By Dave Begel Contributing Writer Published Nov 17, 2016 at 5:03 PM

The opinions expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the opinions of OnMilwaukee.com, its advertisers or editorial staff.

Like many Americans, the past week for me has been one of trying to figure out just what to do about Donald Trump being elected.

I’ve struggled with the call for unity from Trump, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and thousands of other leaders. I saw Michelle Obama give a speech this week in which she said, "We may be Democrats or Republicans, but first we are Americans."

I’ve thought about it and talked about it with friends. I've considered what it means to be an American, and I don't think it means just following blindly along some path. I’ve read about unity efforts, and one headline has stuck in my head. It’s from August 1934.

"Today Hitler is All of Germany."

The headline followed a slogan from that year: "Hitler for Germany - All of Germany for Hitler."

In his book, "Mein Kampf," the Nazi leader wrote, "The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one."

It is this that has taken me to the position that unity is vastly overrated. Unity behind a homophobic, misogynistic, nationalistic, bombastic egomaniac is to be a traitor to what I, and millions of other people, believe. It's not that the Republicans won. I wouldn't be complaining if the winner was John Kasich or George Pataki or Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush. So when Republicans say it's just sour grapes, they couldn't be more wrong. 

There are people who go around now saying that all those disgusting things Trump said and did during the campaign were just "campaign tactics," and he shouldn’t be held accountable for that. Trump says that people who are protesting are doing so because they "just don’t know me."

I know Donald Trump. I know he wants to reverse Roe v. Wade. I know he wants to affirm Citizens United. I know he wants to ban Muslims, not by religion but by geography. I know he wants people to be able to keep guns and shoot anyone who invades their space. I know he really wants to deport immigrants. I know he thinks states should be allowed to ban gay marriage. I know he thinks that climate change is a hoax created by "fantasy scientists."

I know that he has named Steve Bannon his senior policy advisor. As the head of the alt-right news website Breitbart, Bannon has presided over headlines like "Gabby Giffords: The Gun Control Movement’s Human Shield," "Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy" and "Huma Abedin: Most Likely A Saudi Spy."

The fact that Bannon gets within a mile of the White House scares the daylights out of me. This man is a strategic beast. To think that the President of the United States is going to listen to such a craven flame-thrower is frightening.

All these Republicans, including many who opposed Trump, are now climbing on the bandwagon. "Oh, he didn’t mean everything he said," the refrain goes. "He was just saying those things to win the election." If true, that is almost more damning. How in the world can we ever believe a president who was dropping verbal bombs in order to win an election? The answer is we can’t.

What all of this has done is to make up my mind.

I’m not backing the president. I am not going to give him time nor give him a chance.

I don’t owe him a chance. He owes me, and the millions like me, a chance. He needs to understand that more than half the voters in this country voted against him. He needs to understand that we don’t trust him, we don’t like him. We are against almost everything he said that got breathless media attention.

I’m going to fight. I’m going to march and demonstrate. I’m going to make calls to congressmen and senators. Not just Democrats. I’m calling Republicans too. I hope I join with millions of other people in this fight.

I am not going to watch this country go down the drain without fighting back.

The 18th century Irish statesman Edmund Burke said it best: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

While campaigning for the Nazi party in Germany, Hitler gave a speech in 1933. 

"If I am ever really in power, the destruction of the Jews will be my first and most important job," he said. "As soon as I have power, I shall have gallows after gallows erected, for example, in Munich on the Marienplatz - as many of them as traffic allows. Then the Jews will be hanged one after another, and they will stay hanging until they stink. They will stay hanging as long as hygienically possible. As soon as they are untied, then the next group will follow and that will continue until the last Jew in Munich is exterminated. Exactly the same procedure will be followed in other cities until Germany is cleansed of the last Jew!"

Hitler said that in a campaign speech before coming to power. Did he mean it then?

Dave Begel Contributing Writer

With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.

He's seen Milwaukee grow, suffer pangs of growth, strive for success and has been involved in many efforts to both shape and re-shape the city. He's a happy man, now that he's quit playing golf, and enjoys music, his children and grandchildren and the myriad of sports in this state. He loves great food and hates bullies and people who think they are smarter than everyone else.

This whole Internet thing continues to baffle him, but he's willing to play the game as long as OnMilwaukee.com keeps lending him a helping hand. He is constantly amazed that just a few dedicated people can provide so much news and information to a hungry public.

Despite some opinions to the contrary, Dave likes most stuff. But he is a skeptic who constantly wonders about the world around him. So many questions, so few answers.