Saturday, February 4, 2017

SAVE OUR SHIP! – An Urgent Appeal to Select Members of Congress

This is a draft of the letter I intend to send to those Republican members of Congress still able 
to think and act in the best interests of this great nation. 

My goal—and yours, I fervently hope—is to rid our government of the pretender president, Donald Trump, and staunch, as quickly as possible, the hemorrhaging of this great nation's lifesblood: our uniquely-American values—generosity, optimism, vision, creativity, brotherhood ...and just simple decency—for which so many of our country-men and -women have fought 
and died.

Feel free to copy/paste any or all of this content. Maybe you prefer to pull a few quotes and build your own case around them. It's all good. All I ask is that, if you use something, please share the link to this page with as many of your like-minded friends and family members, through as many media, as you can. 

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Dear SENATORS: John McCain (AZ), Rand Paul (KY), Lindsey Graham (SC), Susan Collins (ME), Ben Sasse (NE), Jeff Flake (AZ)

Dear REPRESENTATIVES: Charlie Dent (PA), Walter Jones (NC), Speaker Paul Ryan (WI), Justin Amash (MI), Barbara Comstock (VA)
(These are some of the Congresspeople The Hill, The Washington Post and other media have identified as willing to confront Trump on at least some issues. You may know of other Republicans—perhaps those representing your state—you'd like to implore to reason.)

W ith the election of Donald Trump and his subsequent rush to consolidate power,  
a great tragedy is playing out on our national political stage. And you are in a unique position to thwart it.

I’m accused by friends who support Trump of simply poor sportsmanship—sour grapes, they say—for not just shutting up and taking it as they claim they had to do when Barack Obama was elected.

But this man is different. He has proven amply, through his well-documented comments and actions, that he is a bigot, a misogynist, a pathological liar and a boor. More importantly, he shows, every day, that he lacks the qualifications, knowledge, temperament and judgement to even approximate fulfilling the duties of the most powerful office in the world.

           He has lived and prospered by lawsuit, 
           and promises to govern the same way.

Even his one and only claim to competence, his success as a businessman, is a sham, given the roil of bankruptcies, lawsuits and, ultimately, cheated customers, suppliers and investors he leaves in his wake. He has lived and prospered by lawsuit, and promises to govern the same way—a distraction, to say the least, from the awesome responsibilities of this office.

Perhaps most perilous for the country, this brash pretender clearly shows every single clinical marker of a serious mental condition (narcissistic personality disorder). This utterly self-centered, thin-skinned, impulsive, aggressively insecure, delusional profile is typical of some of the most destructive despots in human history—men who throw not just their rivals, but their own countries and their own people under the bus to feed their insatiable need for attention.

Though elected with a significant minority of the popular vote, Trump already, in just the first few weeks of his presidency, has undermined most of my beloved homeland’s hard-won national values—qualities I’ve cherished and served to defend—like generosity, a just and prudent welcome to immigrants, celebrating diversity at home, an indomitable optimism, a can-do spirit of cooperation, a quiet strength, and a skillful exertion of our example and leadership around the world.

             trump has torn the still-gleaming crown from 
             Lady Liberty's head and stepped on it.

Trump’s insensitive, knee-jerk insults to other countries—including cherished allies—are already undermining our diplomatic and trade relationships with those nations, and threatening the delicate balance of world peace. And his avowed admiration for several of the world’s other despots—including Russia’s own narcissist, Vladimir Putin—sends a truly frightening signal of the president’s intentions.

We used to be a country roundly admired around the world—the much-coveted ideal of democracy. While this reputation has seen its share of tarnish in recent decades, Trump has torn the still-gleaming crown from Lady Liberty’s head and stepped on it. Apparently he favors a mantel of fear and hatred of our nation over one of respect.

Trump and his brazenly-stacked, titans-of-industry cabinet seem determined to simply turn off every moderating constraint on their greed. It is a corporate power play unique in American history. And Trump himself refuses either to divest of his personal business interests or to release his complete tax returns and prove his intention to put this country’s interests ahead of his own and those of his cronies.

           This will require the very best of you.

If not the most frightening implication of Trump’s incompetence, certainly the saddest for me is this: I pray that my grandchildren will not grow up wanting to emulate anything about this man.


Senator/Representative_________, you are in a unique position to literally save our great nation from a despot, one who, in stunning similarity to North Korean boy-dictator Kim Jong-un, has the emotional maturity of a five-year-old.

By continuing to call him out for his lies and excesses, by making the case for impeachment to any fellow Republicans still willing to face reality, by building a coalition of conscience, by communicating your concerns to your constituents and the American people, perhaps you can help turn the tide.

This will require the very best of you—your conviction, your eloquence, your courage, perhaps every dime of your political capital, and, most certainly, your heart and soul.

Please do not let this very small man go one step further in dragging this great nation down to his size!

Sincerely,

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