“When the norm is decency, other virtue can thrive:
integrity, honesty, compassion, kindness, and trust.”
Raja Krishnamoortht

Jimmy Carter was President of the United States during my coming of age years. I always liked him and admired him for his basic decency, which was a breath of fresh air after the shame and resignation of Richard Nixon. Even for someone as young as I was. I've long contended that the only reason he's not considered a “great” president is rooted in the fact that he was simply too decent for the cut-throat political climate that is Washington. He governed from his sense of fair play and refused to lower himself to the intrigues of those he tried to work with. It's sad to think that he is considered to have been a weak president simply because he was a moral man with high principles. I believe instead it marks him as a man of strength that he refused to prostitute himself, but rather to serve America first and foremost, instead of serving himself.

It's ironic that we've lost such a decent man, whose true greatness was unquestioned in his continued service to humanity after losing the presidency, when the office that he held so faithfully is soon to be held by a white supremacist, misogynistic, convicted felon who has done absolutely nothing for the country but cause discord by spreading his own poisonous rhetoric. I listen in disbelief to those who defend him and what he supposedly achieved for our country. If I recall correctly, he dragged his heels in dealing with the pandemic until it became apparent that his reputation was at stake, not because the country was suffering. Some point out that he gave those of us receiving social security a large increase in pay. But I've also read that he would prefer to do away with social security all together. What better way to undermine and ultimately destroy it than to stop taxing social security without a means of replacing the money it brings in (such as taxing those so wealthy their sole worth alone could finance the whole program)? He has proven time and again when the chips are down that he has absolutely no regard for the average American, and even less for those who desperately need assistance. His priority is for those with obscene wealth, perhaps because he himself is obscenely wealthy. Or is he? Given his refusal to openly and honestly make his finances available to us, how do we know?

Integrity is defined by dictionary.com as follows: “adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.” Jimmy Carter, for all his other faults, demonstrated the very definition of integrity. Give me one unassailable time that Trump has done the same.

To those who are not white supremacist or misogynistic, who otherwise value integrity, and to those who belong to minorities who nonetheless voted for him, I advise you to be prepared to suffer reaping what you have sown. I have never been wrong in my estimation of Donald Trump and have watched with horror as he has done everything I predicted exactly as I predicted he would. As the head of his own cult, he is not going to be satisfied until he has total control of our country by destroying our democracy. And if it takes a civil war to accomplish that, then so be it. At least he can then call himself a great war president in the bargain.

c. 2025