I have read several letters urging those who voted for Hillary Clinton — winner of the popular vote — to be gracious in defeat and unify behind President-elect Donald Trump. As well-meant as such exhortations are, they ignore the fact that, based on Trump’s rhetoric and the team of advisers he has assembled, many Americans are frightened for our future and the future of our country. There is too much at stake to sit back and pretend it’s business as usual.
Trump actively encouraged a nativist coalition that includes overt racists. He acquiesced in Russian meddling in an American election. He has promised to curtail press freedom and impose the socio-religious preferences of a right-wing Christian minority on the country.
Trump has pledged to nominate Supreme Court justices who will enable all these depredations while supporting business-friendly laws that sustain the creation of a corporate oligarchy.