Make no mistake about it we are still the United States of America! Donald Trump is but a temporary blip on the television screen of who we are. Every day more and more Americans are waking up to the reality that no matter what Donald Trump says or does, it will not take away from the fact that we are one nation, a nation made up of 50 states. We may have differences but we are still one nation, indivisible with justice for all. We, as the United States, make no exception, when we extend our hand of welcome to all who may grace our shores.

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, we are still the shining city on the hill. Our light may have dimmed for a moment or two, but we are still the same gracious and generous people who have welcomed people who have come here on their own storm tossed journey. The Statue of Liberty still beckons those strangers who have yet graced our shores. We are still the nation of that golden door, that welcomes the bedraggled and hopeful people who come here for liberty and the chance to have a life worth living.

There may be some among us, who mistakenly would welcome a dictator to allegedly make our lives easier by claiming to know all and who will do all that will allegedly make us happy and safe. He may claim that we should trust him to know what is best for us. But this is the promise and claim that all dictators claim. Life is seemingly going to be so much easier if only one person decides all. Democracy is messy but we accept that. These individuals who are part of our national quilt of many colors would subject us all to tyranny all in the name of security and order. We Americans totally reject this notion.

Benjamin Franklin was correct, if you are willing to give up liberty for security you deserve neither. Wisdom is timeless.

We are a Republic, upon which we stand united against tyranny. We are regaining our moral compass. More and more people are waking up, realizing that we are stronger united together against hate and bigotry. We are unbowed and proud of who we are as a people.

As the folk song, by Woody Guthrie eloquently speaks to us today, This land is our land, from sea to shining sea, from the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream water. He might have been working the rails across our country at the time, during a time of Great Depression, but he was unbowed and proud. It did not matter how low and poor he had become he was as good and great as anyone in Manhattan. From the poorest among us to the most wealthy we are all Americans, united by our diversity and held together by our common decency.

We are not Russia nor are we anywhere near who they are. Russia under Putin has the stain of murder on their conscience. The United States of America is not and let me repeat this, we are not a country that has condoned the murder of innocents. We are not perfect and we have seen genocide happen among the Native Americans of our country. We are not proud of that, but we are not who Donald Trump recently described in an interview with Bill O’Reilly. America is not Murder incorporated.

If President Trump refuses to live by the law of the land and honor our Constitution, we the people will use the Constitution to lawfully remove Mr. Trump from office. We must respect the office of the President by insuring that we the people have a president who respects the office that he holds. So far President Trump is ruling us by edict, by executive order, he has not shown that he has any willingness to have the 3 branches of government share in this responsibility of co-equal authority.

We have come to where we are in time and history to remember our past and our destiny. We are the United States of America, united by the flame of liberty and indivisible. We will not be torn asunder by any one man. We are better than what President Trump has shown so far. He is not a reflection of our values. Let us stand tall together, united as one people, to condemn the hate and bigotry that President Trump represents.