My Turn

I opened my Facebook page this morning to find posts from a friend who calls himself an Evangelical Christian calling the Democratic Party pure evil, and one meme saying smugly, “I have PTSD: Pretty Tired of Stupid Democrats.” Another post says, “Build the Wall!” Now it’s no secret that this individual is a fan of the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I am puzzled and have to ask, why?

Exit polls from 2016 show that white evangelical voters supported Donald Trump by 80 percent. In the 2018 midterms, white evangelicals were sticking with Republicans, supporting Trump-endorsed candidates by 75 percent.

Don’t my Christian brothers (and sisters) see that this man is lacking both in morals and ability to do the job of running this country? Perhaps they do see, swearing they’d never, ever vote for a liberal democrat, and hold their noses while checking the republican candidate’s name.

Donald Trump’s record as president is unlike any other president this nation has had. Trump promised to bring in only “the best people” when he was running for the office. Upon ascending to the presidency, Trump’s first move was to fire many of the staff left over from the Obama Administration. These people were capable in their jobs and knew their way around the government and how it operates. Nevertheless, the newly-elected, amateur president weeded them out, dismissing their ability to enhance his administration and help it to succeed. He brought in his own people to fill those roles, both within the White House, in his cabinet and cabinet-rank positions. Many of the people Trump brought to the administration were either family, millionaire buddies from the country club, unqualified, or a complex combination of all three.

However, not all positions were filled. Even to this day, a quarter of the President’s Cabinet is filled with acting department heads. According to the Partnership for Public Service, a non-profit agency, almost 40 percent of key leadership positions requiring Senate confirmation are vacant as of January 2019.

This is not a fully functioning government.

Now, let’s talk about the man behind this shell of a government. The man cannot tell the truth. And we all know about the scandals. Hardly a week has gone by these past two years when some blunder by

either Trump or one of his cohorts hasn’t made the news. Choose any scandal and you could write a short book based on all the known details. For the sake of brevity, let’s look at two.

The nation’s southern border seems to be Trump’s fixation. He pushes the idea that drugs and bad people are pouring through our southern border, and that they’re coming to get you and take your job. In response, his administration separated children from their parents who had crossed the border illegally. The adults were jailed and prosecuted while their children were placed in shelters at the border. Some were even place in foster homes throughout the country, potentially to never see their parents again. The administration claims they know exactly where each child is that was removed from the arms of their parents. They just have not proven so yet to the American public.

Russia has hung over this administration like an ominous storm cloud. The special counsel, Robert Mueller has been busy; he has indicted or received guilty pleas from 34 people and three companies that we know of. Those indictments include six former Trump advisers and 26 Russian nationals. Additionally, Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” has agreed to cooperate with the special counsel and provide details about Trump’s effort to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Seems I recall Trump telling voters, “I have nothing to do with Russia.”

If your car needs work, you seek out a qualified mechanic. If you need a new roof, you find a reputable and qualified construction expert. You don’t ask Joe Schmoe from down the street to do the job. It ought to be the same with our government. American voters ought to elect the most qualified people to run this government, not the loudest. I can understand the Evangelical tendency to go with the candidate who claims to be a conservative Republican who supports the issues they care about. But people are people, and some can be outright destructive and obnoxious. Evangelical Christians ought to call this president out for his repeated failure to lead this nation, in favor of serving himself.

2020 is coming, folks. Get educated on what’s happening in our coutnry and get voting.

Renee Summers

River Rouge