Dear Senator Gillibrand

Dear Representative Velazquez

I’m writing to thank you very much for your decision to stay away from the inauguration next Friday.  I am very grateful for the stand that you have taken.

Donald Trump won this office through a campaign of hatred toward half of America.  Since his election he has not wavered from a message of hatred toward half the country.  He will be the constitutionally legitimate President of the United States and I have always believed that if you cannot feel respect for the individual you show respect for the office. However, the inauguration celebrations, apart from constitutionally mandated taking of the oath, are fundamentally a celebration of the individual. As long as he displays contempt and hatred toward half the country and makes no effort to heal the wounds he has created there is no obligation of any of us to celebrate this person.

Going back to the constitutionally mandated part of the proceedings, the taking of the oath: This person will take an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”. No one has ever doubted the intent of a previous President at the time of their inauguration to faithfully exercise the requirements of that oath, even if we have different views of how we interpret the Constitution. Donald Trump however has made it abundantly clear that he has no knowledge of or any interest in the contents of the Constitution and when he has spoken on topics germain to it he has made it absolutely clear that he is contemptuous of its principles. The taking of this oath on Friday will be a travesty. No one is under any obligation to celebrate this farce and unless between now and Friday he shows that he has acquired some level respect for the Constitution staying away from this farce is a display of love of country. Trump is not normal, and until he takes steps to normalize himself refusing to normalize him in any way is the patriotic thing to do.

I am therefore very, very grateful for the stand that you have taken and am very proud of you as my Congresswoman.

Thank you

N. Turkuler Isiksel  November 13, 2016

Don’t count on the elaborate system of checks and balances instituted by the founders. James Madison’s ingenious machine was designed to withstand the mundane incompetence, greed, and short-sightedness of politicians, but it cannot weather the onslaught of an aspiring tyrant hell-bent on destroying it. Consider that the separation of powers, the primary mechanism Madison envisaged for holding tyranny at bay, is all but irrelevant while Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the presidency—particularly once they get their hands on key federal judicial appointments. All autocrats set about dismantling countervailing power structures, but with the inauspicious ideological alignment of all three branches of government, Trump won’t even have to try.

https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/trump-victory-regime-change-lessons-autocrats-erdogan-putin