We came across a post on LinkedIn and thought it was so well-written and articulate about the state of affairs in the United States and how it is being perceived around the globe. The once stable USA appears to be rocking itself, bending the trees and breaking instead of bending the branches.
The author Terry Szuplat, Obama speechwriter (2009-17) | Bestselling author of SAY IT WELL: Find Your Voice, Speak Your Mind, Inspire Any Audience | Keynote Speaker | Adjunct Professor, American University | Global Voices Communications
To our friends around the world asking, “What’s going on?” Well… 77 million Americans voted for Trump. 78 million voted for other candidates…
So, no, it was not a “landslide.”
It was another close election in a very divided country.
How are we doing, you ask?
Yes, we’re disheartened.
Like you, we are deeply, deeply concerned about what we’re witnessing every day.
Good, innocent people are being hurt — across the United States and around the world.
There’s a lot of anxiety and fear, especially about what comes next.
But we want you to know — we’re still here.
The majority of Americans did not vote for this.
A majority of Americans, according to the latest polls, do not approve of this.
We know we are not alone.
We are not powerless.
And we’re not going anywhere.
Yes, Trump won the most votes. He won the election. He has a right to pursue his policies.
But we are still a nation of laws, and he does not have a right to violate them.
So we’ll keep standing up for the country we believe in.
For rights enshrined in our Constitution.
For the rule of law.
For justice.
For treating one another with empathy and compassion.
For a country where power comes from the people, not a king.
It may not always make the headlines, but know that we’re standing up.
We’re standing up in town halls in our communities.
We’re standing up in the streets.
We’re standing up in Congress.
We’re standing up in the courts.
We’re standing up in our neighborhoods, schools, companies, libraries, and our organizations.
We’re standing up here online—connecting with, empowering, and inspiring each other and lifting up the stories and voices of Americans who are courageously speaking out.
We’re under no illusions.
This is not a time for blind faith or wishful thinking. It’s not to say that everything will be OK.
It won’t, especially for vulnerable people.
We’re only a few weeks in. This will get worse before it gets better.
As we stand up, sometimes we’ll win. Sometimes we’ll lose. We may not be able to stop the worst abuses.
But we promise you — we’re not giving up.
We’ll do everything we can everywhere we can every day we can to preserve this country that we love.
As a nation, as a people, we’ve been through challenging times before — horrors and hardships that have tested whether this great American experiment could survive.
Slavery.
A civil war.
Segregation.
A Great Depression.
Social unrest.
Mass movements for justice and equality.
And now, as then, we draw strength from each other and what we know in our hearts:
We shall overcome.
We will endure.
Because when it comes to standing up for the country and values we believe in, we’re still guided by those words of long ago:
“Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never.”
Though hard to see right now, the America you know is still here, and — after the storm — we’ll still be standing. 🇺🇸
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