TO THE EDITOR:
I volunteered time and money to get Hillary Clinton elected; I’m as unhappy as anyone with the result. But I think there are reasons to keep our heads up.
Big picture: Hillary won the popular vote. Maybe one day that will matter more than the Electoral College, but for now it’s worth remembering that more Americans wanted her than Trump, that our values are not defeated. I don’t agree with hardly anything the Tea Party folks favor, but when they faced electoral defeat they organized like crazy to “get our country back.” We need to do the same; listen to the words of labor organizer Joe Hill when he faced execution: “Don’t mourn — organize!”
What to expect from President Trump? I don’t think he has any true core political beliefs; you can find him saying almost anything about a range of issues. Now that he’s in office, maybe his priority will be to keep going with divisiveness, but it’s at least possible that his true value is to get things done. We’ll need to fight the former but look for common ground on the latter. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the impact of the Trump administration was to get this country back to people being able to stand up for their values but in the end to work together for the good of all?
Joe Swain Jr.
Class of ‘77
