No president since the civil rights era has evidenced as much personal bigotry and bias as President Trump. From remarks about Mexican immigrants to his Muslim ban to his hiring biases (he wants only generals or billionaires in his Cabinet because he equates power and money with smarts), he fundamentally rejects diversity, tolerance and inclusion as positive and necessary attributes of American democracy. He and his nativist ilk insist that where you are born and the fidelity to Christianity help define “civilization” as well as who is and is not an American.

In doing so, they not only prey on fear and prejudice but also reveal their own historical ignorance. The United States was not founded on blood and soil but on acceptance of what we loosely call the American Dream — which is made possible by the display of American civic virtues (the means by which we attain the Dream). Trump’s utter lack of respect for coequal branches of government and the press, the ease with which he and others lie (and then deny lying when caught misleading the American people) and his assumption that loyalty to him is the first requirement of executive branch employees require a resolute response.

Candidly, I’m surprised that a dissident Republican or an enterprising Democrat, one of the cast of hundreds eyeing the 2020 race, does not take up the challenge. In essence. under Trump the GOP has lost the upper hand on values — not abortion or gay marriage but on civic values such as fair play, respect for the rule of law, self-discipline, empathy, tolerance and free expression. The party that embraces a president who thinks there are 12 articles in the Constitution and wants to “open up libel law” (there is no federal libel law and he apparently is fuzzy on New York Times v. Sullivan) has lost the mantle of constitutional conservatism. The party that reflexively blames foreigners and promotes extreme economic inequality has lost a claim to coherence on economic policy. The party that has cooked up a phony narrative of massive voting fraud (and thereby begun to lay the groundwork for restrictions on voting) has lost faith in democracy itself. A rebuttal, a sweeping call to return to American civic values, is required. Somewhere in the heartland — maybe, Springfield, Ill. or Fulton, Mo.? — a great and important speech could be given.

What do the American people need to hear?

First, Americans need a reminder that we were founded on the principle of self-governance, on the notion that we all have those unalienable rights. That — not the country of origin or any other attribute (e.g. religion, language) — binds us together. Without an understanding of our shared democratic traditions and some civic virtues (empathy, cooperation, neighborliness), we cannot protect and sustain our democracy. Until Trump came along, I never quite grasped Ronald Reagan’s admonition, “Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

Second, to preserve our fragile freedom, we can through public policy (e.g. civic education requirements, anti-discrimination laws, tax and other policies to bolster the middle and working class) nurture democracy and more robust communities. However, that will not be sufficient. We require public role models, especially elected leaders, to demonstrate the meaning of the rule of law, tolerance of minority views and other nostrums upon which democratic government rests. Men and women are not angels, as the Founders knew, but public officials have to rise to the occasion and denounce incitement to bigotry, contempt for democratic institutions, delegitimization of factual data and the attempt to reduce our society to a mere contest between “winners and losers.”

Third, we need both a commitment to a safety net to protect the most vulnerable among us and a revived sense of personal responsibility. When I hear Trump country’s rural voters say they cannot move to where the jobs are because they fear an unfamiliar culture and the challenge of adopting a new life, one gets the sense they could benefit from learning about the immigrant experience. Throughout American history, millions upon millions of immigrants faced far greater challenges with fewer resources and yet made transoceanic voyages to unfamiliar cities and towns. We need to encourage and support those who want to have successful futures in the global economy, not lull them into self-defeating nostalgia and inertia. Through both public and private organizations, we should strive to increase physical as well as economic mobility, to help make the transition from graying, depopulating and economically depressed areas to vibrant, growing regions.

Fourth, while isolationists and immigration exclusionists call for us to lead only by example and not by engagement or receptivity to the outside world, they seem unenthusiastic about setting a good example. In his “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946, Winston Churchill told the world: “It is a solemn moment for the American Democracy. For with primacy in power is also joined an awe-inspiring accountability to the future. If you look around you, you must feel not only the sense of duty done but also you must feel anxiety lest you fall below the level of achievement. Opportunity is here and now, clear and shining for both our countries. To reject it or ignore it or fritter it away will bring upon us all the long reproaches of the after-time.” That awe-inspiring accountability requires consistency between our democratic practices at home and our principles abroad:

It is not our duty at this time when difficulties are so numerous to interfere forcibly in the internal affairs of countries which we have not conquered in war. but we must never cease to proclaim in fearless tones the great principles of freedom and the rights of man which are the joint inheritance of the English-speaking world and which through Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Habeas Corpus, trial by jury, and the English common law find their most famous expression in the American Declaration of Independence. All this means that the people of any country have the right, and should have the power by constitutional action, by free unfettered elections, with secret ballot, to choose or change the character or form of government under which they dwell; that freedom of speech and thought should reign; that courts of justice, independent of the executive, unbiased by any party, should administer laws which have received the broad assent of large majorities or are consecrated by time and custom. Here are the title deeds of freedom which should lie in every cottage home. Here is the message of the British and American peoples to mankind. Let us preach what we practice — let us practice what we preach. [Emphasis added.]