Leaning in... Why am I doing this?

I voted for Hillary Clinton.  I'm a member of the Pantsuit Nation, although I didn't wear white OR a pantsuit on Election Day.  While I live in a liberal enclave in the Pacific Northwest, I try to get out of my "echo chamber" of a community.   I'm a forty-something white girl with a job in K-12 education.  I'm the mom of a son who is still in the single digits. 

I used to live in New York City where Hillary Clinton was my senator and Donald Trump was just my much wealthier neighbor who I never actually saw walking down the street.  But I certainly walked past his properties from time to time. 

I used to live in Indiana and many of my family members still live there and likely voted for Trump as well.   

I respect the role of the President of the United States but I cannot respect the President-elect.  He has shown too much of his character to let me believe that he will be an effective leader of our country.  I realize that there are many on the right that have encouraged people who believe as I do to give their leader a chance.  I am not in a mood to be conciliatory. 

I think acceptance and conciliation are dangerous for our country. 

This is not the time for people who disagree with Mr. Trump to ignore what goes on in his government.  This is the time to lean right in.  We need to watch him closely as well as his advisers and to speak up often and strongly against his policies.  

For me, this is also a time to get educated.  I don't think that I know nearly enough about how my government works.  Ignorance is dangerous for our country.  

This blog is a journal of how my life and the lives of my friends and family are changing because of this regime change.  It's a record of the work that I intend to do to better educate myself on my country.   And I'm using this blog as a record of injustice when I see it happening.