Opinion: Stay on, for your country

View in [Browser] | Add [nytdirect@nytimes.com] to your address book. Monday, November 14, 2016 [The New York Times] [NYTimes.com/Opinion »] [Opinion] Monday, November 14, 2016 For thousands of public servants — Democrat, Republican and independent — the election of Donald Trump creates a deep quandary: Should I stay or should I go? These are the men and women around the country who work for the Justice Department, the Education Department, the Defense Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, and so much else. Many of them, no doubt, voted for Trump. But many of them are in despair, worried not only about their country but about how their own jobs will change — and about their own moral responsibilities. My answer to the vast majority of them is: We need you. We need your professionalism, your expertise, your respect for democratic norms and American values. Stay on. Stay on, please, for your country. My colleague Ross Douthat [took on a version of the question], addressing in particular Republican foreign-policy experts who’d opposed Trump. And his argument applies across the board: “... a hard question looms: If they fear how Trump might govern, can they in good conscience work for him? “The answer, for now, is that they can and should — and indeed, precisely because they fear how Trump might govern, there is a moral responsibility to serve. “For the next four years, the most important check on what we’ve seen of Trump’s worst impulses — his hair-trigger temper, his rampant insecurity, his personal cruelty — won’t come from Congress or the courts or the opposition party. It will come from the people charged with executing the basic responsibilities of government within his administration.” The alternative helps to highlight the importance of staying on. This moment would be precisely the worst one to have our government emptied of experience and expertise and filled, much more than usual, with political appointees. Staying on does not equal unquestionably following every directive from Washington – far from it. As Ross wrote, “If a Trump presidency lurches into naked authoritarianism — abusing executive authority in unprecedented ways, issuing immoral or illegal orders to the military — then there will be an obligation not to serve, but to resign.” For now, however, the country needs its federal employees more than ever. The full Opinion report from The Times follows, including [Sylvie Kauffmann] on Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump and [Pankaj Mishra] on Narendra Modi’s India and Trump’s America. David Leonhardt Op-Ed Columnist  ADVERTISEMENT  From The Columnists Op-Ed Columnist [Trump’s Rural White America] By CHARLES M. BLOW Shifting demographics contribute to the sharp political divisions seen in this year’s election. Op-Ed Columnist [The news of Trump’s win on a television screen at the New York Stock Exchange, the day after the election.] [Trump Slump Coming?] By PAUL KRUGMAN Don’t count on an immediate disaster after the next president takes office.  Dominic Mckenzie [Op-Ed Contributor] [The Incendiary Appeal of Demagoguery in Our Time] By PANKAJ MISHRA Before Trump’s election in America exposed the failures of democracy, they had been revealed in Modi’s India.  From the Editorial Board Editorial [Donald Trump Is Now Hiring] By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Mr. Trump, who has no experience in the workings of government, just named his chief of staff. That’s one job; he’s got 4,000 more left to fill. Editorial [Meng Hongwei, right, in Beijing in August.] [A Troubling New President for Interpol] By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Tapping a senior Chinese police official for a leadership post at the international law enforcement agency raises alarms. Editorial [Atlantic City, Symbol of Big Bets Gone Bad] By THE EDITORIAL BOARD State overseers are taking over a vast amount of the city government’s power. Editorial Observer [The Doll in the Blue Pantsuit] By JESSE WEGMAN When a girl is too little to understand what happened, but big enough to create another reality.  [Marine Le Pen, president of the French far-right party and 2017 French presidential candidate.] Marine Le Pen, president of the French far-right party and 2017 French presidential candidate. Joel Saget/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images [Contributing Op-Ed Writer] [For Le Pen, the Impossible Now Seems Possible] By SYLVIE KAUFFMANN After Brexit and Trump, the National Front’s leader foresees a trifecta for the West’s far right when France votes next spring.  Contributing Op-Ed Writer [Protesters pushing against police officers outside the Chinese central government’s liaison office after thousands of people marched in Hong Kong this month.] [Beijing Tightens Its Grip in Hong Kong Again] By YI-ZHENG LIAN In an unprecedented intervention, Beijing recently quashed the results of an election in Hong Kong. On Campus [Students and others listening to speakers opposed to Donald Trump in Washington Square Park the day after the election.] [I’m Muslim, but My Roommate Supports Trump] By ROMAISSAA BENZIZOUNE Did she really expect me to respect her choice when it undermined my presence in this country, in this university, in my very own dorm room? Room for Debate [Should the Government Bring Back Trust-Busting?] Is a concentration of wealth in monopolies a threat to democracy? The Stone [What’s the Use of Regret?] By GORDON MARINO We can’t change past actions, but we can change ourselves. On Campus [Harvard’s Rank and File] By MAIA SILBER The men’s soccer team’s sexually explicit ‘scouting reports’ don’t shock me. Students here excel at categorizing one another.  [Leonard Cohen] Leonard Cohen Dominique Issermann [Op-Ed Contributor] [My Friend Leonard Cohen: Darkness and Praise] By LEON WIESELTIER He was the poet laureate of the flawed, who made imperfection gorgeous.  In Case You Missed It Op-Ed Contributor [Bernie Sanders: Where the Democrats Go From Here] By BERNIE SANDERS Trump’s victory is saddening, but not surprising. Loose Ends [2016 Election Thank You Notes] By ETHAN COEN To James Comey, Anthony Weiner and all my friends in the media: We couldn’t have done this without you.  From The Blogs Nicholas Kristof [Why You Should Always Lock Your Hotel Room Door!] By NICHOLAS KRISTOF How my day began, with an intruder in my hotel room. Paul Krugman [The Long Haul] By PAUL KRUGMAN Retracting my recession call and more; this will take a while.  Letters to the Editor Letters [A young boy waiting while his grandfather voted in Columbus, Ohio.] [Voices of Families and Minorities on the Election] Readers in diverse families discuss the election with their young children.  ADVERTISEMENT  A NEW ELECTION PODCAST Listen to Opinion columnists and contributors on The Run-Up, a new podcast from The New York Times covering the final three months of the election. 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