and affords him about as much respect as he’s given the Office of the President so far). I welcome your votes or other suggestions.

So “we who are repelled by the person of DJT,” are in the majority. We need to use our voices. Each one of us needs to find ways to act, which likely means going outside of our comfort zones in one way or another, to save our democracy and ourselves. That sounds corny and hyperbolic – words I never thought I’d say. Sadly, there’s no corn, just these truths which are self-evident:

After 18 months of spewing vile and divisive rhetoric against women, minorities, Muslims, people with disabilities, etc., and exhibiting not one iota of interest in learning or preparing to be president, DJT starts his relationship with the American people in deficit — a deficit in trust, in integrity, in mutual respect, in competence, and in leadership. Since being elected, he’s done virtually nothing to lessen these deficits, nothing to unify the country (in fact, if anything he’s doubling down on the divisiveness, taking a victory lap so he can gobble up the leftovers and lick the plate of rapt adoration that endlessly gushes from his peeps). Unless and until he starts singing a different tune, we don’t owe him “a chance.” We don’t owe him respect. We don’t owe him a damn thing. Rather, he owes us, bigly.

Since being elected, DJT’s initial actions signal autocratic and regressive “code reds” on multiple fronts —

• Vast and disturbing conflicts of interest he refuses to address meaningfully
• A cabinet full of unqualified hacks that collectively signals intent to ravage our social safety net and civil rights protections, bolster our billionaire class, and abandon the survival of our planet
• Steve Bannon as Chief Strategist — a dangerous propagandist, malefactor and chaos-sower who has enabled a cornucopia of hate movements — or for short, a vile human being
• Ignorance, arrogance or both with regard to international relations as revealed by his casual, uninformed and strategically dangerous calls with world leaders
• A clear effort to disregard, if not dismantle the capacity of the press to fulfill its role as the ultimate arbiter of the truth.  For example, he has held no press conferences, and I suspect never plans to do so. Not to mention no traveling press corps.

DJT, together with Republican establishment that now controls all of Congress and most of the statehouses, has at his disposal all the levers of government to advance whatever interests he so chooses. And he has shown us what those interests are: His businesses and personal wealth, his popularity, and his taste for revenge. Further, he has shown his willingness to cross lines, violate norms, and disregard our democratic institutions and values to serve those interests.

DJT has secured the presidency not for the country, but for himself. And the extreme Right have burrowed in, like a parasite to a host, aiming to thrive.

Like most people, I’m still sorting all of this out. But for now, until such time that this new president acts to address the deep deficits he’s amassed with the American people, and the far right is defanged, I intend to trade my dread for protest.

For my personal call to action, I commit to:

1. Starving Donny J (name seems fitting here) of popularity, depriving him –and the corporate “entertainment” media who nourish him with unearned airtime in lieu of real news — of my eyeballs, ears, clicks,  attention or affirmation of any kind. I will not watch the inauguration.  I will boycott all things “Trump” — his hotels, his wife’s and daughter’s merchandise.
2. Seeking actual truth by being a hyper-discerning consumer of information and news.  I will limit my intake to the very few print/online/broadcast sources and journalists who have demonstrated fidelity to the truth, ability to resist false equivalencies, and journalistic integrity.
3. Engaging more fully and directly in our representative democracy to promote issues of importance to me.   I will contact my elected officials frequently, for example to demand hearings on DJT’s conflicts of interest and condemnation of Bannon’s role in this administration.  I will actively engage in the 2018 midterm and statewide elections, to begin to right the ship .  And I will participate in organized forms of protest in support of key issues of importance to me.
4. Supporting and engaging more deeply with advocacy organizations that advance major causes of greatest importance to me. My personal priorities would include those focused on climate change, voting rights, reproductive rights, and civil rights.
5. Acting with kindness and inclusiveness in my everyday life, and if necessary providing protection to those most vulnerable and marginalized by this new administration.

Those are my marching orders. What are yours?