Tittle: A win for Trump was a win for bigotry.

Heres how we resist him

Autor: Owen Jones , editorialist of the newspaper The Guardian

Taken from: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/15/trump-win-bigotry-authoritarian-america

Student: Ana Beln Gallardo Salvador

Donald Trump lost the popular vote: the second Republican candidate to do so yet still
take the presidency in 16 years. He will be the most unpopular presidential candidate
to take office since records began. He has a track record of opposing democratic
norms, inciting violence against protesters and threatening to imprison his main
opponent. His intolerance of political and media dissent is well documented; he now
has the means to do something about it. His ghostwriter has called him a
sociopath whose presidency risks the end of civilisation. He is appointing extremists
to the White House: in a call for vigilance to the American people, Republican strategist
John Weaver declared that the racist, fascist extreme right is represented footsteps
from the Oval Office. His campaign exploited and incited hatred against Muslims,
Mexican immigrants and women. Racists chose to celebrate his victory by launching
hate crimes against American minorities. As John Oliver puts it, Trump being president
is not normal, and his rule should never be normalised. His opponents should refuse
to accept the legitimacy of this president and like Republicans have done before
refuse to co-operate and begin a nonviolent war of political attrition.

Trumpism is, by nature, an authoritarian movement that regards democratic norms as

dispensable if they fail to serve political ends. The aspiration whether realisable or
not is clear: authoritarian societies such as Putins Russia, Erdoans Turkey and
Orbns Hungary that maintain certain democratic trappings as a convenient front. As
Sullivan and others predict, a clampdown on democratic rights and freedoms will only
need a pretext. Perhaps an investigation into his financial dealings and conflicts of
interest. Perhaps, after another unarmed black man is shot dead by the American
police, violence towards protesters could trigger an escalation. Perhaps a terrorist
attack, either at home or abroad.

If the American people simply accept the legitimacy of this president, and they
normalise this would-be tyrant, it will only embolden him. Demoralised and frightened
though millions of Americans are, their new ruler is weaker than he appears. When this
billionaire plutocrat charlatan who poses as a man of the people as he enriches
himself at their expense implements a $5.5tn cut that shamelessly shovels money
into the pockets of affluent and wealthy Americans, he should be resisted. Democrats
should filibuster and obstruct, using the same tactics Republicans have deployed
against Democrats. Protesters should mobilise in every town and city. Civil
disobedience should be employed where necessary. Dont just do it for yourself,
America. The fate of the rest of the world will be determined by your choices.