Together with many other Americans, I refused to watch the inauguration as it was happening. I did, however, read the text of the inaugural address. [It's going to take me a while to be able to use the phrase "President Trump" in a sentence -- as in "President Trump's address."]
I was, actually, amazed. If I hadn't known whose speech it was, I might not have guessed Donald Trump. I agree with almost 100% of the things he said. And although I didn't agree with all of them, he invited me to dialogue honestly about disagreements.
If the man who is about to take the reins of government turns out to be faithful to the words expressed in this speech, I will happily be able to speak about President Trump.
Perhaps cynically, I have a hard time understanding how a millionaire is going to represent the millions of people suffering from the hardships of stagnant local economies and generations of inner-city poverty. I have a hard time understanding how our educational system is going to be improved for our beautiful youth if Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education doesn't think the federal government should support education for students with special needs. I'm not even sure how the planet is going to survive if the Secretary of Energy and the head of the EPA don't believe in climate change. To be honest, I don't have a lot more hope than I had yesterday.
But, you know, maybe I do have a LITTLE bit of hope. Maybe he does believe those things he said, and maybe he will try to act on them. If yesterday I had no hope at all and today I have a little bit, that's an infinite improvement, isn't it?
I'm still going to join our local Women's March tomorrow in Managua, Nicaragua. Whether Trump really intends to govern as he said, or whether it's just more political you-know-what, we -- the people -- need to hold him accountable for the general welfare.
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