Why protesting Trump is an absurd exercise in futility

Save your energy and your credibility for a better cause.

A quick scroll though my Facebook feed confirms it. Donald Trump is a fascist dictator, a modern-day Hitler who will register Muslims, undo gay marriage by imperial decree, and divide the world between himself and Putin, 1939 Poland-style. And there's plenty of reporters generating stories to serve as "evidence." Heh.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - We have real problems in this nation. Government corruption, poor police-community relationships, decaying infrastructure, our falling behind in education, and the list goes on.

One problem we don't have is gays having their marriages deleted. Another problem we don't have is Muslims being registered and shuttled into concentration camps. And we also don't have problems with Donald Trump establishing himself as a dictator. But strangely, these are what everyone on social media is freaking out about.

Hyperbole.

First of all, our republic works. It isn't broken in the slightest. Despite fears that the system is rigged, and evidence that this is true, Donald Trump managed to beat Hillary Clinton at her own game, fair and square. Clinton, the queen of the superdelegates (rigged--but legally), won the popular vote by a comfortable margin, but she lost the electoral college big league (bigly). Arguments can be made about voter suppression, but Trump did not pass any of the ID laws or other policies that some say proved decisive.

Trump hasn't been inaugurated yet, but you would think he already ordered Muslims to sew a symbol onto their clothes, perhaps a yellow crescent? More ridiculousness.

A month ago, Americans felt sorry for college age millennials who have been crushed by student loan debt and face an uncertain economy. Not so much today. Shutting down freeways and chanting absurd slogans, the media has revealed this generation to be as spoiled as can be. Upset that your candidate didn't win, you've taken to the streets to protest a dictatorship that doesn't exist. You've raised alarm over problems that haven't materialized, and likely won't.

You've done the political equivalent of going on all-in with nothing more than a pair of twos.

Yes, Trump has said some scary stuff. And yes, he is appointing a cabinet filled with people who have said some upsetting things. But at the end of the day, it is far more likely these people will be practical and moderate rather than extreme.

And despite any past advocacy these people may have advanced, their tenure in a new office, under a new boss, is likely to be remarkably different. They won't be the final decision makers, Trump will be.

And who is Trump? Is Trump the dictatorial, narcissistic, misogynistic, racist, homophobe people fear?

Trump has branded himself as a reaction to the postmodern diversity movement gone amok. Everyone is special, everyone is a winner, here are your trophies. He also branded himself in opposition to the old political establishment, outside of traditional right vs. left politics. He branded himself as a nationalist, not a globalist. Most millennials have never seen a nationalist before. That makes it difficult for them to tell between a nationalist fascist dictator to be, and a garden-variety nationalist president.

So far Trump has made sensible decisions. The moment Chris Christie started to fill his transition team with lobbyists and establishment cronies, Trump fired him.

Trump has also dialed back on his anti-Muslim and anti-gay rhetoric. Some have speculated that Trump's divisive rhetoric was really intended to energize his conservative base, and did not reflect his true intentions, which have little to do with individual rights and much more to do with international politics and business.

The fact is, we really don't know what kind of president Donald Trump will be. And we never truly know until that person takes office. It is equally possibly that Trump turns out to be a bigger peacenik than Obama was or Clinton could have been. It makes sense, peace is generally better for business.

It may be that Trump pens an order or attempts something that can be construed as violence against our Republic. If he orders a ban on people based on religion, or orders the unconstitutional restriction of American citizens, then it'll be time to lose our minds and take to the streets.

But right now, the protests are premature. They discredit the movement, and shame the people who are losing their minds over something that hasn't yet happened, and remains unlikely to happen.

It's time to stop crying over spilled milk. Go back to your classes, learn your studies and prepare yourself to apply your knowledge in the real world that you're soon to meet. The time to take to the streets and protest may come, and when it does, you will know it, and I will know it and I will meet you there.

In the meantime, get back to work.

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