To the editor:
Former President Donald J. Trump continues to show his total lack of respect for the rule of law, as well as the United States Constitution, which has been on full display throughout his long career in business, as well as his tenure in the White House, and continues unabated to this day.
Trump, who has long exhibited a mob-boss mentality, also exhibits a shocking authoritarian approach to government, consistently lavishing praise upon authoritarian rulers of the present day, as well as throughout history.
Even while president, Trump often heaped unwarranted criticism on such entities as the Department of Justice, and the FBI, referring to such as "the deep state," as such patriotic professionals had the audacity to investigate him and his associations when it was felt they may have broken the law. Conversely, he fully expected those same entities to investigate and prosecute those who may have opposed or disagreed with him.
Such an attitude can be traced back several decades, while Trump was learning the ropes of the business world from his entrepreneurial father Fred Trump, but in particular, reportedly, from a very famous and controversial attorney, Roy Cohn, who had developed quite a reputation for his legal defenses of those involved in organized criminal activities, as well as his serving as chief counsel for Sen. Joseph McCarthy for his near ceaseless and unconfirmed accusations that members of the Congress and military, during a period known as the Red Scare following World War II, which ultimately led the demagogue, of which Trump often appears to emulate, being discredited and leaving Congress in disgrace.
Trump, who as president had essentially directed his followers to stage a violent coup on the Capitol Building in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election, which he legitimately lost to President Joe Biden, citing, devoid of any corroborating evidence, that the election was somehow rigged against him, but following a multitude of investigations, based solely on his unsubstantiated claims, costing the American taxpayers several millions of dollars, in order to attempt to placate his massive ego. However, in spite of virtually all evidence to the contrary, Trump continues to refuse to concede his defeat, placing his ego gratification over doing what is the right thing for our great country.
In retrospect, the Jan. 6, 2021, violent coup that was fully inspired and essentially directed by then-President Trump, which was the greatest threat to our government since the American Civil War of 1861-65, is actually quite reminiscent of other such actions taken against other governments, such as Benito Mussolini's march on Rome in 1922, followed by Adolf Hitler's failed coup attempt to overthrow the Wiemar Republic in his homeland with the Beer Hall Putsch, which led Germany's future dictator to serve a sentence in Landsburg Prison for his actions.
Trump simply must be held accountable for inspiring and directing such actions against our nation's system of government, as has been the case with other such participants to date.
Richard Hord
Martins Ferry