People who object to protesters expressing dissatisfaction with the president of the United States are forgetting something important. Article I of the Bill of Rights of The United States Constitution provides for the following:
“The right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” That would be the First Amendment, which we don’t hear nearly as much about as the Second Amendment. Folks who chose not to march or protest when Obama was president, even though they speak of being equally as disappointed about his election, need to take responsibility for their choices. Citizen protest is a bedrock value of this nation. The colonists who objected to England’s rule wrote letters, pamphlets and newspaper articles, as well as demonstrated against what they found so egregious, and ultimately fought the Revolutionary War to gain freedom. If everyone had stayed home believing protest was impolite, we might still be a part of the British Commonwealth. Speaking out about our values in a peaceable manner is as much our right as the right to bear arms!
People protesting Trump’s ban on Muslims from seven countries in North Africa and the Middle East is, in fact, objecting to the fact he isn’t respecting and following our Constitution. He isn’t “honoring our rule of law and putting our beloved country above personal politics and gain.” The Constitution is being ignored, and I believe it is the responsibility of the citizenry to hold the president accountable. Marching in protest is one way, writing letters, making phone calls, running for public office, attending meetings with your congressperson are all ways to take action. Staying home and being silent doesn’t accomplish anything. We need to “be the change we wish to see in the world.” (Mahatma Gandhi).
Thomas Jefferson said, “I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and to bid defiance to the laws of their country.”
Laurie Schreiber
Lake Stevens
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