Vindicated

I did not vote for Trump. Almost every day my choice not to elect him is vindicated by what he does and what he says.

The worst fear I have is how he puts the U.S.A., our country, at risk. This is a so-called Commander-In-Chief who abruptly without consultation with the generals whom he says he respects, announced on twitter that America would be pulling our troops out of the fight with ISIS fighters. This is a President who said his number one job was keeping Americans safe, and yet he meets in secret with a hostile leader, Putin of Russia, and does not disclose the content of what was said. This is our White House occupant, who trusts Putin more than he trusts our CIA and his own intelligence national security officials. The only thing more absurd than believing Putin over our own U.S. sources is the fact that Trump openly admits it.

Trump claims that the migrants at our southern border pose such a crisis that he needed to order a national emergency when Congress did not give him all the money he wanted for his "wall." So while he poses as a supporter of "law and order," he discredits our premier law enforcement agency, the FBI. The FBI, along with our CIA and National Security organizations, are supposed to anticipate, investigate, ferret out and stop terrorist attacks. Are the caravan migrants a greater threat than that? We do need border security, and the recent legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump is a step in the right direction. We also desperately need immigration reform. Trump and Congressional Republicans had two years to get that done and they failed, didn't they?

Republicans in Congress need to grow enough of a backbone so they take back the authority vested by the Constitution in Congress. Where is their courage?

How about voters in Whitman County? Many voted for Trump. I know some of the reasons: anti-choice for women, conservative judges, relaxed regulations, science-deniers (even while benefiting from science)... But how do you feel now, after two years in which we have seen tacit support for white supremacy, rejection of the Iran deal, rejection of the world climate accord, tariffs...? If you now think that you did not get the president you hoped that you would get, say something out loud, for our sake and that of the next generation. Write a letter to this paper's editor. Write your senators and representative. And if for some reason you are still a true believer, write that too; persuade me otherwise.

--Mark Bordsen, Colfax