Why I will listen to DJT take the presidential oath of office

Why I will listen to DJT take the presidential oath of office January 19, 2017

Page One of the constituion of the USCan a man whose world revolves primarily, or even only, around himself and his need to be powerful make a decent and responsible President for the whole of the US?


Friday, January 20, I head to Austin. I’ve explained the reasons why I chose to march there more fully here. I will be on the road at the time of the actual transfer of power from Obama to Trump.

I know many are choosing to boycott the inauguration, either by not showing up in person or by refusing to watch it on TV.

But I will listen. I want to hear this man take the oath of office. “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

The hope of the US

Those words, spoken in front of millions with a hand on the Trump family Bible, represent the hope of this country. There’s no going back on them. The moment DJT, or any other POTUS, chooses to attack rather than defend this country is the moment he/she becomes subject to impeachment proceedings.

I genuinely hope I am wrong in my assessment of DJT. I do believe it is not a bad thing to shake up hidebound agencies, to see things from fresh viewpoints. I’m all for finding ways to re-energize our economy, to create well-paying jobs for US citizens.

DJT will hardly be the first vulgar man to occupy the Oval Office. Think Lyndon B. Johnson.

DJT will hardly be the first petty, thin-skinned man to occupy the Oval Office. Think Richard Nixon.

DJT will hardly be the first corrupt man to occupy the Oval Office or the first to work on enriching his personal coffers in the process of holding all that power. Think Bill Clinton.

I will follow Jesus

But above all, above my current obsession with politics, I am a woman who decided a long time ago that I would follow Jesus to the best of my ability.

That decision pushed me onto some very strange paths and into a lot of dead-ends. It took years of study and discipline and practice for my faith life to develop into something that would integrate what I said I believed with what I actually believed and acted on.

I have ultimately ended up in what is called “liberal” Christianity because, in that world, I don’t have to deny my mind and my femaleness in order to embrace more fully the Mystery of the Holy One.

I don’t even pretend to think I have all the answers, but I do think I’m pretty good at asking all the questions.

And so I ask, “Can a man whose world revolves primarily, or even only, around himself and his need to be powerful make a decent and responsible President for the whole of the US?”

  • Will he work for the disabled?
  • For people who are neither white or rich?
  • For women whom he is not able to see as beautiful or able to satisfy his sexual appetites?
  • For people who don’t fit the sexual mainstream?
  • For people who don’t fit the religious mainstream?
  • For people who take the promise on the Statue of Liberty seriously?
  • For people who just don’t like him but who are willing to see his presidency become a success?

That’s what we have to see.

This will be a promise that DJT can’t wiggle out of or insist he never said. Because on January 20, 2016, he will say: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

So help him, God. And so help us as citizens of the US.


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