Open letter to Trump on 1st Amendment

Dear President-Elect Donald Trump,

Stop attacking our First Amendment.

In the past year, you have Tweeted about limiting Press rights, opening libel laws, discriminating based on religion, criticized those who have exercised their freedom of speech such as protesters (also protected by peaceful assembly laws) and the cast of Hamilton, and even threatened people's citizenship over the court-protected act of flag burning.

This is not acceptable from someone who would be our President, because this is our first and most sacred Right and Freedom. It is what separates us from dictatorships. Threatening to diminish our First  Amendment in any way should be seen as nothing less than a personal threat to every citizen of the United States of America.

Get over your ego, and get used to criticism- it comes with the job. Pay attention to how often you exercise your First Amendment, and imagine if your speech and religion were threatened. Do unto others.

Presidency is not a license to make us love you. If someone criticizes you, they probably have a point. You have the choice to be a big crybaby on Twitter like you usually do, or you can look at it as the point where your job as President begins, as chief negotiator, to make our lives better. This is the Land of the Free- if you can't take it, you don't deserve to be our President.

Please prove me wrong- that you can be the best President ever by making us the most free and happy people ever. Help us trust you by being transparent. Otherwise you've set up an Orwellian nightmare. This terrifies me.

Thank you for listening.
Raven Wildchild

Why We Should Care About Trump's Tweets.

Kellyanne  Conway asked reporters, "Why do you care?" when asked about President-elect Trump's tweets scolding the cast of Hamilton. “In other words, who is to say that he can't do that, make a comment, spend five minutes on a tweet and making a comment and still be the president-elect?” she continued. 

Trump posted several tweets on the subject. 
 Donald J. Trump 

✔@realDonaldTrump

The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!

5:56 AM - 19 Nov 2016

He also claimed the cast had "harassed" Pence, though the Veep- elect said he wasn't offended. The cast spoke from the stage, saying “we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir.”

Conway's defensiveness on the issue is notable. She accused the reporter of "assigning malice and wrongdoing to him where it doesn't exist," and attempted to deflect the question by saying that Trump's 100-day agenda was more important. More on that exchange can be found here.

So here's my explanation as to why we SHOULD care.

1. Trump thought it was important enough to post on a public forum, and Twitter is currently the only news we are receiving directly from Mr. Trump. Asking about his opinions is not only valid, but essential to our understanding of the man who holds power over our future.

2. Trump didn't tweet about his first 100 days, leading us to wonder why he's more concerned about lashing out at people with a different opinion than laying out his agenda.

3. He demanded an apology for rudeness, which is one of the most hypocritical things he could do. 

4. Trump exaggerated the offense that wasn't even offensive, and there's a name for this: gaslighting. His behaviors frequently fit the patterns of emotional abuse, and this should not be ignored. This is how domestic abusers talk about the women they batter. 

5. It makes us wonder if Trump will complain EVERY time someone uses free speech to an end with which Trump disagrees, or if he may take a harsher tactic once he is in power. This is truly terrifying. 

6. He's twisting the truth again. Hamilton's cast tried to be polite, even calling Pence "sir," but it doesn't fit Trump's petulant narrative of how "very rude" the whole world is to him, so he "rebranded" it as "harassment." His spreading of misinformation and closing out the press mirror famous grabs for power, and now nothing the state-owned media of Russia says can be trusted. Freedom of the Press and Speech are essential to an informed democracy. 

7. We have been warned about Trump's love for revenge, and though he may candy-coat it with victim-blaming, unleashing his Twitter followers is a classic Trump move to make sure the people he disagrees with truly are harassed. He destroys people financially and socially all the time, and it often starts with a tweet. Will he up the ante as President? Who is next?

8. Has Conway seriously never heard of Orwell's 1984?