Is Trump Fit To Be POTUS?

There are many people who think Donald J. Trump should be president, that he will "make America great again." There is an equal or greater number of people who think he's a buffoon, a cad, a liar, a cheat, and/or not entirely sane.

His principal rival for the White House, Hillary Rodham Clinton, has pointed out he's dangerously thin-skinned and quick-tempered.

A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.

Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) has asked the Republican Party to convince Donald Trump to submit to a medical examination and share the results publicly to “determine his mental fitness for the job.” Congresswoman Bass, a former physician's assistant, has suggested that Trump has many of the symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Robert Kagan, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institute, suggested in the Washington Post that Trump’s behavior “has not been rational, and Keith Olbermann asked in Vanity Fair whether or not Donald Trump could pass a sanity test. Film maker Michael Moore wrote an open letter to Ivanka Trump, telling her flat out that her father was "not well" and needed an intervention.

Senator Ted Cruz, once discussed as a possible running mate for Donald Trump, referred to Trump's lack of self-control as "trumper-tantrums."

Trump's father had Alzheimer's, and some have wondered if he, too, could be suffering from early on-set Alzheimer's. Others have wondered if it could be a side effect of diet pills he's known to take.

I'm a freelance writer and proofreader. I'm not a psychiatrist, not a nurse, not a physician's assistant. I am not qualified to diagnose Trump. Even if I were, I've never met the man. Like Will Rogers, "all I know is what I read in the newspapers," or in 2016, what I read on-line. And what I read, I do not like.

Every time it seems like Donald Trump has gone too far, nothing happens. There are no consequences for statements that would have destroyed any other candidate's career.

He "joked" about Russia hacking Hillary Clinton. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack accused Trump of violating the Logan Act.

Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply, himself or his agent, to any foreign government or the agents thereof for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.

Trump suggested that Second Amendment supporters could deal with Hillary Clinton. Some called that a threat. Trump said he was being sarcastic.

Trump lied about the NFL complaining to him that the debates went up against football games. The NFL denied making any such complaint.

Trump lied about childcare provided to his employees, leaving many wondering if he was ignorant of his own companies, too much of a habitual liar to tell the truth, or unable at this point to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Trump, who had five draft deferments, was rude to the grieving parents of an American soldier killed overseas.

Donald Trump suggested that since the judge hearing his fraud case was Mexican-American, and he had been less than courteous to and about Mexicans, the judge could not hear his case impartially.

Any one of this incidents would have destroyed any other candidate's career, but Trump never seems to get more than a few minutes of disapproval on Facebook.

Everyone expects a certain amount of dishonesty in politicians, but the man foes are calling Trumpanzee and Orangutrump seems to have a serious problem with telling the truth.

PolitiFact “awarded” Donald Trump its 2015 Lie of the Year Award. His PolitiFact scorecard listed Trump as having 4 percent of his statements true, 11 percent mostly true, 16 percent half true, 16 percent mostly false, 37 percent false, and 17 percent pants-on-fire. Trump has a reputation for changing his mind and denying previous statements. Most recently, ESPN reported that the NFL denied Trump’s claim that they complained to him about the presidential debates going against two football games.

Trump has been involved in many scandals, from statutory rape to not paying employees and subcontractors.

Donald Trump has been accused of bigotry by the mayor of Los Angeles, Olympic bronze medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad, and Vice President Joe Biden, among others. The San Diego Union-Tribune accused Trump of "belligerence, casual cruelty, incoherence on policy issues."

"What we cannot do with Donald Trump is normalize him as a candidate," Eric Garcetti told reporters: "He’s a racist. He’s a bigot. He’s sexist."

Trump is endorsed by the head of the KKK, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong-Un. Who refuses to endorse him? An increasing number of emininent Republicans, and every living U.S. president. Think about that a moment. Those who have lived in the White House are unwilling to endorse Donald Trump.

Garrison Keillor, Stephen King, and Tony Schwartz have advised against voting for Trump. Keillor implied that voting for Trump would be unAmerican, unChristian, and uncivilized.

So the country is put to a historic test. If the man is not defeated, then we are not the country we imagine we are. All of the trillions spent on education was a waste. The churches should close up shop. The nation that elects this man president is not a civilized society.

In my opinion, Donald J. Trump is not fit to be president. I will not vote for him. I urge you not to vote for him. Whether you vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton, Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, or write-in Bernie Sanders I leave to your conscience, but please, do not elect a man as unreliable as Donald Trump to be leader of our nation.