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#YesMyPresident*sigh*


"Not my President!" So the defiant chants go up, the hashtag proliferates, and we all feel so much better by rejecting a man so repugnant that we cannot possibly bear the thought that he is our leader. We repudiate the very notion that he represents us, either at home or abroad. #notmypresident feels so right, so good, so just, so defiant.

Yet, it is utterly the wrong stance to take. Barring some last-minute Jill Stein miracle, or a liberal takeover of the electoral college, Donald J. Trump will be the 45th President of the United States. If you live in this country he will be your President.

Why is this the wrong stance to take, when Trump runs counter to every value most decent people hold dear, and when he has trampled on the conventions of the office himself? Because to repudiate form now, at the very moment of our democracy's greatest test, is to give up on those ideals that make our nation great: the rule of law, and the idea that the genius of the system is stronger than any group and certainly any individual.

Ironically, the person most responsible for delegitimizing the office of the President is Trump himself. His relentless "birther" campaign, with its thinly veiled racist underpinnings, was continued far past it was disproven in even the most rabid, fact-averse circles. If we, now on the losing side, claim that Trump is now illegitimate, then we are essentially playing the same game, albeit without the lies and dirty tricks.

Criticize him, denounce him, scrutinize and oppose every action he takes that is immoral, unethical, or just bad policy, but do so with the understanding and acknowledgement that HE IS YOUR PRESIDENT. Because he is. Now just work to make sure that, in January, 2021, he is not.

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