A message to my American friends

This is an extremely eloquent, heartfelt comment on one of Dan Rather’s Facebook posts, on his page. It brought me to tears. Please repost it far and wide. Thank you.

Shauna Wischnewski Joas

There are several versions of this circulating. It is a manifesto and a call to allegiance. A declaration. A statement of solidarity, if you will.
Some people are saying that we should give Donald Trump a chance, that we should “work together” with him because he won the election and he is “everyone’s president.” This is my response:
•I will not forget how badly he and so many others treated former President Barack Obama for 8 years…
•I will not “work together” to build a wall.
•I will not “work together” to persecute Muslims.
•I will not “work together” to shut out refugees from countries where we destabilized their governments, no matter how bad they might have been, so that we could have something more agreeable to our oligarchy.
•I will not “work together” to lower taxes on the 1%.
•I will not “work together” to increase taxes on the middle class and poor.
•I will not “work together” to help Trump use the Presidency to line his pockets and those of his cronies.
•I will not “work together” to weaken and demolish environmental protection.
•I will not “work together” to sell American lands to companies which then despoil those lands.
•I will not “work together” to enable the killing in any way of whole species of animals just because they are predators, or inconvenient for a few, or because some people want to get their thrills killing them.
•I will not “work together” to remove civil rights from anyone.
•I will not “work together” to waste trillions more on our military when we already have the strongest in the world.
•I will not “work together” to alienate countries that have been our allies for as long as I have been alive.
•I will not “work together” to slash funding for education.
•I will not “work together” to take basic assistance from people who are at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder.
•I will not “work together” to allow torture and “black op” prison sites.
•I will not “work together” to “take their oil.”
•I will not “work together” to get rid of common sense regulations on guns.
•I will not “work together” to eliminate the minimum wage.
•I will not “work together” to support so-called “Right To Work” laws, or undermine, weaken or destroy Unions in any way.
•I will not “work together” to suppress scientific research, be it on climate change, fracking, or any other issue where a majority of scientists agree that Trump and his supporters are wrong on the facts.
•I will not “work together” to criminalize abortion or restrict health care for women.
•I will not “work together” to increase the number of nations that have nuclear weapons.
•I will not “work together” to put even more “big money” into politics.
•I will not “work together” to violate the Geneva Convention.
•I will not “work together” to give the Ku Klux Klan, the Nazi Party and white supremacists a seat at the table, or to normalize their hatred.
•I will not “work together” to deny health care to people who need it.
•I will not “work together” to increase the profits of the insurance companies.
•I will not “work together” to deny medical coverage to people on the basis of an alleged or actual “pre-existing condition.”
•I will not “work together” to increase voter suppression.
•I will not “work together” to normalize tyranny.
•I will not “work together” with anyone who is, or admires, tyrants and dictators.
•I will not “work together” with Donald Trump or anyone who supports him, because I will not allow one man to feed upon the fears of the populace, blaming minorities for their condition or their inability to thrive.
This is the line, and I am drawing it.
•I will stand for honesty, love, respect for all living beings, and for the beating heart that is the center of Life itself.
•I will use my voice and my hands, to reach out to the uninformed, and to anyone who will LISTEN for what’s really so dangerous about Donald Trump, his friends and the Big Lie they spin to the world:
That “winning”, “being great again”, “rich” or even “beautiful” is anything more than nothing… When others are sacrificed to glorify its existence.
PS: If you agree, please copy and re-post. #RESIST

Please… Defend the Consititution of the USA.

22 thoughts on “A message to my American friends

  1. I love it!
    Thank you sooooo much for sharing this Ellie! As a black woman in the US, I can’t believe what I am seeing happen here. We are moving backward in every sense of the word. I think now some have come to realize how lucky we were to have had President Barack Obama.
    Now he was a class act!
    And so are you, my friend 🙂
    Thanks again 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I know! It’s just a horror show!!!! We here are so incredulous, it’s like WHAAATTTT?????? And OH, coming right after Obama?!?! Did u see the cheers he got in NY the other day, just coming out of a Starbucks???!!!??? 😀 I love that man!!!! And miss him!!!! He was way too good/smart/classy for half of your country, I have to say! And his family 😦 (sniff) Maybe one day you’ll have President Malia Obama. It could happen!!!!!! xoxox

      Liked by 3 people

      1. I agree that Barack Obama was a great president, but personally, I would rather not see Malia Obama as president – I think it would be good if we could get away from political dynasties in the U.S. I would prefer to see some younger people with some experience in politics, rather than people whose name we already know from the fact that they are related to someone famous.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. I understand you don’t want a dynasty… just because? How about Sasha? Just kidding. Look, Robert, I didn’t mean to have her “installed” immediately after college with no life experience! I mean after years of relevant work, and living! Look, we don’t know what the future holds. But I sure wouldn’t mind someone in charge of the US who has great values as modelled by the Obamas. Respect for the people, for the law, for the country. Hard work. Kindness.

          Liked by 2 people

        2. I think that political dynasties are dangerous because it gives the impression that not just anyone can grow up to be president. It’s been a long-held belief in the United States that any child could grow up to be president. With the domination of the Bushes and Clintons in the last 30 years, and now the current president ,it is starting to feel differently – my children have commented that “you have to be rich to become president”, which I couldn’t imagine myself saying when I was a child. Of course, political dynasties are not new – we had the Adams in the 19th century, and the Roosevelts and Kennedys in the 20th century. I would also like to see a presidential candidate with the qualities you mention, and if that person is related to a famous person or politician, I would probably vote for that person too, but I would rather vote for someone who is slightly farther from out the inner circle of current powerful people.

          Liked by 1 person

      2. EXACTLY! It never ceases to amaze me how racism and politics can make people dislike him so much that they would be willing to vote against their own best interest just to keep him from ‘succeeding.’
        Now that doesn’t make, as we say in the South, a lick of sense!
        LOL!!!
        I have literally had white friends tell me that they didn’t like him because he was too ‘uppity’ —-SERIOUSLY!!!!
        I guess he didn’t know his place–and thank God he didn’t!

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Robert, in answer to your March 3rd morning comment, it’s ironic that your kids said they thought one has to be “rich” to be president. You should’ve pointed them to Barack Obama’s background. As he famously said in his early speeches, he is a living testament to the fact that ANYone can be president. Yes, there are many factors, but being personally wealthy isn’t one of them. Nor is being related to a former president. Multo dollars would have to be raised to achieve an effective campaign, but personal wealth? Not really necessary. My two cents.

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  2. “I have literally had white friends tell me that they didn’t like him because he was too ‘uppity’ ” – NO WAY!!!! OMG G, what kind of a backwater is your state anyway. Arghhhhhhh!!!! Effing unreal!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I know right? It is so strange because I have friends who are otherwise good people but who will defend that confederate flag until—here’s another Southern saying—the cows come home.

      Racism?
      Sexism?
      Xenophobia?
      Prejudice?
      Discrimination?
      Climate Change?
      Animals?

      All non-factors to these folks.
      I’m NOT telling you what I heard, I’m telling you what I KNOW from experience.

      Liked by 1 person

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