The next four years are going to be an ongoing battle to protect our 1st Amendment freedoms. We've repeatedly seen how President Donnie reacts to criticism: He lashes out, he threatens revenge, he files lawsuits, all in the hopes of intimidating his critics into silence. If you don't believe me, take a moment and do a Google search for "Donald Trump sues" and you'll find that he's no stranger to filing defamation suits against newspapers, authors, public speakers, even private citizens, for the sole reason that they said something that caused him offense. Indeed many of these suits were threatened simply because the writer or speaker shared an opinion that President Donnie didn't like.

Two years ago Donald had few recourses at this disposal: Twitter, op eds, and the threat of a lawsuit. Today he has the office of the White House, a receptive Congress, a conservative Supreme Court, and an army of alt-right minions at his command.

• "What happens is they hit me and I hit them back harder and, usually in all cases, they do it first. But they hit me and I hit them back harder and they disappear. That’s what we want to lead the country.”

• "Oh, I love the old days, you know? You know what I hate? There's a guy, totally disruptive, throwing punches, we're not allowed to punch back anymore. I love the old days. You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They'd be carried out on a stretcher, folks," [Ed. The protester was not throwing punches.]

• Donald J. Trump said on Sunday that he would look into paying the legal fees of a man who was accused of sucker-punching a protester at one of Mr. Trump’s rallies last week, directly contradicting his claim that he does not condone violence by his backers.

• "It’s so great our enemies are making themselves clear so that when we get in to the White House, we know where we stand, I would never judge anybody for exercising their right to and the freedom to choose who they want. But let me just tell you, Mr. Trump has a long memory and we’re keeping a list.”

• "We’re going to open up those libel laws. So that when The New York Times writes a hit piece which is a total disgrace or when the Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because [The Free Press] are totally protected. You see, with me [The Free Press] are not protected, because I’m not like other people, but I’m not taking money — I’m not taking their money. So we’re going to open up those libel laws, folks, and we’re going to have people sue you like you never got sued before."

• Donald Trump wants to “open up” American libel laws to make it easier for politicians such as himself to sue newspapers that write things of which he disapproves.

• Donald Trump Threatens to Sue The Times Over Article on Unwanted Advances

• Donald Trump threatens to sue sexual assault accusers after election

I'll say this as bluntly as possible: Donald Trump does not like freedom of speech when it is used against him, and for the first time in his life he's in a position to genuinely do something about it.

Today Donald Trump went after Hamilton on Twitter, for years he's gone after unflattering opinions in the courts, but what happens a year from now when he's fully acclimated to the power of the Presidency?

People talk about "What's the worst that could happen?" Some cite Trump pulling out of the Paris Climate agreement, others his threat to pull out of NATO, the rolling back of the Affordable Care Act rates quite highly for me, but none of these matter if we don't have a free and protected press to inform us. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, is the first amendment for a reason, it's what allows us to keep an eye on our nation and our government; the press is the American people's independent oversight for how our country is functioning. A President who threatens the first amendment threatens the whole of the country.

I'm not being hyperbolic, if ever there was a President who would pass a "Don't say mean things" law it's this one.

If you're as concerned as I am about our first amendment rights, please consider donating to the ACLU, or buying a subscription to one of the newspapers that Donald Trump has directly threatened, such as the New York times or the Washington Post.