Solemn oath ignored

When Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, my two biggest concerns about his coming presidency were about foreign policy and the political process, given his total lack of experience or understanding in either area. Sadly, the past 3½-plus years have shown that my concerns were well-founded. This letter will deal with just political process—the ways in which national policies and resulting decisions are made, guided by the Constitution.

President Trump has consistently shown his disdain for our key political institutions by attacking federal judges, the FBI, the entire intelligence community, our top military leaders, the military justice system, Supreme Court justices, and members of Congress, including Republicans with whom he disagreed, such as Senators Mitt Romney and the late John McCain. He has also assaulted our entire legal order, most recently by commuting the jail sentence of his former political operative Roger Stone without even waiting for a possible appeal. Stone had been convicted by a jury of his peers of seven felony charges. Presidential interference in the case led to the resignation in protest of the entire team of Justice Department prosecutors who had brought the successful case against Stone.

This abuse of presidential power and other actions by President Trump led me to the conclusion that he treats the solemn presidential oath of office he made (to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution) just like he has treated his business contracts and his marriage vows. That is, they are all things which can be ignored whenever he decides that they are inconvenient. We, the people of the United States, deserve better in a president.

CHARLES HARTWIG Jonesboro