Trump has always telegraphed who he is…either blatantly with his words or through other means. He wants us to know upfront because he doesn’t want anyone to later claim they didn’t know.

From day one we knew Trump was shifty in his business practices. People were hollering from the rooftops that he had not paid them for their work. He refused to provide his tax returns. If they were legitimate, even under audit he would have been glad to do what every recent presidential candidate before him had done.

Even without revisiting his bone spur antics during the Vietnam War, Trump let us know he is not a fan of military heroes and Gold Star families…certainly not Commander-in-Chief material. Perhaps, the most stunning wake up calls were the revelations of Trump’s former aides…most memorably for me those of General John Kelly.

During his former presidency, Trump with the help of Congress chipped away at many of rights Americans before us fought for us to have and continue to fight to preserve. At the end of his presidency and what seems like every single day since his presidency, he has chipped away at the things that make our democracy most precious…our voting rights, the rule of law, and democracy itself. The weaker these things become the more difficult it becomes to move forward or to resist.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the people Trump surrounds himself with…those who are cowardly, those who are dangerous, and those who are just like him. We’ve heard it before that the first time around he didn’t know what he was doing, and we know thousands died because of that. This time he will certainly surround himself with more who are cowardly, dangerously inexperienced, and just like him…one can only imagine where such an administration would take us.

Trump is not hiding that he thinks democracy is weak compared to the governments of the leaders he praises. He is not hiding that he has broken the law…his contention is that others have gotten away with it and furthermore, he contends he is immune from prosecution. His policies, actions, and rants tell you he respects those who possess money and power more than those who do not.

I think if he had not been so brazen and proud of his unsavory deeds, or shown a hint of remorse, he would be in a different place right now with supporters and critics. Trump could have done what past former Presidents have done… pack up, leave the White House, and let President Biden take the reins…and, then he could of have run again just like he is running now. It would not have prevented him from going to the courts which he did…of course, he would have lost just like he did. If he had gone peacefully as those before him, then his most fervent supporters would not be in prison, awaiting trial, or paying all his or their own legal fees.

As for his other cases, he could have just returned the classified documents on the first request…or the second, the third, or he could have just left them when he departed the White House. He could have said I have been found culpable in the E. Jean Carrol case and left it alone…his supporters didn’t care. But he couldn’t do that, he had to further defame her. He didn’t have to create Truth Social to torture the country with every detail of his next moves, his agony about losing the election, the unfairness of his court cases and responding to everything Biden.

So now he is meddling in the business of our government and our allies. Ukraine is losing ground because he has taken the Speaker of the House hostage…people are dying. The Immigration bill is in limbo because he has taken the Speaker of the House and most House GOP members hostage…legislation that passed the Senate and a compromise brokered by Republicans and Democrats. People are dying but not enough to do something about it. And then there is his praise of Putin…Navalny is dead, and we have Americans in Russian prisons, and more being eyed for arrest as I write.

And let us not forget Trump left a legacy of terror for every woman who experiences an emergency or even just an irregularity during a pregnancy. He was proud of it until a few days ago…and now you are supposed to believe that he believes a 16-week ban is appropriate (wink).

But we know all of this. He makes sure we know because he is a media expert. And because we know and the world knows we know, if Trump is re-elected then we will be complicit in all his crimes because as the adage goes…we knew what he was when we picked him up.  

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. It’s time for the country to move on.