Por Favor Señor Trump!
*Point by point, in an open letter, Henry Flores writes why Trump is unfit to be president. VL
By Henry Flores, NewsTaco (4 minute read)
This election has finally gotten to the point where someone needs to point out to El Señor Naranja why his behavior during this presidential campaign cycle is so, bueno, wrong. Asi, here is my attempt, through an open letter, to El Señor Naranja.
Dear Mr. Trump:
You don’t know me and that is just perfectly fine on many levels. However, as a proud Latino American, one side of my family came across the border fleeing the Mexican revolution of 1910 while the other was already here when Americans arrived in Texas in 1821, and as a combat veteran of the Vietnam conflict I felt I needed to share some thoughts with you.
I understand that you don’t heed anyone’s advice but I thought I would at least insure that these comments were in the public record so you can’t claim that no one told you so.
Frankly, I’m appalled at your behavior during this campaign in that so far you have insulted my heritage, my service to this great country, women, legal and undocumented immigrants, state and local employees, and our nation generally. Have you not stopped and thought about how the people of the United States feel about having someone who hates want to be our leader? How can you hate your citizens and then turn around and say you want to be our leader? How do you think citizens of other countries perceive this disconnect?
By encouraging the Russians, our Cold War enemies, to hack our internet systems and spy on us you have shown disloyalty to your country. This is just one step away from committing an act of treason. This alone is enough to discredit you from being the president of the United States.
By insulting and physically behaving toward women the way you have and do shows a deep resentment and disdain toward more than half of our country’s population. This is another discredit against your possible presidency.
By disparaging Mexicans and all immigrants, isn’t our country a nation of immigrants and didn’t your family immigrate also, you have shown another intense hatred toward human beings who leave their native lands in search of peace, tranquility and a haven where they can take advantage of many opportunities for their children. This again discredits your candidacy for the presidency.
By showing disrespect for the basic, fundamental principle of a peaceful transition of power that occurs every four or eight years when our presidency changes hands you are showing that you don’t believe in and cannot participate within our democratic framework. If you cannot believe in or work within our system of government then you have no business being part of it, definitely not as our president.
By giving flagrantly hateful and lie filled speeches at your rallies you are inciting riot and revolution. I know, as do many Americans, that our system of government is not perfect and needs a great deal of improvement but tearing it down is not the way to go. I’ve been in countries where government is dysfunctional and I’ve been in countries where there is civil war and you can see what one is like this very moment by looking at what is going on in Syria. I’ve seen what happens to the common folk as idiots kill each other over the struggle for power and this is a crime against humanity. Your speeches are dangerous and may cause some unhinged individuals to start shooting and doing harm to those you say you hate including women, Mexicans, immigrants, the media, and the disabled. Inciting riot and encouraging others to harm their fellow human beings is tantamount to a human rights crime. This definitely disqualifies you to be our leader.
To paraphrase the words of a former attorney who fought against another demagogue in our nation’s history—“Have you no sense of decency Mister Trump? Have you no sense of how much harm you are doing to others in the way you speak and behave? Have you no sense of the harm you are doing to our country?” In the name of human dignity and decency I am asking you to change your ways or resign your candidacy Mr. Trump because you are doing more harm than you realize to your fellow citizens and country.
Henry Flores, PhD, is the Distinguished University Research Professor, Institute of Public Administration and Public Service; Director, Masters in Public Administration (MPA); Professor of International Relations and Political Science at St. Mary’s University. He is the author of Latinos and the Voting Rights Act: The Search for Racial Purpose.
