Here’s what we WON’T do when Trump takes over

We won’t shut up and give up – we’ll stand up and power up

As democracy defenders, we’re facing hard times when authoritarian Donald Trump takes office Jan. 20. But what will we do about it? For now, I’m focusing on what we won’t do:

We won’t shut up.

We won’t retreat from the news.

We won’t lose our ability to be outraged.

We won’t be duped by a fake “crisis” that serves as a pretext to send the military against American citizens and turn our country into a police state.

We won't sit on our couch and watch protests on TV when we should be out protesting in front of the TV cameras.

We won’t tolerate abuse of women simply because the person who won the last presidential election is a sexual predator.

We won’t get exhausted. Instead, we’ll pace ourselves, find ways to relax and enjoy life, and be ready to go at the crucial moments.

We won’t accept the notion that “all politicians lie.” More politicians lie when the news media and public accept lying and thus make it advantageous to lie.

We won’t forget to be kind.

We won’t expect the New York Times, the Washington Post and the TV networks to wake up and seriously confront the threat of fascism when they didn't do it before the election.

We won’t forget that Trump won by just 1.5 percentage points — not a mandate, and certainly not a statement that most Americans want to surrender their rights to him.

We won't trust anything that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says about public health.

We won’t let Christofascism make us forget the good acts of Christians. We’ll urge Christians who follow Christ’s teachings to publicly oppose people who call themselves Christians but follow Trump’s teachings instead.

We won’t forget that immigration makes our country richer, both culturally and economically.

We won't backbite other pro-democracy advocates just because we disagree with them on style points and other minor issues.

We won't lose our sense of humor, which sustains us in difficult times.

We won’t accept slander and disrespect toward public workers, who do jobs that benefit us all. In fact, we’ll celebrate any bureaucratic red tape they can create to stall the cruelties that Team Trump attempts.

We won’t pretend that anyone who voted for Trump is a “moderate.”

We won’t stop supporting public education, which creates a more cohesive and equitable society. And we won’t stop fighting against school vouchers that starve public schools while helping well-off parents pay for private schools.

We won't call Trump “the leader of the free world,” and we’ll mock any journalists who do.

We won’t be irrational optimists. We’ll recognize the potential for the worst to happen, based on our understanding of the history of fascism. This will not cripple us – it will motivate us.

We won’t pretend racism is “economic anxiety.”

We won’t admire people simply because they assemble large piles of money. Instead we’ll admire people who do the right things with their money.

We won't give up on American democracy. Instead we’ll remember a famous saying: “Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing – after they’ve exhausted all other possibilities.”

We won’t dismiss the possibility that friends and family who voted for Trumpism will abandon it when they see the damage it does.

We won’t let the Republican culture of hate cause us to hate our fellow human beings.

We won’t give up our values – our sense of right and wrong.

And we won’t lose hope. Because if we stand strong, we won’t lose our country.

We won’t.