What's next?

I don't have an easy answer for "what's next." I wish I did. I am shocked at how quickly the new POTUS is issuing executive orders as he attempts to strip away some basic tenants of life I thought were secure. 

According to my Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, his list of actions during his first five days are: 

DAY 1:
- Repealed Obama's Federal Housing Administration insurance assistance which increases the cost of buying homes for working class and first-time homebuyers.
- Removed the LGBTQ+ section from White House as if LGBTQ+ people/community don’t exist.
- Removed Climate Change section from the White House website as if scientists made it up.
- Signed incomprehensible Executive Order to “scale” back Affordable Care Act

DAY 2:
- Sent White House Press Secretary out to lie about the attendance of the inauguration.
- Lied at CIA headquarters about the attendance of the inauguration.
- Casually suggested stealing oil from Iraq – this is a war crime.
- Banned the Department of Interior and National Parks Service from tweeting.

DAY 3:
- Sent KellyAnne Conway to defend Sean Spicer’s lies by calling them “alternative facts’ thus insulting our intelligence.

DAY 4:
- Reinstated the Global Gag Rule, threatening the lives and safety of millions of women worldwide.
- Instituted a hiring freeze on federal workers, including the understaffed Veterans Affairs Department.

DAY 5:
- Reiterated unfounded and absurd claim that 5 million illegal votes were cast in 2016 election.
- Banned the EPA from tweeting.
- Signed executive actions to push forward Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines thereby undermining federal environmental review process.

Pretty massive way to pull the carpet out from under many of our feet. Since then he has announced a plan to register Muslims, and build a wall between the US and Mexico (which the Mexicans will reimuburse us for, because that's what always happens). It gets more absurd every day.

How I plan to respond on social media:

1) Not say anything about his physical appearance

2) Not say anything negative about his wife and family (positive stuff is still allowed)

3) Call him out on his actions when the information comes from reputable sources, such as a member of Congress or Senate. Trying to not spread AltFacts or Fake News.

4) Highlight the actions I am taking to encourage others to join me.

To quote Ed Koch: "If you agree with me on 9 out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist." Friends who voted third party or voted directly for Trump, it is okay to disagree with him sometimes, just like it was okay for me to not always agree with President Obama, but when you do disagree please speak out, too. We are in this together for at least another 4 years. May these years not destroy our country as many of us fear it will. If we grow stronger (and by "we" I mean minorities and women, as well as wealthy white men) then I will be the first to apologize for being worried. The trends I am seeing so far have the hairs on the back on my neck standing at attention. 

I am willing to disagree with you politically, but I am not interested in reading insults about the former POTUS, his wife, or his family. Let's keep an air of respect as we disagree.