It’s no surprise to see Trump lash out at others and reject the concept of individual accountability. A child of the 1% with no discernible talent, skills or virtue beyond that of self promotion. A man in constant need of validation because deep down he fears he will never live up to daddy’s expectations, never be truly loved. A man with an ego so fragile he can’t deal with dissent or opposition.

Trump has spent a lifetime avoiding accountability. He justifies his deplorable behavior through incredible displays of cognitive dissonance; scapegoating, and otherwise shifting blame to the underprivileged, the disenfranchised, and those less able to defend themselves. He silences critics with bribes, quid pro quos and empty promises and delights in his ability to leverage his advantages to evade individual consequences for his action.

This is to be expected. He was raised and operates with a privileged inherited CEO mentality. One who answers to nobody but a family trust or Board of Directors. The type who believes that “regardless of anyone’s past experience only they know what is best, and if it goes wrong it’s because others failed to execute.” Trump cannot be expected to understand a nation that was founded on the very concept of “we, the people.” A nation whose birth rejected the notion that a single authoritarian knew best.

We are of a nation of informed consent. We must not be driven by our insecurities. Fear is a powerful motivator but we were founded on the belief that all people, regardless of race, religion, gender or creed are born with certain inalienable rights.

For better or worse the office of the President of the United States represents our values. We cannot continue to ignore the damage he is doing to our reputation and pretend it does not define us all. We, the people, are responsible for those actions and behaviors we observe each day and fail to condone.

The Women’s March, March For Our Lives, Blue Wave and relatively low level Mueller indictments are nice but ineffective in the larger constitutional battle ahead. They fail to reign in the worst impulses of our Comrade in Chief and his caravan of the corrupt. They are effective mechanisms of protests that raise issue awareness or promote systemic change, but they also bide time for the ruling Executive. Affords the opportunity to produce a manufactured counter narrative. To use his past television experience to craft a set of alternative facts that will marginalize, belittle, conflate, de-legitimize and, if necessary, squash any dissent and opposition.

America must learn from the ongoing French protests. Understand that to force change you must commit to it. One off protests and mid term elections are not enough. If we believe our will is not being followed and the government is no longer acting for the people then we must drive that narrative in ways that are impossible to ignore. We must take to the streets daily. Refuse to accept “many sides” or “who know” or “anyone could have done it” as an answer.

If we are to insist that we are a nation in which all men, regardless of race, gender, religion or national origin are free and equal. If we believe in the Bill of Rights that put the great American experiment in motion, that guaranteed certain freedoms for all Americans and bestowed inalienable rights on all mankind. Then we must act to defend it when we see it being trampled upon.