It's hard to be an optimist about America right now

[SCantiGOP]

8. Historical perspective:

Not long after Independence we passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which effectively killed the concept of Freedom of Speech.
1830's: We were actively killing off most of the native inhabitants east of the Mississippi, with those in power either supportive or complicit, and culminating in the Trail of Tears.
1860: We were about to embark on the bloodiest war in our history, with both sides filled with hate, distrust and the conviction that they
were on God's side.
post 1860's: A vicious and enduring fight to deny basic human rights to those brought to this country in slavery.
1920's: America gets a taste of the exhilaration of imperialism and Manifest Destiny.
1940's: We were literally facing a war against pure evil, with the consequence of defeat likely meaning the end of our Democracy.
1950's: The invention of the Cold War, which had, and has, the capability of ending life on Earth.
2000: The beginning of America's first religious war, fought against the Muslim world and with no end in sight.

2016: Trump elected.
We have survived, and moved ahead before under much more dire circumstances. Our institutions are strong, and our people have an intrinsic affinity for liberty and justice.
So, I will see your pessimism and Trump, and raise you an FDR, three Kennedys, a King and an Obama. I will not give up, but will do what every generation has done to insure the future for my grandchildren.