No longer a nation of laws
To the Editor:
Setting aside the fact President Trump is a convicted felon and has been charged with nearly 100 serious crimes for which he’s unlikely to be held accountable, it’s moreover beyond question that he ignited an angry armed mob to attack his own Capitol with the clear intent of overturning an election he knew he’d lost.
Specifically, Trump inspired a coup d’etat (a violent overthrow of government), a power grab via revolution. Trump’s supporters were armed, and Capitol defenders died or were seriously injured defending the Capitol and Congress.
Approximately 1,500 correctly labeled insurrectionists were arrested, convicted and imprisoned. Many pleaded guilty to crimes we watched them (in horror) commit on TV.
Despite possessing irrefutable knowledge of Trump’s direct involvement in this attempted coup, he was incomprehensibly re-elected president in 2024, giving him the golden opportunity, on day one, to pardon the 1,500 criminals who had (four years earlier) participated in the coup attempt, referring to these seditionists as “patriots.”
Presently, eight months into his term, Trump is aggressively de-professionalizing our government across a broad, unlimited sphere involving the military, law enforcement and agencies Americans depend on to hold our nation together.
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Dictatorially firing people of high standing and consequence such as the heads of the military, NSA and the FBI and replacing them with inexperienced people whose primary (perhaps only) qualification is loyalty to Trump, not only degrades the core of the military and law enforcement but places our nation at extreme risk.
In addition, de-professionalizing the military, law enforcement and necessary organizations not only devalues and corrupts their core, it repurposes their mission to serve one man (Trump), turning these forces against the American people on our own soil.
It is an incontrovertible truth that President Trump purposefully tramples on the Constitution, subverts longstanding rules of law, ignores judges and casually violates his oath of office. It should concern all Americans that an egomaniacal felonious grifter, a cruel, impulsive, vindictive narcissist has access to our nuclear codes.
I’m concerned that by deploying armed military on the streets of America we’ll become accustomed to having troops among us. Trump admits he wants to forbid mail-in ballots and automatic tabulating machines, and Republicans are vigorously promoting redistricting schemes. Is the President preparing to halt the next election if it appears he might lose the House or Senate?
Having proven himself above the law, Trump might just be emboldened enough to deliver the final knockout punch triggering a “coup de grace,” a death blow ending our republic.
Despite the clear text of the Constitution, the courageous declaration of the framers, over two centuries of precedent and the undeclared but obvious understandings of every other American president (all of whom looked upon the office of the presidency with respect and honor), we are beset with a criminal seditionist as president, our legal system forever altered due to an inattentive, negligent Supreme Court. We are no longer a nation of laws but of corrupted and increasingly fallible men.
David L. Snell
Franklin
