Maya Angelou stated, “When someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time.”
Ex-President Trump has been showing who he is for years. History defines the present. He was dangerous when in office for four years and will be seriously more dangerous if he ever comes close to the White House again. Listen to what he and his sycophants say. This time, he will not have people around him to control his worst impulses.
Trump has stated, quite clearly, his admiration for authoritarian leaders Kim Jong Un, Putin and Orban. He has said what he would do: put the homeless in internment camps and immigrant children in cages; destroy the Justice Department in concert with the Heritage Foundation; replace career civil servants, who have institutional knowledge, with loyalists; eliminate birthright citizenship; invade Mexico; and use the military to take control of “Democratic cities.” And this is only the tip of the iceberg.
The systems that are in place to protect our democracy have been weakened. The Republican Party has capitulated to the cult of Trump. We cannot slide into fascism and authoritarianism because people are not paying attention. Listen to those who worked with him and are finally speaking out. Listen to Liz Cheney. It is my hope she has not become our Cassandra and our democracy the modern-day Troy.
Voters need to look at what American democracy would look like under another Trump presidency.
Bonnie Ginger
Boothbay
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