Million women to march on D.C. (originally written Jan. 18, 2017)

I'm told that a million woman march is being organized to coincide with and protest the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump next week and that organizations like the American Association of University Women (among others) is encouraging its members to participate. I don't for the life of me understand the point. The man hasn't even been sworn in yet and already the sisterhood is presuming his guilt and assuming he will strip them of all of their hard-won rights.

I'm sorry, les femmes, you just lost my unwavering support by not giving a duly-elected President of the United States with over 62 million votes (many of them from women) the benefit of the doubt that he will uphold the Constitution and protect all Americans, even those who wear skirts and carry purses.

My wife (who is a conservative-leaning woman) and I, discussed this matter and came to the same conclusion...that any non-profit organization like the AAUW must stay home and not participate in what is blatantly a political march/movement. If they don't want to do that, fine, then they ought to have their non-profit status rescinded by the IRS.

I don't mind telling you that this 'living in the land of denial' attitude on the part of the Democrats and the faux 'victims' in our society has already gotten old. There is plenty of room at the barricades, and two can play the protest game which is why I'm calling on everyone who's just as fed up as I am with the Left's whining, phony accusations and fake news, to send the following telegram to their elected representatives in both the House and Senate.

"Dear (elected representative),

Just thought I'd let you know that I'm following every single vote you cast and every single public utterance you make during the next few years. Stop. And, should you choose to support the incessant whining and caterwauling of the Democrats and your left-leaning constituents, I for one will do my utmost to unseat you next time around. Stop. As you may have heard, there is a 'million woman march' scheduled to coincide with President-elect Trump's inauguration next week. Stop. I encourage you to put out a public statement from your office in support of removing the non-profit status of any non-profit organization that participates in this political event. Stop. We the people will be watching. Stop. Yours, (your name)"

The URL to send such a telegram is: https://www.itelegram.com.

As a writer, I am among the last people on God's green Earth that would want to restrict anybody's right of free speech, so I say to all the ladies who want to show their solidarity with their gender, go right ahead. March. Protest. Speak out against oppression and unequal rights whenever and wherever you see the practice happening, but please try to keep it civil and don't presume that any man, let alone the one that will lead our country for the next four years, is guilty of doing so before you have had time to observe him in office doing the people's business. We should all judge each other's actions more severely than we do each other's words, and just because you didn't get the female of your choice elected this time around, don't take it out on the man who beat her, simply because he speaks his mind and doesn't subscribe to your brand of political correctness. Feel free to disagree with him at every turn if you must, but avoid making the next four years a replay of the sixties. We truly have, "come a long way, baby." Let's move on and work together.

Stephan Helgesen is a retired U.S. diplomat turned author and political strategist. He has written over 600 articles and six books on politics, economics and social trends. He can be reached at stephan@stephanhelgesen.com. He also has four smart independent daughters.