OH YEAH...NOW I HATE HIM. I HATE DONALD TRUMP.

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     For more than five years - as regular readers of The Controversy can attest - I have categorically professed in numerous columns that I did not hate Donald Trump. For more than five years - since the day Trump rode down the escalator at his New York City skyscraper to announce that he was a Republican candidate for president - I have been criticized, chastised, and outright condemned by readers who support Trump, as they have blatantly accused me of being a Trump "hater."  Certain readers branded all Democrats and every liberal, every progressive, with the same abhorrent emblem. Their verbally vicious abuse and reprehensible rhetoric were nothing but failed attempts by vindictive, venomous villains to persecute and smear us with such labels as "un-American," "unpatriotic," and "disloyal to our country."  But our collective skins are tough as nails.  We, who oppose Donald Trump, have not for a moment backed down on our efforts to remove him from office through constitutionally legal methods.

     Oh it's true that my editorials have been written with distinct disdain towards Trump's paralyzing policies, atrocious attitudes, and brutally bigoted behavior, but not once have I ever personally expressed hatred towards Donald Trump.  Not one time.  Never.  That is until now.   

     Earlier this month marked 19 years since September 11th, 2001 when Americans, on that day, were shockingly devastated and appallingly enraged as the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center crumbled and collapsed to the ground.  What was once the focus and the highlight of the Manhattan skyline was - in a matter of minutes - erased in to rubble, ashes and debris.

     Orchestrated by its founder, and based in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda militant leader Osama bin Laden masterminded a mission to murder as many Americans as possible, and forever more "9/11" is not merely a date on the calendar each year, but a somber reminder in our nation's history when a monumental moment of tragedy touched every fiber of our souls.  It's a day to memorialize the death and destruction of that horrific, late summer morning with agonizing sorrow and intense sympathy.  The horrendous images from one of America's darkest days must remain in the forefront of our minds and seared in our memory.  We cannot ever forget how our hearts were broken.  But with the traumatic, catastrophic disaster of 9/11 came a nationwide fellowship, warmed with unity, harmony and affection. Americans of all races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds joined in tandem - albeit for a scintilla of time - to embrace each other as one people, one nation, under God, indivisible, with a vision that together we could all move forward.   

     In a coordinated series of attacks, 19 radicalized, religious rebels hijacked four U.S. commercial airliners and crashed two of them into the giant, framed tube structures that were the centerpiece of lower Manhattan.  At one time, the North Tower was the tallest building in the world.  It was the home to Windows On The World, a complex of venues on the top floors, which included an intimate dining room and bar where patrons - through a full length window - were privileged to spectacular views of the southern tip of the island where the Hudson River and East River meet.  A third aircraft crashed into The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia while a fourth plane was diverted from its target - the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC - when courageous passengers thwarted the hijackers, thus causing the jet to explode on impact as it plowed in to a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.   

     We remember with stinging sadness the nearly 3,000 Americans (2,977 victims to be exact) who were murdered on September 11th, 2001 by foreign terrorists on U.S. soil.  However, on Friday, September 11th, 2020, more than 193,000 Americans were confirmed dead, but not at the hands of invading Middle Eastern enemies, but because a diabolical demagogue - who for the last three-and-a-half years has incompetently and negligently conned his way through the role of president of the United States - deliberately and dangerously was dishonest with the people of our nation about COVID-19.  Therefore, with premeditation, in essence, Donald Trump killed our fellow countrymen and countrywomen.  By his own words - recorded on tape - Trump admitted the following to the celebrated veteran journalist Bob Woodward in a March 19th, 2020 interview. "Well I think, Bob, really to be honest with you, I wanted to, uh, I wanted to always play it down.  I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic." Trump's deceptive deeds contributed to the deaths of about 68 times the amount of people that were slain on 9/11.  According to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center - as this column is published - there have been more than 202,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19, with almost 7-million cases confirmed.  The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) specifically defines COVID-19 in the following manner. "COVID-19 is caused by infection with a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2."  Johns Hopkins says there have been more than 32-million coronavirus cases worldwide and that nearly 982,000 people have succumbed to the disease.  CNBC reports - according to their analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins - that 29 states plus the District of Columbia (Washington, DC) are increasing by 5 percent or more in COVID-19 cases, as of Monday, September 21st, 2020 and based on a 7-day average.  The Washington Post is reporting that 27 states and Puerto Rico have shown a spike in new cases since the last week in August.

     With a total of eighteen separate telephone calls - mostly late at night while Trump was in The White House residence, not in The Oval Office - Woodward spent ten hours interviewing Trump between December 2019 and July 2020 for his explosive new book, RAGE.  Woodward released - to the press and to the public - recordings of some of his conversations with Trump on Wednesday, September 9th, 2020.   

     Donald Trump is no better than the terrorists who assaulted Americans on 9/11.  Voters who elected him in 2016 did not intentionally give Trump the power to slaughter our neighbors, our friends, and our loved ones, but because those voters put Trump in office, he has committed crimes that someday should land him behind bars. In a raid of our homeland that is substantially worse than 9/11, Trump has stolen lives with his unwarranted silence.  Trump has lied to us about the seriousness of the coronavirus and its lethal consequences.  Woodward writes in his book that National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told Trump on January 28th, 2020, "This will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency.  This is going to be the roughest thing you face."   

     Plain and simple, Donald Trump betrayed us, and he gave Bob Woodward more proof on February 7th, 2020 when Trump shared the dangers of the coronavirus with the acclaimed reporter who, along with the equally notable Carl Bernstein, were instrumental in bringing down the 

Richard Nixon presidency during the era of Watergate.  But now, with the solo Woodward,  Trump spilled the beans all over the place.  "It goes, it goes through air, Bob.  That's always tougher than the touch. You know, the touch, you don't have to touch things.  Right?  But the air, you just breathe the air and that's how it's passed.  And so, that's a very tricky one. That's a very delicate one.  It's also more deadly than your, you know, your, even your strenuous flus."  Trump went on to acknowledge statistics about the coronavirus over the seasonal flu.  "This is more deadly.  This is five per, you know, this is five percent versus one percent, you know.  So, this is deadly stuff." 

     Airborne or not airborne?  Infectious disease experts have been informing the public since the early days of COVID-19 that the virus can spread through tiny aerosolized droplets when an infected person sneezes, coughs, or even spits or sprays saliva from his or her mouth.  So it seemed strange on Friday, September 18th, 2020 when the CDC posted to its website that the coronavirus can be transmitted through those aerosolized droplets that are "produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks, or breathes."  But then on Monday, September 21st, 2020, the CDC removed from their website any reference to airborne transmission of COVID-19, and stated that "a draft version of proposed changes to these recommendations was posted in error."  Instead, the CDC wrote that COVID-19 is spread "between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet)."  We've all know that...and for more than six months.  So why the revision in language at the CDC?  Is this Trump's doing to confuse people even more?  Or is he using his influence to minimize the gravity of the situation that COVID-19 can and has been a cut-throat disease.  Americans need proper guidance.  All along there's been scientific evidence - so says many scientists - that tiny respiratory droplets can linger in the air and - if those droplets are infected with the coronavirus - they can infect people, as smaller droplets don't fall to the ground as larger particles do. No matter what, if a person comes in contact with infected respiratory droplets, they can get a person sick.  Thus, it's imperative for people to wear masks both indoors and outdoors to be safe and stay healthy.  All of the above being said, it's still a puzzle as to why the CDC would publish guidelines, which included factual information that everyone should have known for many months, and then why they would scrub that material from its website.  My thinking is - as doctors and scientists have tried to drill into our brains over the last six months - wear a mask all the time whenever you're near other people.

     In February 2020, Trump had been publicly blasting Democrats for creating this "hoax."  However, he conceded privately to Bob Woodward on March 19th, 2020 that COVID-19 strikes not only the elderly, but kids too.  "Now it's turning out it's not just old people, Bob.  But just today and, and yesterday, some startling facts came out. It's not just old, older...young people too, plenty of young people." 

     But on August 5th, 2020, as Trump pushed for children to go back to school as scheduled in late August or early September, he issued a lie that affects the lives of students and teachers.  "If you look at children, children are almost - and I would almost say definitely - but almost immune from this disease.  So few.  Hard to believe.  I don't know how you feel about it but they have much stronger immune systems than we do somehow for this.  They don't have a problem.  They just don't have a problem."  Nearly seven weeks later, Trump was still doubling-down on his earlier falsehood that kids are "virtually immune" to the coronavirus.  At a campaign rally in Swanton, Ohio on Monday, September 21st, 2020, Trump applauded children. "Take your hat off to the young because they have a hell of an immune system." But Trump is so very, very wrong.  Since the onset of the pandemic, the American Academy of Pediatrics says that as of Thursday, September 17th, 2020, 587,948 children have tested positive with the coronavirus, which represents 10.3 percent of all cases.  Youngsters who were previously healthy before contracting COVID-19, have also died from the virus.

     There was more of Trump's bogus BS at the Swanton, Ohio rally when he lied that the coronavirus only "affects elderly people, elderly people with heart problems and other problems.  If they have other problems, that's what it really affects. That's it."  Shortly thereafter, Trump lied even more that the coronavirus "affects virtually nobody."  The CDC says - as of Wednesday, September 16th, 2020 - that Americans under 65 years of age account for the majority of COVID-19 cases and about 20 percent of coronavirus deaths in the United States.  So again, Donald...you lie...and you're wrong.

     Trump says he welcomed the opportunity to tell his story to Bob Woodward because Trump says Woodward "is somebody that I respect."  Well, Trump sure has a strange way to demonstrate respect.  He's bitten off Woodward's head since the recordings became the talk of the nation.

     Trump has nobody to blame for the tapes, but himself.  Badmouthing a renowned reporter and accusing him of "another political hit job" is an exhibition of Trump's narcissism run amok.  But to Trump, I say, Donald, you threw, yourself under the bus.  It's your voice and your words on Woodward's recordings.  Nevertheless, Trump - while at a campaign rally in Freeland, Michigan on Thursday, September 10th, 2020 - bashed Bob Woodward to his crowd of loyal followers by calling him a "whack job." It's amazing that Trump would tag Woodward with such an insulting moniker after he gave the award-winning journalist carte blanche to interview him a dozen-and-a-half times over a period of seven months.

     One of the most reputable journalists of all time and a two-time Pulitzer Prize recipient, Bob Woodward is also an associate editor of The Washington Post.  For his book, Woodward needed specific details about the internal operations of The White House.  He attributes that information to a multitude of interviews with unnamed aides.

     Now, the name of the game for Donald Trump is Damage Control.  America's "liar-in-chief" can try from now until Election Day, but he will never convince me - nor probably two-thirds to three-quarters of our nation - that his lack of transparency to the American people was to avoid "panic," "show calm," and provide "leadership," all of which he's insisting were his reasons to keep tight-lipped about COVID-19.  Trump can claim all day long that he's "not going to drive this country or the world in to a frenzy," but he's only spinning his wheels.  He's never going to persuade enough voters in to believing that he wants "to show confidence" and "show strength."

     The bottom line is that Donald Trump lied to us, and he knows he can't sway the vast majority of Americans to trust him.  He'll, therefore, continue to lie and attempt to hoodwink enough Independents to support him in the Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020 election so that the Electoral votes fall in to his column.  I don't think he has much of a chance to succeed, but he can try.   

     Bob Woodward was stunned by Trump's confessions. In an appearance on the Monday, September 14th, 2020 edition of Today, Woodward told NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie that he couldn't believe his ears.  "It is one of those shocks, for me, having written about nine presidents, that the president of the United States possessed the specific knowledge that could have saved lives, and historians are going to be writing about the lost month of February for tens of years."   

     Unrelated to Woodward's interviews with Trump, it was reported earlier this year that on January 29th, 2020, Trump was undeniably provided with the first of two disturbing memos that were distributed among White House officials and written by the Director of the National Trade Council Peter Navarro, who, in that initial correspondence, wrote to the National Security Council that a pandemic could kill more than one-half-million Americans and cost the United States close to six-trillion dollars.  Navarro cautioned that, "The risk of a worse-case pandemic scenario should not be overlooked."  And it's not likely - in fact it's virtually impossible - that Trump would not have been given a copy of the memo or, at the very least, made him fully aware of such a critical piece of information.  In his second troubling memo, dated February 23rd, 2020 - which was directed to Trump himself - Navarro's words were even more alarming as he clued-in Trump that up to two-million Americans could die from the disease. "There is an increasing probability of a full-blown COVID-19 pandemic that could infect as many as 100-million Americans, with a loss of life of as many as one-to-two million souls."  But Trump did nothing, and five days later is when he labeled the coronavirus a "hoax" that was dreamed up by the Democrats.  Nearly three months after Navarro's second memo, he went from being someone who rang the fire bell and sounded all the sirens, to someone who became an accessory to the head firebug. But as with most people in Donald Trump's circle of sin, Navarro put his boss above our country and above the American people.  Navarro should have gone public with his information from January and February, or made it available - even by leaking it to The New York Times or The Washington Post - and then come clean in an effort to protect the people of our nation and our planet.

     With racist overtones, Donald Trump maliciously calls the coronavirus the "China virus."  He's done it for six months and he'll probably do it for as long as this bully has a pulpit to display his bigotry.  On March 19th, 2020, Trump cursed China for covering up the coronavirus when it was in its early stages.  "The world is paying a very big price for what they did."  According to information compiled from reporting by The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, the first person to be diagnosed with COVID-19 was a Chinese patient in Wuhan on December 10th, 2019. But when did Trump and his administration have the slightest inkling of a coronavirus pandemic?  According to a report by ABC News on April 8th, 2020, senior White House and Pentagon officials were briefed numerous times, as early as late November 2019, that COVID-19 had been identified in Wuhan, China.  Through "data intercepts and satellite imagery," the National Center for Medical Intelligence believed a coronavirus was a potential threat to American military personnel in East Asia.  It had been determined that such an outbreak could be "cataclysmic."  That was a month before the World Health Organization found out about the initial case in China. Therefore, why did Trump not act in an appropriate fashion two months before National Security Adviser O'Brien cautioned him that an international health crisis could hit the United States, soon and hard?  It wasn't until January 30th, 2020 

when the first diagnosis of coronavirus was discovered in the U.S.  It was also that day - the day after National Trade Council Director Navarro's first memo - when Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar telephoned Trump and straight-out urged him to be concerned of a possible pandemic.  It was reportedly Azar's second SOS to Trump in two weeks.  The New York Times says Trump's attitude was that "Azar was being an alarmist."

     So for ten months since being alerted in November 2019 and eight months since being warned in January 2020, Trump has continued to perpetrate a crime by covering up his false and misleading claims with more and more deceit about the COVID-19 pandemic.  The lives of tens-of-thousands of Americans - perhaps, when all is said and done, the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans - could have been saved if Trump had only told the truth.  Americans deserve honesty and truth from a president.   

     Former Vice President Joe Biden - the Democratic nominee for President - didn't mince words on Wednesday, September 9th, 2020, as he slammed his Republican opponent at a campaign stop in Warren, Michigan. Trump "knowingly and willingly lied" to Americans.  We are in pain.  We are suffering - physically, mentally and emotionally - about a virus that could kill us.  And yet - with no apologies at all - Trump lies over and over again about a national health emergency that could cause millions more people to perish. 

     At the first ever drive-in town hall event, where voters respected the need to be socially distant, supporters of Vice President Biden joined CNN anchor Anderson Cooper on Thursday, September 17th, 2020 and asked questions to Mr. Biden from a minor league baseball field in Moosic, Pennsylvania, near his childhood hometown of Scranton.  Vice President Biden clobbered Donald Trump for not being forthright and frank with the American people about COVID-19.  Mr. Biden says Trump should resign.  "The idea that you're gonna not tell people what you've been told, that the virus is incredibly contagious; seven times more contagious than the flu.  I will make it clear what is needed to be done. You gotta level with the American people.  Shoot from the shoulder.  There's never been a time they've not been able to step up.  This president should step down."  To again quote Vice President Biden from that same night, "What presidents say matter. People listen."  To follow-up Mr. Biden's insightful comment, I'm a full-fledged ultra-progressive liberal Democrat, and I believe the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution - which gives everyone freedom of speech - is the pillar of our liberties and democracy.  But when the president of the United States employs that right to speak his mind, and his tongue becomes as toxic as the nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island, Trump - like the reactor explosion in 1979 - needs to be shut down. Permanently.  To do that, each eligible American has to exercise his or her voting power to elect Joe Biden as our President.  We, the people of the United States, cannot allow Donald Trump to further endanger the lives of anyone in our country.    

     Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi of California - the Speaker of the House - hinted to NBC's Andrea Mitchell on her Wednesday, September 9th, 2020 MSNBC show, Andrea Mitchell Reports, that it's time for Trump to re-evaluate his future plans.  Pelosi appealed to Trump's family and the Republican Party to stage "some kind of intervention" with him.  Pelosi also told the NBC News Senior Washington Correspondent, "The fact is that the coronavirus, and the threat that it was, is a reality.  A president should face that reality.  The way to avoid a panic is to show leadership, to say, 'This is what the challenge is. We're going to use the best scientific evidence that is available to us to contain it. We are going to make sure that we can stop the spread of it.'  That is what stops a panic, not ignoring it."   

     The Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Michael Osterholm, Ph.D. is diametrically opposite the views of Donald Trump.  Osterholm says, "Science has to rule the day here."  He told NBC News Political Director and Meet The Press moderator Chuck Todd that Trump is wrong to assume that honesty breeds panic.  "We know in public health, as well as just in general response to crisis, telling the truth never causes panic.  If you just tell the truth, they will respond, and they will trust you to continue to tell them the truth.  The great leaders of the world have done that."   

     Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer of New York told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday, September 9th, 2020 that Bob Woodward's tapes are "damning proof that Donald Trump lied, and people died." The Senate Minority Leader is downright furious. "We all know (Trump) puts himself first, but this time the consequences were deadly. And when I think about how many people in my state died in February and March and April, it just makes me angry.  I cannot believe he deceived the American people the way he did.  How many people would still be alive today if he just told Americans the truth?"

     The World Health Organization declared a global pandemic on March 11th, 2020. It was two days later, on March 13th, when Trump declared a national emergency in the United States.  But why did it take so long for Trump to alert Americans of such a worldwide health crisis?  In my column of May 19th, 2020, I wrote, "If there was a way to legally charge Trump with a crime for his dereliction of duty, I would push for it.  Under U.S. Code, Title 10, Section 892, Article 92, a service member in any branch of the United States military can be charged with the offense of dereliction of duty.  But the statute does not apply to the commander-in-chief."  I wrote that statement nearly four months before the Bob Woodward tapes with Donald Trump's voice were made public.  We must never forget that Trump ignored the coronavirus after he was warned by no fewer than three Cabinet-level advisers - not to mention officials at the Pentagon - between two and four months before the WHO made its pandemic proclamation.

     The phrase "dereliction of duty" has repeatedly been attached to Trump's
reckless behavior since the Woodward tapes made it to the airwaves, TV cables and social media.  On Wednesday, September 9th, 2020, Vice President Biden denounced Trump's irresponsibility as "beyond despicable.  It's a dereliction of duty, a disgrace."  And that same day, Democratic Representative Adam Schiff of California - the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee - pounced on Trump with full fury for the "almost 200,000 Americans (who) are now dead because of (Trump's) dereliction of duty."

     Donald Trump knew that he was on the record when Bob Woodward interviewed him.  For someone who claims with hubris that he's always "the smartest one in the room" and that he's "a very stable genius," there's plenty of evidence to the contrary.  In fact, Trump is undoubtedly the most stupid of all U.S. presidents.  His infamous arrogance may be what will squash Trump's presidency and his life as he knows it.

     Another example of Trump's stupidity is when he blurts out offensive language behind closed doors in a meeting of The White House Coronavirus Task Force. Olivia Troye is the former Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Adviser to the Vice President.  She also spent six months as an aide to the aforementioned Task Force.  In an interview that aired Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020 on NBC News and MSNBC, Troye told Andrea Mitchell that from the very beginning of the pandemic Donald Trump didn't give a damn about keeping Americans healthy.  He was just "focused on public image, messaging, and it was really more about, you know, his personal agenda than really the agenda that the task force had at hand, which was, how are we going to save and protect Americans."  In fact, Troye says Trump was, in a way, happy about the coronavirus pandemic.  "I was sitting to the right of him in the room" when Trump said, 'You know when you're a politician, you have to shake a lot of hands...and these people are disgusting.  It's gross.  COVID's probably a good thing, right?  I don't have to shake hands.  I don't have to do that anymore.'  I can't imagine how any honestly normal human being would ever say that out loud in the middle of a pandemic."  No, Donald. The only one who is disgusting is you.  As for Olivia Troye, Trump claims, "I don't know her.  I never met her."  White House officials say Troye is a "disgruntled" former employee. 

     If you've been playing sort of a "Russian roulette" by going places over the summer, thinking you'd be outdoors and safe from contracting the coronavirus from people you were near, well...you were gambling with your life.  And if you're okay today then you've been very lucky.  However, you probably won't be so fortunate as the colder weather hits your area of the country. Therefore, you need to start preparing for the coming months.  Get yourself acclimated to being indoors more often.  Tragically, a tremendous amount of Americans will not survive this winter if they pay little or no attention to the scientists, but instead follow a cult leader like Donald Trump.  Take my advice and listen to the health experts.  To paraphrase an infamous saying from 1978, when in Jonestown, Guyana 900 people died for participating in another cult, don't drink Trump's Kool-Aid.  It'll be your death.  

     Meanwhile, more audio of the Woodward-Trump interviews was obtained by CNN and released on Monday, September 14th, 2020.  The following quote about the coronavirus is from April 13th, 2020.  "This thing is a killer if it gets you.  If you're the wrong person, you don't have a chance. It is the plague."  But three days before, on April 10th, Trump tweeted, "The Invisible Enemy will soon be in full retreat!"  And a week before that - on April 3rd - Trump had announced federal guidelines recommending that Americans wear face masks to limit the spread of respiratory droplets from one person to another.  But for Trump, wearing any sort of face covering was not on his "to do" list.  "I'm choosing not to do it."  We could probably count on one hand - perhaps one finger - how many times anyone has seen Trump wearing a mask.  Thus, that's the reason many of Trump's supporters refuse to cover their faces when they're outside their homes.     

     Paul Krugman is an American economist and a Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York.  In 2008, Krugman was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.  More recently, for an opinion column for The New York Times, published on Thursday, September 17th, 2020, Krugman wrote, "Donald Trump has apparently decided to spend the final weeks of his re-election campaign deriding and discouraging mask-wearing and other anti-pandemic precautions.  So his latest ploy is an attempt to convince people that the COVID-19 threat is over. But widespread mask-wearing is a constant reminder that the virus is still out there.  Hence Trump's renewed push against the simplest, most sensible of public health precautions.  As a political strategy, this ploy probably won't work.  But it will lead to a lot of unnecessary deaths." 

     At the Moosic, Pennsylvania town hall event, Vice President Biden expressed with conviction that he is exasperated by Trump's opposition to supplying masks to students in schools. "It's totally irrational. And look, this is all about one thing - the stock market.  He doesn't want to see anything happen.  It's all about his re-election.  It should be about the American people.  And they're in trouble."

     NBC News, on Thursday, September 17th, 2020, reported that in April 2020, Trump put the whammy on sending hundreds of millions of cloth masks to every household in the country.  NBC News obtained an internal email from a senior administration official that says The White House decided instead, to deliver the masks to non-profit organizations plus state and federal agencies because that's what Donald Trump chose to do.  NBC News was informed by a spokesperson at the Department of Health and Human Services that 600 million masks had been circulated throughout the nation.  Meanwhile, medical experts say if masks had been sent directly to U.S homes when the health crisis began, it would have been a bright light to Americans that covering their mouths and noses with fabric overlays can save lives, thus by providing masks to everyone in the country would have encouraged people to actually wear their masks.  The White House has yet to say why the Trump administration scrapped the mask distribution to households, but I can certainly guess.  Condoning mask-wearing - especially back in April - would have meant that Trump was aware of the seriousness of COVID-19.  And although he divulged that fact to Bob Woodward, he brushed it off to the country as if it was a sham cooked-up by the Democrats.   

     On Monday, September 14th, 2020, Woodward shared more of his audio from his interview with Trump, and this time he provided the recording to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS.  On that snippet of tape, we hear Trump from April 13th admit that the coronavirus is "so easily transmissible, you wouldn't believe it."  And during that same conversation with Stephen Colbert, he aired another recording from the April 13th part of the Woodward-Trump interview.  Trump talks of the time when he and ten others ran away from someone whose nose became a mucus musket.  "I was in The White House a couple of days ago, meeting with ten people in The Oval Office and a guy sneezed; innocently, not a horrible you know, just a sneeze.  The entire room bailed out, okay, including me, by the way."  This was also the same day - April 13th - when Trump was on a tangent to get Americans back to work while he threatened state governors that he was their boss.  "When somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total.  The governors know that."  Of course not Trump nor any president has total authority, therefore, he cannot demand that the states re-open for business.  So at one point on April 13th, Trump tells Bob Woodward that the coronavirus is "easily transmissible" (as noted above), but also that people in The White House - including Trump - skedaddled when "a guy sneezed."  Another time the same day, Trump was pushing for people to get back to their jobs where dozens or perhaps hundreds of people were in one location together; despite recommendations by health officials for people to abide by social distancing guidelines.  It's always been more important to Trump that the nation's economy grew, even if by doing so, many more thousands of people would die.      

     I venture to say that practically every journalist in America - including myself - have speculated at some point that there would be tapes of Trump, which would destroy him.  You may recall that about a month before the 2016 election, the 2005 Access Hollywood video was released, but that didn't end Trump's campaign for president then; although it should have and I'm still flabbergasted that it didn't.  Remember when the program's host at the time, Billy Bush, was riding with "The Donald" on the show's bus?  Trump 

bragged to Bush about his sexcapades, allegedly with television personality Nancy O'Dell, among others.  "I moved on her, actually.  You know she was down on Palm Beach.  I moved on her, and I failed.  I'll admit it.  I did try and fuck her. She was married. No, no, Nancy. No this was, and I moved on her very heavily.  In fact, I took her furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, 'I'll show you where they have some nice furniture.'  I took her out furniture...  I moved on her like a bitch.  But I couldn't get there.  And she was married.  Then all of a sudden, I see her.  She's now got the big phony tits and everything.  She's totally changed her look."  The conversation continued as the Access Hollywood bus arrived at NBC studios in Burbank, California. Trump noticed Arianne Zucker who he was meeting that day to videotape a scene with her on Days Of Our Lives.  "Yea, that's her, with the gold.  I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her.  You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful...  I just start kissing them.  It's like a magnet. Just kiss.  I don't even wait.  And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything."  Billy Bush replied, "Whatever you want."  And Trump uttered the line that nobody should forget.  "Grab 'em by the pussy.  You can do anything."

     Trump's lewd and lascivious language triggered a strong reaction four years ago from Vice President Biden.  As a special guest in October 2016 on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers, Mr. Biden was "astound(ed)" that Trump would "publicly" grandstand about his sexual perversions, which Vice President Biden referred to as "engag(ing) in the textbook definition of sexual assault."   

     I believe, however, that even though some people voted for Trump with the vulgarities out of his foul mouth not being a problem to them, I don't think a significant amount of those same supporters will jump on Trump's bandwagon this time around.  For whatever their reasons, they decided not to "pull the lever" (colloquially speaking) for Hillary Clinton.  But for Joe Biden, I think they will.  The Access Hollywood tape was disgraceful and offensive, but nobody died.  The Woodward recordings prove that Trump's wicked ways have cost, so far, more than 200,000 American lives.  That number has been echoed multiple times throughout this editorial, whether as a quote from others or by me, but it's a number that rates repeating.  I need to trumpet Trump's cruel disposition and insolent demeanor so that those Americans who either can't or don't want to see it, will hopefully realize that Trump's motive is to make America a dictatorship not a democracy.  It was March 31st, 2020 when Trump was actually patting himself on the back that a projected total of 240,000 U.S. fatalities from the coronavirus would mean that he will have done "a good job."  This man makes me want to throw up. But our nation could be grieving more than double, or even triple, that amount in only a short few months.  The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020, issued a prediction from their highly respected model that by January 1st, 2021, 378,321 Americans will have likely died from the coronavirus.  But IHME does have a worst case scenario forecast of about 446,000 deaths from COVID-19 by New Year's Day. Whichever 

hypothesis is correct, the nation's leading expert on infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, is painting a bleak portrait for 2021.  The Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says the United States may not return to pre-coronavirus normalcy until the end of next year.  Dr. Fauci told NBC's Andrea Mitchell on Friday, September 11th, 2020, "If you're talking about getting back to a degree of normality, which resembles where we were prior to COVID, it's going to be well in to 2021; maybe even towards the end of 2021."  But Dr. Fauci also told the NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, "I believe that we will have a vaccine that will be available by the end of this year, the beginning of next year, but by the time you mobilize the distribution of the vaccinations, and you get the majority or more of the population vaccinated and protected, that's likely not going to happen 'til mid or end of 2021."   

     Meanwhile, Trump came out hard and definitively against the CDC director when on Wednesday, September 16th, 2020, Trump called Dr. Robert Redfield, M.D. "confused" about a COVID-19 vaccine timetable and that he "made a mistake" with an expected calendar of events for a coronavirus vaccine. The CDC chief appeared before the U.S. Senate on September 16th and was firm with his sworn testimony that a vaccine would likely not be ready until late November or December of this year, but that it would take "six to nine" months to vaccinate every American and that "regular life" in our country would not be realized until late 2021.  Trump, however, told reporters at a White House press conference that a coronavirus vaccine is right around the corner.  "We're ready to go immediately, as the vaccine is announced, and it could be announced in October; it could be announced a little bit after October."

     Donald Trump is the president of his own private "Fantasy Island," which makes Mike Pence his "Tattoo."  (I apologize to the late Ricardo Montalban and the late Herve Villechaize as I don't mean to insult them by equating their awesome characters - Mr. Roarke and Tattoo - with  

the likes of Trump and Pence).  However, Trump told reporters from The White House Briefing Room on Friday, September 18th, 2020 that he "expect(s) to have enough vaccines for every American by April (2021)."  He thinks "at least 100-million vaccine doses" will be distributed" by the end of 2020, and a large number much sooner than that.  But the CDC says every person will need two shots to protect against COVID-19.  So optimistically, the best possible distribution plan is for 45-million doses by New Year's Eve.  That means there'd only be enough vaccines for 22.5-million people.  That's if the vaccine is actually available by December 31st, 2020.

     But the same day that Trump and Dr. Redfield were playing tug-o-war with their thoughts (as noted above), the former Vice President of the United States who wants Trump's job was on a verbal warpath with the current Oval Office occupant. During a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, Joe Biden made mincemeat out of Trump. "I trust vaccines.  I trust scientists.  But I don't trust Donald Trump.  And at this moment the American people can't either."  Trump is merely playing politics with his fictional timeline for a vaccine, and by doing so he's causing more and more chaos in our country.  As Trump continues to make his phony predictions practically everyday, he is contradicting health professionals with his October conjecture.  Let's all remember that it was Trump who suggested we infuse our bodies with disinfectant products such as Lysol or Clorox.  "I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out, in a minute, one minute.  And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside, or, or almost a cleaning?  'Cause you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs."

     On Monday, May 18th, 2020, Trump told the country that he'd been taking the anti-malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine - a drug that Trump had previously promoted to prevent and treat the coronavirus.  He claims to have taken the drug for two weeks.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had stated that nobody should take hydroxychloroquine  "outside of a hospital setting or a clinical trial due to a risk of heart rhythm problems," which can result in death, and because the drug is currently not approved to treat COVID-19.  It can also cause irreversible blindness.  The FDA and the CDC say there is not enough medical data available to prove that hydroxychloroquine is a cure for COVID-19 or that it can prevent a person from being infected by the coronavirus.  With potentially fatal side effects, taking the medication is not worth the risk.  But Trump's response was, "What do you have to lose?"  Well, let me tell you, Donald.  Your life.  

     For Trump to propose the possibility of cleaning agents being inoculated into humans to kill the coronavirus, along with a drug that could be deadly and which the FDA says to avoid in connection with COVID-19, are evidence that he is mentally unfit to serve as president of the United States.  Hell, he's mentally unfit to serve as the mayor of Trumpville, which is a town that doesn't even exist.  However, someone who is completely fit to serve as America's President is the 2020 Democratic nominee.  Vice President Biden agrees with the guys and gals who are tops in the fields of science and medicine.  "The vaccine is "not gonna happen overnight.  Once we have it, it's gonna take months to distribute it, to the entire population."  Meanwhile, according to The New York Times, "Over the past week (ending Sunday, September 20th, 2020), there have been an average of 41,101 cases (of COVID-19) per day," which is "an increase of 1 percent from the average two weeks earlier."  Therefore, as our nation's infectious disease guru, Dr. Fauci, says, "We need to hunker down and get through this fall and winter because it's not going to be easy."  Still, Donald Trump continues to regurgitate his laundry list of lies, including that "we're rounding the corner and the vaccines are right there."  Dr. Fauci and most other science experts emphatically disagree.

     Vice President Biden, 

in his addresss from Warren, Michigan on Wednesday,
September 9th, 2020, hit the nail on the head with a powerful force and a masterful, proficient command of a true leader. "(Donald Trump) had the information.  He knew how dangerous it was.  And while this deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job ON PURPOSE.  It was a life and death betrayal of the American people. Experts

 

say, if he had acted just, just one week sooner, 36,000 people would have been saved."  In an interview with CNN Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper - also on Wednesday, September 9th, Vice President Biden spelled out in a nutshell that Trump's malpractice and malfeasance "caused people to die. Think about what he did not do, and it's almost criminal."  What kind of a human being intentionally ignores the severe warnings about a virus when he is emphatically advised by science and medical experts that doom and gloom are inevitable for the citizens of our country if he - Donald Trump - doesn't act in accordance with such 

scientific and medical advice?  How can the president of the United States - who took an oath to "protect and defend" - think only of himself and an upcoming election rather than the lives of the people he serves?  Trump has, for nearly four years, been nothing more than a selfish son-of-a-bitch.  He cares about nobody but himself and, even when it risks the lives of every person in our country, Trump basically shrugs his shoulders and says, the hell with all of you.  Trump knew all along that the coronavirus is deadly.  He knew it was airborne.  He knew that COVID-19 is more lethal than the seasonal flu.  Trump knew it all.  But his only focus in January, as it is now, was how he could cheat to win the 2020 election.  After that, how can Trump be the kind of person Republicans want for president?  How

much more do Republicans need to hear before they
abandon Trump forever?  To anyone who can still support Donald Trump, I have one question for you. Do you have a conscience? If you can still vote for someone who is as corrupt, cruel and reprehensibly repulsive as Trump, then no way can you have a conscience.  Think about that.  Give it some deep thought before you cast that ballot for the November 3rd election.  I believe if you embrace moral principles, and if you're honest with yourself, you'll do what's right, and you'll vote for Joe Biden for President and Kamala Harris for Vice President to save the United States of America.  Unfortunately, I'm not so confident that many of you embody the character that personifies those qualities. 

 
     Lying is a pertinent part of Donald Trump's DNA.  When a liar lies, and he gets caught in the lie, he should just fess up, fall on his sword, and admit he was wrong. But not Donald Trump.  When a lie he's told is proven to be a lie, and there is no doubt that he lied, Trump defends himself and tries to get out of of the lie by lying again, and therefore denies that he ever did lie.  Of course, that only digs a bigger hole for the liar, and eventually the hole is a canyon that is so deep that it becomes impossible to crawl out of, and by then, the liar is so entangled by his own web of irreverence and treachery that he has to continue lying in an effort that not only he himself believes the lies to be true, but that the people he's lied to begin accepting the lies as truth too.

     Given the parameters of my analysis above, Donald Trump - on Thursday, September 10th, 2020 - was adamant when he told reporters during a press conference at The White House that "I didn't lie" to the American people about COVID-19.  But anyone with an ounce of brains knows that Trump did, in fact, lie to us.  We have heard him with his own voice tell Bob Woodward that he "downplay(ed)" the severity of the coronavirus; at a time when Trump blasted Democrats for creating a health crisis "hoax."  Of course, Democrats had nothing to do with developing the coronavirus.

     At the aforementioned Freeland, Michigan rally on Thursday, September 10th, 2020, Trump told the crowd of devotees - most of which were not wearing masks to keep from spreading their respiratory droplets - that Democrats "wanted me to come up and scream, people are dying."   

     On Sunday September 13th, 2020, Trump cheerleader and the chairperson of the Republican National Committee Ronna McDaniel was full speed ahead with her defense of Trump. McDaniel gave NBC's Chuck Todd an earful on Meet The Press. "Think of what would have happened if he'd have gone out and said, 'This is awful.  We should all be afraid.  We don't have a plan.'  It would have been a run on the banks.  It would have been a run on the hospitals.  It would have been a run on the grocery stores."  Hey Ronna, where have you been living the last six months?  Grocery stores and other supermarkets have been out of stock on many different staple items since March.  And when certain items are replenished, they're bought out - in some cases - in a matter of minutes.  But Ronna, you're a real "Donald disciple."  You've been bamboozled by Trump and hornswoggled in to accepting his lies.

     Donald Trump has made a career out of lying.  So, after awhile, many of the people he has brainwashed in to believing him don't even question the lies; even if they suspect them to be lies.  They simply validate whatever Trump says as gospel.

     Let's review some of Trump's COVID-19 fabrications.  More precisely, they're examples of his premeditated prevarications.

     January 22nd, 2020 - "We have it totally under control.  It's one person coming in from China."  THAT'S A LIE!

     February 2nd, 2020 - "We pretty much shot it down, coming in from China." THAT'S A LIE!

     February 10th, 2020 - "You know in April, supposedly it dies with the hotter weather."  THAT'S A LIE! 

     February 14th, 2020 - "When it gets warm, historically that has been able to kill the virus."  THAT'S A LIE!

     February 26th, 2020 - "We're going to be pretty soon at only five people.  And we could be at just one or two people over the next short period of time.  So we've had very good luck."  THAT'S A LIE!

     February 26th, 2020 - "And again, when you have fifteen people, and the fifteen within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done."  THAT'S A LIE!

     February 27th, 2020 - "It's going to disappear.  One day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear."  THAT'S A LIE...AND PROBABLY THE BIGGEST CORONAVIRUS LIE!

     February 28th, 2020 - At a campaign rally in South Carolina, Trump targeted Democrats and the news media for being the culprits of mass hysteria throughout the United States, and that the coronavirus was nothing more than a political "hoax." THAT'S A LIE!

     March 2nd, 2020 - "They're gonna have vaccines.  I think relatively soon." THAT'S A LIE!

     March 3rd, 2020 - "Not only the vaccines but the therapies.  Therapies is sort of another word for cure."  THAT'S A LIE!

     March 4th, 2020 - "We're talking about very small numbers in the United States." THAT'S A LIE!

     March 6th, 2020 - "Our numbers are lower than just about anybody."  THAT'S A LIE!

     March 12th, 2020 - "It's gonna go 'way."  THAT'S A LIE!  (It's not going away anytime soon).

     March 13th, 2020 - "No.  I don't take responsibility at all."  But you ARE responsible, Donald.  So let's say THAT'S A LIE too!

     March 17th, 2020 - On this day, the pandemic was already official worldwide for six days and yet Trump attempted to rewrite history - which he has tried to do numerous times throughout his presidency, for one reason or another, and continues to do so.  "I felt it was a pandemic, long before it was called a pandemic.  I've always viewed it as very serious."  No Donald, you didn't.  THAT'S A LIE!  Remember, you claimed it was a "hoax."

     Donald Trump was at the airport in Mosinee, Wisconsin - Thursday, September 17th, 2020 - for a campaign rally with no social distancing, packed with people not wearing masks (oh perhaps there were a few).  And yes, there is a state mandate to wear face coverings.  Trump's only concern, though, was to pump up his base and anyone else he can grab on to that might vote for him in the upcoming election.  But he lied every step of the way. 

     "This is the greatest economy in the history of the world."  No it isn't, and it never was under Trump's watch.  THAT'S A LIE!

     "Then the virus came in.  We closed it down."  No, Donald.  THAT'S A LIE!  On average, the virus has killed thousands of Americans every week.

     "We saved millions and millions of lives."  No again, Donald.  THAT'S A LIE!  So far your actions have contributed to the deaths of more than 200,000 people in our country. 

     "We will deliver a safe and effective vaccine before the end of the year, and it could be very, very soon."  THAT'S A LIE TOO!  Lies, lies and more lies.  The likelihood is that the vaccine will not be ready for Americans to get until well in to 2021.  Donald, you need to listen to the health professionals.  They know about science and medicine.  You don't!  

     So Trump has lied and lied and lied.  He's lied over and over and over again about the coronavirus; not to mention - according to The Washington Post - more than 20,000 other lies since his inauguration on January 20th, 2017.  Why did his lie about knowing the critical dangers of COVID-19 - months before the rest of our country - and the fact that he "downplay(ed)" everything - which was all a political plot to benefit his chances for the 2020 election - be the straw that broke me in to hatred?

     Actually, I should have hated Trump after he wouldn't denounce and condemn white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.  As a Jew, I should have hated Trump when he called white supremacists "very fine people" after the 2017 Charlottesville, Virginia protests.

     I should have hated Trump when he separated migrant babies and children from their parents and locked the kids in cages.

   

     I should have hated Trump after he envisioned himself to be dictator of our land like North Korea's Kim Jong-un.  In June 2018, in an interview with Fox News, Trump was direct and to the point.  "He (Kim Jong-un) speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same."   

     I should have hated Trump after his racism perpetuated the "birther movement," when Trump refused to recognize President Barack Obama as a U.S. born citizen.

     I should have hated Trump after all his racist remarks, including - but not limited to - the day in 2018 when he denigrated Haiti and some African nations as "shithole countries," plus I should have hated Trump on the day in 2015 when he became a 2016 presidential candidate with his harsh criticism of Latinos, Hispanics and all Spanish-speaking individuals through a dastardly diatribe about our neighbors to the south.  "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best, they're not sending their best.  They're bringing drugs.  They're bringing crime.  They're rapists."  Trump used as a campaign pledge his plan - his promise - to build a wall on the U.S./Mexico border.  I wrote then that a wall would never be constructed, and to this day - except for fencing that was there long before Trump (or replacement fencing) - he has not erected one piece of a new barrier. 

     I should have hated Trump after he mocked a disabled reporter who's challenged with a bodily abnormality.

   

     I should have hated Trump after he disparaged Gold Star mother and father Ghazala and Khizr Khan following their appearances at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

     And, I should have hated Trump after he degraded and belittled the late Senator John McCain (before his death), about when the Arizona Republican and decorated military veteran was a Vietnam prisoner of war.  While campaigning in 2015, Trump was vile with his language at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa.  "He's not a war hero.  He's a war hero because he was captured.  I like people that weren't captured."  Trump really sickened me with his insensitive comment then and he has sickened me every day ever since.  This has nothing to do with politics.  I'm a

lifelong Democrat, and John McCain WAS a war hero.  As I wrote in my column of May 17th, 2018, as Senator McCain was fighting to stay alive as he battled a war against cancer, "Denying McCain as a hero because he was 'captured' demonstrated the cruel streak that flows through Donald Trump's veins.  Our country's current commander-in-chief never spent one moment in a foxhole, nor did he ever wear a military uniform in peacetime. McCain's loyalty and his love of country and family empowered him to survive during a harrowing experience in his life as a Vietnam prisoner of war, and to live a full life with dignity; a life that earned him the respect of a nation."    

     The list of reasons why I should have hated Trump is, in reality, endless.  The above examples are only some that have made it to my "highlight reel."  So why the hell did I wait 'til now to announce my hatred for Donald Trump?  Because none of Trump's nauseating verbalism has ever contributed to mass mortal misery.  Not until now.  Trump's covert conduct is culpable, in large part, for his absence of translucency by not informing the American people that COVID-19 could exterminate millions of us.

     Donald Trump is responsible for families not being able to celebrate birthdays and holidays with their loved ones.  Older parents and grandparents can't visit with their children and grandchildren.  No hugs, no kisses.  Trump is responsible for couples having to postpone their wedding receptions.  And families have had to reschedule Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, Confirmations plus other celebratory events and gala affairs.  Trump is responsible for students missing their proms and their graduation ceremonies, plus sharing those special days with their friends and families.  Trump is responsible for people having to be cooped up in their homes and not being able to go to restaurants, bars, sports stadiums, movie theaters and any other social activity venues where people sit next to each other.  Trump is responsible for people losing their jobs and then trying to survive on unemployment.  He's responsible for kids not attending their schools; not getting an education in classrooms with teachers and other pupils, and not participating in extra-curricular activities after school.  No sports, no school newspaper, no drama club, marching band or concert choir.  No academic clubs.  No lunches in their cafeteria with friends.  Donald Trump is responsible for everything that has gone wrong in our country over the last three-and-a-half years.  And there's been plenty.  Yet he feels no responsibility, no regret and no remorse for botching up what he has done while in The White House, especially the lack of precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.  What makes matters worse is that Trump continues to travel the same path and to encourage his base that it's a-okay to come to his campaign rallies with no masks and to vote in person on November 3rd when he knows that most people who don't support him will not go to the polls on Election Day, but will rely on their mail-in ballots being delivered and counted on time.

     Donald Trump is a monster.  As a politician, he was created by people whose praise for him stemmed from his stardom as a television personality and because he has been triumphant at letting people believe that he is a successful and wealthy businessman.  But Trump has done nothing to merit the devotion and ovation that his fanatics give him.  He has conned his way in to the hearts and minds of

the people of his base.  Then there are Republican politicians nationwide - especially the ones on Capitol Hill - who haven't got the backbones or the balls to turn against Trump in fear they will lose votes themselves in their next elections, and be shunned by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other GOP leadership.  Congressional Republicans would sooner see America be drowned in an ocean of quicksand than go against Donald Trump. 

     So once again, do I hate Donald Trump?  Oh yeah…I hate him.  But I believe there are two forms of hate.  A person can hate another person with or without hostility.  The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “hostility” as “deep-seated dislike or ill will,” and that “hostility suggests an enmity showing itself in attacks or aggression.”  The Oxford English Dictionary defines “ill will” as “malicious intent” or “intended to do harm.”  Although there are many of my readers who will differ with me, I wish Donald Trump no harm; at least while he’s here on Earth. 

     Despite mistreatment towards our country and our people, my thirst is for Trump to suffer the consequences of his wrongdoings - legally and constitutionally - for as long as he lives, which I hope will be quite awhile so he suffers as others have suffered.  Frankly, I have read countless comments - posted on social media - from people who not only hate Trump, but want him dead.  My childhood upbringing, my religious teachings, and my spiritual beliefs as an adult cannot justify the caliber of hate towards another person that binds an aggressive belligerence with emotional loathing to equal death.  Oh I do embody powerful disgust and merciless bitterness towards Trump, and my intense aversion to him makes me long for the day that he is wearing handcuffs while escorted by law enforcement officers – federal agents or local cops, it doesn’t matter – and taken to a prison cell.

     Donald Trump is an enemy of every American.  Those who support him simply don’t know that Trump is not their friend, but their foe.  He is an adversary to everyone; to all people.  Yes, there are those who wish he would walk off a cliff (or be pushed off), but that’s not me.  I oppose and discourage any undertaking that would involve violence towards Trump or any other human being.  To torment Trump or anybody else is not what I’m about.  But the savage beast that is Donald Trump needs to be held accountable for his transgressions.  And that’s the job – the requirement – and the duty of every American right now so we can overwhelmingly vote him out of office.

     When my eyes get a glimpse of Trump on TV and he begins a rant of lies, I have certainly bellowed profanities, which anyone who knows me well enough is fully aware that I rarely use such language in my speech.  However, while in the privacy of my abode, with today’s technology not even my television set has ears – rabbit’s or any others – so nobody can hear the fireworks that explode off my tongue as I verbally thrash Trump with thoughts that reflect my despise for him.  But the hatred I express and exhibit is not physically abusive.  Thanks to our Founding Fathers, I have the right to “freedom of speech.”

    

In an earlier column, I included the words of a President of the United States who I respect, admire and hold in my heart with true affection.  One of the last formal speeches he made as commander-in-chief, President Barack Obama, on December 6th, 2016, addressed troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa Florida.  For nearly four years I have carried a copy of President Obama's speech with me.  His words mean that much to me and they should to everyone.  "We're a nation that believes freedom can never be taken for granted, and that each of us has a responsibility to sustain it.  The universal right to speak your mind and to protest against authority, to live in a society that's open and free, that can criticize a President without retribution, a country where you're judged by the content of your character rather than what you look like, or how you worship, or what your last name is, or where your family came from; that's what separates us from tyrants and terrorists."  Therefore, my views in this column are protected by the U.S. Constitution, which gives me the lawful right to protest against Donald Trump.

   

     Trump has demonstrated his own hatred with his betrayal, his lies, his treachery, and what I believe is his treason against our nation.  As a result, more than 200,000 Americans and counting have died this year, long before their time because of Trump’s deceit and his want to help only himself, not the people he swore to protect.  And on Wednesday, September 23^rd, 2020, Trump did what no other president in the history of the United States has ever done.  He refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if Joe Biden defeats him in the November 3^rd election.  “Well, we’re going to have to see what happens.”  Trump has no evidence whatsoever to prove his claim, but he insists – as he has done for a long time - that mail-in voting will “rig the election” for Joe Biden and the Democrats because mail-in ballots are fraught with fraud.  “Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very trans – we’ll have a very peaceful – there won’t be a transfer, 

frankly, there’ll be a continuation.”  And with the untimely, but sad death on Friday, September 18th, 2020 of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Trump is adamant that he and the Republican-controlled Senate will replace the High Court’s vacancy before the election, which will overrun the Bench with conservative justices and change the course of our nation for generations to come.  Cases including Roe v. Wade, which gives a woman the right to choose to have or not have an abortion, the Affordable Care Act – more commonly known as “Obamacare” – which provides more than 22-million Americans with health insurance and allows for anyone with pre-existing conditions to purchase insurance, plus same-sex marriage, which the Supreme Court ruled is a fundamental right for gays and lesbians, may all be laws that get overturned by a mostly conservative Court. 

     Furthermore, if the presidential election is close, Trump says, “I think this will end up in the Supreme Court, and I think it’s very important that we have nine justices.  Having a four-four situation is not a good situation.”  This is an unprecedented move by both Trump and Senator McConnell with less than 40 days remaining before the election.  Never before in our country has there been a Senate vote for a Supreme Court Justice this close to the presidential election.  Not only has Trump created more chaos in our country, he is influencing those who worship him to cause civil unrest in America if he does lose.

     

      If there is a hell, Donald Trump should rot there for all eternity.  But that’s not my decision to make.  So although my words may sound hostile – they are just words.  Trump has hurt too many people in our country, and in our world.  Given the chance, he could attempt to overthrow our federal government.  After all, Trump envisions himself as a monarch with absolute rule and power, not a president who adheres to the laws of our land and who will “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”  And although nobody knows if sinners actually pay for their immoral misdeeds and injustices in an afterlife, Donald Trump will pay for his crimes and other sins, and he won’t be able to use cash dollars with bribes.  Trump’s first payment will come when he loses the election to Joe Biden.  Voters - not only in states where there are predominately Democrats and left-leaning Independents, but voters in swing-states and even some states that are generally considered more Republican and conservative - are going to realize, down deep in their souls, that to give Donald Trump another four years in The White House would erase more than two centuries of democracy in America.  Our republic would not survive.  Time will tell if – once out of office - Trump ever faces a judge and jury in a court of law.  But if there is a hereafter, Trump will not be granted a luxuriously swanky suite on the most elegant and posh cloud in heaven, and angel’s wings and a halo will not become part of “The Donald’s” fashion statement.  Instead, Trump’s prop will be a pitchfork and he can be “The Apprentice” for The Devil himself.  But if he tries to con Satan, then Donald Trump will find himself scorched in an everlasting inferno of a bottomless pit.

 

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

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