Have you ever been bullied? I have. I would assess the situation and decide whether to fight back or ignore the bully (or even better, make fun of him—it was usually a him) or put some distance between the bully and myself. I just finished reading  Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes about a school shooting prompted by years of relentless bullying. Bullying is indeed very much adolescent behavior, but some people never move beyond adolescence.

Theodore Rossevelt coined the term to describe the office of the president as a “bully pulpit.” He meant bully in the now semi-obsolete British use of bully as an adjective, meaning excellent, outstanding.  He used that pulpit to promote conservation and other good causes during his term of office. He used that pulpit to exercise moral leadership, which we expect to hear from a pulpit. Most of the presidents who preceded or followed him did likewise.

As a verb, bully is defined as treating someone in a cruel, insulting, threatening, or aggressive fashion, and as a noun, it is someone who regularly engages in that type of behavior.  We are told, in our adolescent days, to stand up to a bully, but it’s not always that easy.  Bullies often travel in packs and gang up on those who can’t win by fighting.  Or they have some kind of power. A principal can be a bully. A teacher can be a bully. A boss can be a bully. It’s about having power and choosing to exercise it in ways that are self-centered and destructive. Or at least demeaning

No one has more power in this day and age than the president of the United Staes.  Until now, we have had a variety of presidents, but the only one prior to Trump that was a bully was Andrew Jackson—who adorns Trump’s office. Trump has given a new meaning to bully pulpit. Knowing that such people existed and could charm their way into office, the authors of the Constitution created guardrails to rein in abuse of

So how do we, individually, collectively, stand up to a bully?

I know not everyone can risk their livelihood, their safety, their communities to stand up to bullies.  But there are people who can and do.  Governors in blue states. Celebrities who took on Disney over the firing of Jimmy Kimmel. Ordinary citizens who cancelled their subscriptions to Disney’s media empire, causing its stock to tank. (That’s one of the safest and most effective ways to tackle bullies with financial power!) Law firms doing pro bono work for those who struggle under abuse of power. Universities that (unlike mine) stand fast to their belief in academic freedom and the First Amendment. Cities, churches, and individuals who shelter immigrants and assert their rights.

I belong to a significant minority of people who are free to protest, challenge, or otherwise defang the bully. That minority consists of old people with pensions and Social Security who cannot be bought, bribed, coerced, or otherwise persuaded to go along with the bullying because they have so little time left and are so much more aware of their legacy.. We can speak up without fear of reprisal.  At 84, I don’t have a lot to lose, and much to gain by trying to ensure that my grown daughters and grands live in a world where bullying is constrained, not performed, by law enforcement, where we are free to express our opinions with nothing more at risk than disagreement. We can attend protests, write letters, annoy legislators without fear of reprisal, or file lawsuits, as my friend Eleanor and I have done In exchange for that freedom of old age.  Along with the privilege of being old, there is a moral obligation to use it.

And the rest of you?  Encourage us gray panthers as well as other brave souls who defend our rights and those of others.  Use your power of consuming and investing to reward and punish bad behavior by private firms. VOTE and get others to the polls, especially in primaries and special elections. Use the power to embarrass.  When I was president of  Clemson’s Faculty Senate, I used to remind my fellow senators that the most powerful weapon we had was the power to embarrass, and we needed to use it selectively and effectively.

Every day for the rest of Donald Trump’s term, find one small act of resistance that you can use, whether it is changing your brand of detergent or supporting a candidate or attending a protest or attending a school bord meeting to protect the freedom to read. The time is now. Our nation’s future is at stake.