The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

It was a quiet morning, I had just gotten my latte at Sisters Coffee, sitting in the corner with my dog, Bo. The young man sitting next to me was busy working on his laptop. He asked me what kind of dog Bo was and I informed him he was a 9-year-old Shiba Inu.

We exchanged pleasantries and he informed me he was an administrative assistant to an entrepreneur. As we continued to speak about religion, the environment, and current political issues, I learned he was very religious, very driven in his current job, happily married with two children, and a supporter of Donald Trump. He was quite intelligent and a charming person. I then became alarmed when he stated that he thought Trump was a good president.

Recently, the Biden Administration worked with a bipartisan group of House Representatives of both parties, led by a GOP conservative, which was touted as being one of the best immigration bills put forward in decades, which would close the border, get more judges, more guards, more agents, build more walls, more technology, and more deportation flights; but Trump told his MAGA GOP not to even debate it or put it on the floor, Trump said,”just wait until I get into office.”

No former president or president-elect has ever been involved in so many criminal cases which he calls “witch hunts.” Today, merely keeping track of these cases requires a law degree: Trump lost his Trump Foundation lawsuit due to fraud, paid $2 million; Trump lost his Trump University lawsuit due to fraud, paid students $21 million and NY State $4 million; Trump lost his New York civil fraud case against his entire company due to many years lying to banks and insurance companies, and tax fraud to inflate values of his properties with bogus financial statements. The judge ordered him to pay $455 million. Trump has put up a bond of $175 million through a Florida company that is very suspect and not respected; Trump lost his sexual abuse and defamation case (twice) against Ms. Carroll and had to put up a bond of $92 million while he appealed the case. He recently lost the appeal.

Trump is currently in a New York criminal trial for the hush money case. Michael Cohen, his lawyer and fixer, went to jail for Trump, but now is able to testify to a jury involving sex with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, while married, and David Pecker, former CEO of National Enquirer, had an agreement with Trump to not post any rumors about Trump’s dalliances and to help him win the 2016 election by spewing lies about his rivals, especially Hillary Clinton. Then there was a trial in Georgia because Trump called Georgia officials asking them to find votes, Georgia then recounted three times, Trump lost; then there was a trial about the top-secret documents he hid at Mar-a-Lago, was asked to return them over many months and had his staff move the boxes, hide them from his own attorneys, taking some to his Bedminster Golf Club, showing top secret docs to staff and continues to say they are his!; then we have the case in DC regarding the insurrection at the Capital and his role — which includes a coup, getting phony electors in many states, and involving many House Representatives, Senators, top White House officials, Supreme Court Judge Thomas’ wife, and Fox News broadcasters.

And to top it off, Trump decides to combine Church and State by selling a poorly made Bible including the Bill of Rights and Constitution; selling gold shoes; selling cards showing him preening like a Marvel hero, all to help his campaign of which most funds will cover all his legal fees.

I am not a religious person, but I respect those who are, and we can’t allow a liar, and criminal into the White House. We can tell when we are being conned. Our country deserves better, our children deserve better, our environment needs an advocate, and we need to work together in the House and Senate to solve big problems together for the good of the world.

Be kind, be open, and try to understand the concerns of others in a respectful, civil voice.