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To the editor:
If you believe the unseen Mueller report completely exonerates the president, if you believe one man is above the sciences, above your intelligence agencies that keep us safe, above the CIA directors, even our generals, then you might be part of the Trump cult. You are no better than the people who believed in the Rev. Jim Jones to the extent that they drank the Kool-Aid that killed them. Trump is the prime example of authoritarianism: Don't believe what you see or hear and that his words are the only truth.
Trump has many evangelical followers who profess that he speaks for them because he is helping overturn Roe v. Wade. I understand that this is their No. 1 cause and have nothing against their beliefs. However, the same people are allowing him to discriminate against their fellow men and women who do not feel exactly as they do.
Trump believes he has a license to discriminate, and his cult followers do the same. At the same time he is spouting on about free speech on college campuses, he is thinking about finding ways to stop freedom of speech unless it is favorable to him. He's taking a lesson from Putin's playbook. Putin just signed a law in Russia that makes it a crime to disrespect the state. I guess he will have a legitimate cause to kill and imprison journalists who don't write flattering things about him, instead of doing it on the sly. Sound familiar? Ah, but the cult must obey and go along with the plan.
Trump has lined his cabinet with directors who do not advise. They only follow his command. Scot Lloyd as immigration czar has zero background in immigration. His newest scientific adviser says it's not his job to correct the president on climate change. The EPA under his command is dissolving all clean water regulations in order to please industrial polluters who have little concern for the safety of Americans. And if one dares speaks up, they are soon replaced. Trump's problem with draining the swamp is that he means to get rid of as many federal jobs as possible. If he is not able to persuade them to obey without hesitation, they are replaced and that is dangerous.
We are all passengers on the Titanic and all going down together unless we open our eyes and our hearts. He surrounds himself with people who say what's good for the rich is good for everyone and who don't even care if they are proven wrong again and again. The only survivors will be the 1 percent who have greedily passed the tax scam that favors the wealthy. Only the rich who have enough to obtain the upper-deck seating and who have enough wealth will be ensured a lifeboat if tragedy should strike.
Don't drink the Kool-Aid. Don't be a part of this scam. And if you did, there is time to remedy the situation … that is if you still have health care.
Kathy Antinone
Steubenville