Don’t ignore decades of well-documented dishonesty

Letter to the Editor,

I recently stood for the national anthem, gazed at the flag, thought carefully about the hard, painful truth of its words. Will I awake in a month with that star-spangled banner replaced by a black pirate flag? An elected emperor-power president who’s exempt from the rule of law as decreed by judges he chose, under no enforceable obligation to honor his oath of office?

My dad asked of the 1960s race riots: Why would people burn down what little they have? But to OSS about why he, as a first-generation German speaker, listened to Hitler on shortwave, he responded, “If our government doesn’t understand how dangerous he is, we’re in deep trouble.” His word for this: hypnotism.

Many have fallen under the spell of such hypnotism — have drunk the Kool-Aid of one presidential candidate — ignoring decades of well-documented dishonesty, financial chicanery, sexual exploitation and violence, disdain for those who sweat at work, disrespect for our military. Most notably, as totally un-Jesus, he’s finagled support of religious folks.

I don’t condemn. It takes a shrewd cult artist’s talent to convince sensible people to wish to flush our country down the toilet. Sadly, his charade exploits raw, horrifying racism and misogyny that, contrary to what we might wish to acknowledge, permeate so much of our society.

I’m heartened by who’s speaking out. Dozens of past high-level folks who’ve worked with and under him, Evangelical voices, public officials who sacrifice their careers to step forward, oppose him.

If you’re usually an R voter, as I started out and still am sometimes, please rally for our stars and stripes. Vote instead for a president who’ll conserve our country. Also, please ask if you really want Ohio’s California swamp-money candidate for U.S. Senate and the big money lobbyist who’s acquired a Wayne County address to run for Ohio House.

Jay Klemme

Wooster