President Donald Trump has called the free press “the enemy of the people.” The free press and fair and free elections are the foundations of democracy. Stating that the free press is “fake news”—from a president who has told more than 4,200 falsehoods since he took office—is the height of hypocrisy. Moreover, the free press is the only profession protected in the U.S. Constitution.
Mr. Trump recently had a private conversation with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, a master of lies. Mr. Trump feels he has accomplished many things because he feels it is better to talk to despots while maligning and debasing America’s allies.
In Leonard Mosley’s “On Borrowed Time,” Chamberlain and others met with Hitler at the end of September 1938, and Chamberlain returned to England with a paper from Hitler that he held high and stated “it is peace in our time.” Within a few days, Czechoslovakia fell to Germany. If you do not learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it. Perhaps Ukraine will go to Russia after Mr. Trump’s conversation.
Mr. Trump’s demagoguery and constant lies against refugees have led him to take children from their parents, which could possibly end with more than 400 orphaned children. He has broken up families, and in one case, a lady was deported after being in the United States 29 years with two children and a husband who served in the U.S. military.
Mr. Trump consistently blames everyone but himself for problems that emerge. The Republicans must stand up to him and stop being subordinate. Instead of Mr. Trump taking responsibility for his actions, or lack thereof, he blames everyone but some of the worst autocratic rulers of the world. He even evoked Orwell’s “1984” when he told listeners at a rally, “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.”
The United States is a strong vibrant country based on no one being above the law. The country will move on to new presidents and will be stronger for all past experiences. Decades from now, when historians write about Mr. Trump’s life and presidency, many will recall the words of Macbeth: Out, out, brief candle! / Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more. It is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing.
VINCE SCIALABBA
New Castle
Note from KBJ: Donald Trump will go down in history as one of our greatest presidents.
