So, its November 9th. Depending on how you voted, either your revolution came true, or you heard the iron gates of the concentration camp slam shut. Overly dramatic? Reading through posts on nearly every social media platform, I would say it certainly is not.

Quite a while back, I asked what would happen if your candidate does not win? Would you ask for proof of how an individual voted before you helped to pull their vehicle out of the ditch on a snowy night? Apparently, there are some folks hitting that knee jerk reaction. I have seen several statements of “if you voted for [x] delete yourself from my friend’s list now.” Look, I understand that kind of angry response, especially if you were pinning all your hopes for changes in our government to a single individual running for the Presidency of the United States. But the President is only one small piece of that puzzle. The position is the forward-looking face from this country to the rest of the world. Legislative, money-related decisions, treaty-work and even the function of declaring war belongs to the Congress, which gets far fewer looks from the public in any election year. Its because the position is a whole lot less sexier. Nobody in the rest of the world cares about Representative Cattlegrazer whose constituency is the several dozen of folks living in eastern Montana. No international glitz, no sexiness to the position. This is why the Presidency gets such a strong look, or I should say one of the many.

So, Donnie has become the President of the United States. Great. No seriously, great. We survived eight years of Reagan, we will survive four years of Trump. Last night, before I went to bed, I wrote the following on my Facebook status:

….many of us have heard the words from the Gods and Goddesses we work with. We have heard the whispers on the wind. We have seen the signs. We are past the time of preparing. The leading edges of the coming storm arrived a while back. Now the teeth of that storm are here. Now its time to shelter. Now is the time to look out for those less fortunate than you. And for you warriors out there, you know quite well what is going to be expected of you… Be prepared, be aware, be wary, fight when necessary, flee when necessary to survive, help those that cannot defend for themselves. Its time. #thestormishere

Its definitely true. I have written about the coming Storm before. Now, I am not saying its going to look like 1980s communist Russia, but there is a chance that freedoms for many of us are going to be tightly curtailed under this coming administration. Some have prepared for all of this, others have waited until recently to get ready. However, with this coming administration, we – Pagans, LGBTQ, “fringe” religions, and many others – must live our lives being very aware of our environment. We are going to have to be ready to stand up for those who cannot do so for themselves. We are going to have to check on our Elders more frequently. We are going to need to band together in communities of solidarity. We were wanting change, we got some of that. Now, we cannot rely on our government or our political allies to do this. We want change? We are going to have to make that change ourselves. That means taking a stand where we have been in silent reserve to issues. If we want change, we are going to have to this TOGETHER.

Running to Canada might be option for a few. I joked with Mojo and Sparrow of the Wigglian Way that they would meet me at the Washington/Canada border with a duffel bag. They could stuff me in the duffel, and then smuggle me across the border. But that’s wishful thinking. I have a home here, in north Texas. I have three cats that rely on me for their safety and meals. I am not about to leave my furry girls behind. I have friends and extended family here within the United States as well. I will be here to help and harbor them as best I can. I am no warrior, but I will not leave those that I love to be defenseless.

No, running is not the answer. Being completely cutoff from the larger community is not an answer either. I live a long way from either the DFW or OKC Pagan communities. But now is the time to reach out and connect with them. If we are going to make it through the next four years, we are going to have to do it together. Through Solidarity, not being apart. It is far easier to beat an opponent when you can take on a small piece here or there at your leisure. We must stand together, if we are to manage through the storm.

Pointing fingers of blame as to why Donald Trump pulled out a victory for the Presidency does no one any good. Looking at a Clinton candidacy against Trump versus a Sanders candidacy versus Trump does no one any good. Being prepared for the potential curtailment of freedoms for various peoples that do not fit “comfortably” into a Trump vision of America is a better way of looking at things.

I asked before….what would you do if Trump were elected? We are past the point of answering that. His presidency will be here in January as the duly elected individual. The questions that we need to face now are far different. What would you do if the rights of Muslims are curtailed in the name of the war on terrorism? What would you do if the freedoms of LGBTQ individuals are curtailed – simply because of their status? What if the marriages of that same community are considered to be null and void? We have always look to our government o stand for the rights of these individuals. What if the government is the one that is coming to remove the rights of those individuals? If we want change….real, honest, permanent change. We are the ones that are going to have to do it.

In Babylon 5, when the Centauri conquet the Narn for a second time, G’kar issues the following statement before he is forced off the Babylon 5 Council by Londo:

No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power tyrants and dictators cannot stand. The Centauri learned that lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.  –G’kar

…and then there’s my version of that….

….when you push a populace further down, you foment rebellion. Even the most logical individual will lash out at the curtailment of their freedoms. Republicans and Democrats understood this before…after this election cycle is done, its up to us, the citizens of this country to teach it to them again.

We need to take care of each other. We need to look out for those that cannot defend themselves. We need to make sure that those who are less fortunate among us have what we can give to them. You want change? You want permanent change? We have four years to plan to the next election cycle for President. Lick your wounds today. Tomorrow, we need to find a new way.