Dear America….
We feel your pain. You didn’t get the President many of you wanted. You didn’t get the President most of us wanted you to get. But as President Obama predicted, the sun still rose on Wednesday. It rose again yesterday and today. It will rise again tomorrow.
We now see protests, complaints and anger. Don’t waste your energy. Don’t get sucked in. This isn’t the America we know. You’ve always been the country with the “Hell Yeah” message, “We can ****ing do this” stance and JFDI attitude. The world has secretly admired that. Please find that again.
Zig Ziglar spoke of “It’s not the height of the fall, it’s the height of the bounceback that counts”. Bounceback! Regain your party from the Establishment; Regain your country from those who listened to your countrymen’s dissent by listening harder. Fight the disrupter with disruption; Fight with active, positive disruption. Obama fought his detractors with charm, charisma and accessibility. Learn from his popularity. Ignore the media, the pollsters. Listen to your hearts. Fight in a way that it will be listened.
Make sure your congressman fights like Republican congressmen have fought during
Obama’s tenure. Hold Trump true to his election victory speech. Make him a President for all people. Ignore what he spouted during the nastiest election campaign of all time (on both sides). Like it or not, he is your President. Judge him on his actions. Hold him to account on his actions. Use your energy in that direction. Don’t feed the beast. A controversial animal will only get stronger.
Don’t be shocked and stupefied. Realise that your country’s dissent was real. Send the message to the Establishment, and all political Establishments around the world that the people want a voice; their voice. Realise that all people want their voice, not just those on the left-hand side of politics. Political Correctness is Political more than Correct. Out-Trump Trump.
You’ve trumped our Brexit. And yet, our Brexit hasn’t crushed even us. Our markets fell, then bounced-back. Trump’s election victory barely registered on global markets, no panic, no freefall, just a momentary flicker. The strength of your country was seen as too great. Use that strength. Don’t make the aftershock worse than the quake.
The British public voted for Brexit. Many of us were unhappy with the outcome. Some of us have accepted it and are now hell-bent on making the best job possible of that position. Meanwhile our politicians and a much of our ‘whinge-fest’ media are trying to find ways to block, inhibit, delay, discredit and confuse the will of the people. Don’t be like them.
We have just returned from 10 days in the US; Chicago and the North Shore. Possibly our best trip ever. The weather helped, as did the Cubs’ World Series win (#GoCubsGo), but the optimism, the positive atmosphere and the overall energy made our trip superb. A true and real American welcome from the City to the family-led neighbourhoods. US strength, power 
and positivity is attractive and infectious. Don’t let one man kill it and force you to direct that energy to the wrong side of positivity and optimism.
I hired a road bike (thanks Rapha Cycle Club!) and got to see the city from the saddle. The guys I rode with were predominantly businessmen, being 
Chicago, they were also predominantly democrats. The energy they had was infectious, the love for their city and the country was immense, even the naturalized Brits amongst them. They saw the risks of the Clinton campaign, the vote for the unloved Establishment that she not only stood for, but was surrounded by. Even they felt disenfranchised. They’d never have voted for Trump, but their voting decision was made because of him, not because of her. They all wanted change. They all wanted to embrace and accept change; and capitalize on that change making it an opportunity not a threat. I don’t doubt they all will.
America you have an amazing country. We, the British, and so much of the World has much to learn from you. Your passion is unparalleled and to can-do/will-do attitude an example to us all. We saw the Cubs win the World Series whilst we were there. We saw the celebration, an open top bus parade much like our football teams receive. Manchester United got 
100,000 people lining their route the last time they won. The Cubs got 5 million. Their parade and party in Grant Park is now the 7th largest human gathering of all time. Not only was that passion and energy as infectious as it was amazing, it passed off without trouble, without fighting, without drunken disorder and within 2 hours, the entire city was back to Friday afternoon normal.
Your country is still a magnet for the world. Our trip to Chicago was in part to scope out an office opening out there. I wavered for 12 hours after the vote, but then saw the interest in our two current/impeding US roles spike upward, and a brief for a third role. All of these roles have had more interest in the past 24 hours than in the 7 days prior to the election, and more interest since the election than any other role we are handling.
Our US Roles:
VP – US Operations
Technology
Business Director – North America
Chemicals
Managing Director (US)
Marketing Agency
In the UK today we have Armistice Day; Remembrance Day. You have Veterans Day. On this day, we all remember those that risked and gave their today for our tomorrow. We need to remember what they fought for and not let a blip on the political timeline affect history aft and forward. Use your today in the best way possible to ensure the tomorrow we want for our children.
As Martin Luther King spoke (and President Barack Obama reiterated frequently)….”The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
garychaplin.com 
Great Blog Gary. Perfect summary
I love this. We’ve kicked ass before, we’ll kick ass again.
My sentiments exactly.
After less than 72 hours Trump appears to be a different person.
As with this country and Brexit, maybe the electorate as a whole saw something that many of us, and the opinion polls, missed. Lets hope so.
Speak at the weekend.
Dad
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The man is deplorable. He is anti-equality and anti justice. His comments against Islam shouldn’t be punished and regarded as hate-preaching. How dare he tell people what to do and how to live based purely on their religion or skin color. He is not fit for human life, let alone presidential office.
Equally how dare you tell him/them/us what we should think. How dare you tell people affected my immigration in their towns that they should embrace it? How dare you tell people killed by Islamic extremists that they should not think I’ll of muslims?
And yet it ok for you to openly decry Trump and all his supporters?
Eloquent summary. Well written and accurate.
In a world that expects tolerance and universal acceptance, he is a dinosaur, and a disgusting one at that. America is great because of our diversity. He will wind it back centuries.
Why do we need to acceptance universal tolerance? Since a Mexican community has been founded (and funded) in our town, crime has gone up 400%, my house has been broken into 4 times in 5 months and my car stolen twice. My son can’t get one of the 300 jobs advertised this year at the plant I work at because they have to fill diversity quotes. It could be a co-incidence. But don’t tell me I have to embrace families that have come to our town, filling houses with 10, 15 and sometimes over 20 person families per house.
Eloquent and masterful, and above all, spot on.
Great letter Gary. The world would be worse in the long term with a return to the establishment that Clinton represented.
Bravo! Well said. It takes a Brit to point out the obvious. Long Live America.
Spot on. I hate Trump and everything he stands for , but god damn I’m not letting him win over my life too. Business as usual but with pressure on my party to be ready next time.
An utter monster, little wonder the Canadian Immigration site crashed within hours. How can such an unpopular man get elected?
Superbly written and a point excellently made. America is bigger than any one man. If we can survive Bush and Reagan, we can survive Trump. It’s only really 2yrs and he’ll be so busy preening for those 2yrs (until congress switches sides) nothing will happen.
Well done on a highly articulate and accurate letter. My Trump didn’t have my support, but he does stand as the only credible candidate to offer real action against an issue that is at the forefront of millions of minds, rejecting the socialist notion that we should welcome all persons without question, simply because we are a wealthy nation. Immigration is a serious issue for millions, and yet, should we mention it, we are immediately deemed racist. In the UK, immigration has benefitted our country, but it has also caused massive issues. The average family size is spiralling due to immigration, to say nothing of the population explosion caused by immigration itself. The average Afghan-born women in the UK has 4.8 child born in the UK. The average Pakistani-born woman has 4.25. Eastern European-born women have 2.29. The average for White caucasian UK born mothers is 1.7 with only Australian and NZ born women having fewer at 1.6. Subsequent generations of immigrant women do have fewer children, but the average only drops by 10%. The number of babies born in the UK with three or more siblings is now the highest in Europe at 10.2%, double the EU average and three times the number in 1985. [All figures are from 2015]
This immigration fuelled population explosion is already causing massive issues in the UK, and as a ticking time bomb, will continue to do so. And yet, just for mentioning these factual statistics [from Eurostat], many will deem me a racist!
What a horrid comment from a horrible woman. How can you argue against human life on economic grounds? Any human that voices concern over family does not deserve the privilege of life.
How utterly ridiculous. She merely quoted facts from a recognised, non-political European statistical organisation. Your dismissal shows ignorance.
Xenophobia is alive and well. Well done Deborah for being deplorable.
Well put and a very valid point made Deborah. These concerns are real and irrespective of how the left feel about the merit of such concerns, they exist. Politicians ignore them, or worse still overrule and dismiss them at their peril. Our leaders are elected by us to represent our thoughts and feelings. As is being demonstrated by the swing to Trump and the Brexit vote, there is a majority that have these concerns and the country needs to address or the country will be forced down more dramatic change. This doesn’t have to be all or nothing, but to ignore the public sentiment is dangerous and outright wrong. I consider myself moderate and liberal, and yet I get worried when I see tales of increased poverty but with families that have 4, 5, 6 or more children. There is no foresight and no personal accountability within too many communities. The safety net of public service and social welfare is becoming too accommodating.
Great Blog.
The recent global political statements need to be a wake-up call for the world. The increasingly vitriolic left-wing might see this as right-wing dissidence, but fact is that the extremists and dissidents are increasingly the left-wing themselves. A huge number of normal people are fed up with the extremist’s view of equality and fairness at a time when they are being targeted financially and socially, and subsequently derided by the left-wing for daring to voice their unhappiness. Stories of families with 4+ children living on social welfare, or jobs going to minority groups, through statue and quotas not merit all at a time when hard-working people are seeing their lives hindered will cause swathes of unhappiness. Unhappiness leads to voting for those whose views align with yours.The left need to wake up and realise that their ideals are increasingly not supported by the populous. When they realise that, their task is to moderate their views, or improvement their communication of their views and the benefits they bring, not just seek to shout louder and louder and call anyone who doesn’t share their views as being facist.I’ve been a Labour voter all my life, but if a General Election was called today, I’d vote Tory or abstain such is my distain for the radical, unfunded and protest-only direction Corbyn is taking the Labour Party. My stance is quite obviously being replicated across the USA, France, Germany and many many more to come. The left-wing do not speak for the general public anymore.
Thought provoking stuff Gary
Peter.
Still happy with your choice of President America?
Action? Yes.
Racist? Oh Yes.
How do you make a Terrorist?
1) Ostracise them and ban them from your country
2) Wait
Ignorant comment. Thats like saying “How do you make a Rapist? 1) Don’t have sex with a man. 2) Wait”.
Trump has taken Obama’s list of nations deemed a national threat and placed a temporary travel ban on nationals from those countries. Meanwhile Europe has opened it’s doors to these people, now trying to close the doors against the flow before their nations are stretched financially and terrorists enter the country and threaten your nation’s security.
Trumps actions are not racist. They are sense. Only 49% of the UK would oppose such a ban in your country. There is real public concern over this issue. Ignoring it is just stupid.
I’m very happy thank you. He is a President that has taken real and true threats to a nation and done something about it. If there is a predominant religion behind these dangerous nations then the religion is at fault, not the President.
Trump is despicable. Teresa the Appeaser is no better for putting the the economy and trade deals ahead of basic human rights. So much for the Land of the Free.
This isn’t about race. This isn’t about nationality. This isn’t about skin colour, nor religion. This is about terrorism. Years of partisan democrats led by Obama highlighted the nations where these terrorist were most at risk of coming from. Trump has just actioned those finding as a short term measure before visa controls can be implemented. There will be collateral damage, but better that than the collateral damage being another 3,000 deaths in a New York tower block.
It is all too easy to jump on the protest bandwagon. There is real concern here across the world, ignoring it is dangerous. Witness the right wing movement across the entire world. It’s what put Trump in the Whitehouse, The Tories in number 10, Brexit into our lives, and now similar echoes across the world. Don’t protest, don’t complain….get out and vote! The anti-Trump protestors last night were predominantly the under-30s, both US and UK. These are the same people who had the lowest voting numbers in the EU referendum AND the US election. You are spending your time in the wrong areas. Protest in the ballot box, not just on the streets.
Brexit or not. May should have steadfastly refused to meet Trump until he drew back from these policies. UK values are more important than UK business. Her race to get there and be first was obscene and obsequious.
Don’t be pathetic. Like he would give a crap about her, her opinions or the UK. The only way to have any influence is to engage with him. Obama famously said the UK was at the bottom of the pile for US relationships, post-Brexit. Trump has pulled us into pole position. We need to capitalise on that position for commercial and social gain.