Editor,
It is not just that the president has tried at every turn to praise himself, denigrate others, promote unscientific and often dangerous “treatments” for COVID-19, and then get his lackeys in the GOP to support him. In this time of extraordinary crisis, we do not have a strong national leader. No, we have a failed businessman and reality show star who does not give a hoot about ordinary Americans, including his (mystifyingly) loyal base. He is so vain and arrogant he won’t even wear a face mask.
People are dying because of a pandemic that knows no borders and has no political affiliation. Tens of thousands in this country alone have died horrible, lonely deaths. Many others have suffered great disablement and pain after becoming infected by the virus. The President refuses to face reality: We need widespread, robust testing, plus a huge federal effort to get our front-line health care workers and our essential business employees the PPE and support they need. We also need a cautious reopening of businesses that follow best-practices and healthcare guidelines rather than the whims of those in denial about the deadliness of the virus and its extreme contagiousness.
What does President Trump do in the face of this challenge, one that has grown exponentially since his early denials in January and February that the pandemic existed or would adversely affect us? He boasts, then whines, he picks petty fights with hard-working journalists. He refuses to take any responsibility as head of the nation to address the situation in any meaningful, sustained way. On the contrary, he makes everything he touches worse. He now has Attorney General William Barr dismantling the Justice Department and remaking it into a Trump enforcement arm of government. His madness and corrupted governing style must be stopped.
Although Dr. Anthony Fauci and others have helped formulate official federal guidelines for dealing with COVID-19, Trump cheers on governors like Brian Kemp in Georgia, whose approval ratings have tanked as he has rushed to reopen essential tattoo parlors and other businesses while ignoring the official guidelines. In contrast, those governors who take this catastrophe seriously and address both the health concerns and economic ones at the same time – including our own Gretchen Whitmer – are rising in the polls.
It is long past time for this failed man and dangerous president to go. Vote by mail-in, absentee ballot this November to remove him and those who support or enable him. And pray we last that long.
