Just 243 years ago, an American patriot—also an immigrant—alerted Americans that “these are the times that try men’s souls.” Thomas Paine also wrote many inspirational essays in those days leading up to our Declaration of Independence and to the founding of a new nation. His distinguished place in our history is undeniable. Many historians also credit him as one of the major forces behind our establishment as a beacon of freedom, here and around the world. Notable to me is the fact that he died a pauper, with but two Black men walking respectfully behind his burial cortege. Courage and patriotism often come at a personal heavy price. History, like appeals to courage, often repeats without notice of fanfare.

In contrast, Donald Trump is the antithesis of courage and patriotism.  He is a traitor. He sold out his country to Russia, our arch enemy, during at least 167 clandestine encounters before the elections, and countless times since. Donald Trump is a pathological liar. He has told more than 13,000 documented lies to us and to the world since taking office as President. Donald Trump is a xenophobic racist. He shuns Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and Muslims, while embracing white supremacists. Donald Trump is a coward who sought out and obtained a false medical record to avoid serving in Vietnam while seeking five deferments. Donald Trump is a misogynist. He is prejudiced against woman while he buys sexual favors from them, he has no respect for them, yet he demands loyalty from them. Donald Trump is a megalomaniac. He believes he is a “super genius” who has the right to say or do almost anything because of his “superior” mind. Donald Trump believes that you and I are chumps for paying taxes. There is no evidence that he has ever paid a net positive tax in any year in his entire life. One of the first bills he signed into law gave his children his entire estate tax-free. Donald Trump is a free-loader. He runs up an incredible transportation, food, and lodging bill paid by taxpayers for himself, his family, his hangers-on, and his security every time he leaves Washington to play golf at one of his golf resorts kept financially afloat by foreigners, criminals, and ne’re-do-wells who pay to stay there. Donald Trump defies logic, science, and the greatest minds of our time every time he denies climate change, every time he defends the use of oil, coal, and other fossil fuels, and every time he chooses pollution in support of his narrow-minded agenda.

Donald Trump hates you and me. He shows it every time he tries to shut down or take money from education, health care, the disabled, children, the aged, the poor, and from any government agency designed to help the same persons. Donald Trump has no respect for our Constitution, our laws, or the rule of law. He believes he is above them all—especially that part that makes “bribery” a high crime and misdemeanor punishable by impeachment.

Donald Trump has no respect for history, and for all those who preceded him in their efforts to build this nation to its place in world affairs, as a haven of hope for the downtrodden, and a place that gives immigrants a chance for a better life. With every breath, with every new deceitful word and gesture, and with each new lie he utters, he shows us that he prefers to always to be on the wrong side of history, against our values and principles, and that he is a continuing menace to life, liberty and justice for all.

Donald Trump is not just another politician, just another lying candidate. He has shown us all that he damned well means to pillage and plunder America until there is nothing left of our founding principles, or that "shining city on a hill" proclaimed with honor by Ronald Reagan. Make no mistake, Nancy Pelosi was accurate when she told us, “with him all roads lead to Putin.”

I am not a flag-waver. I was just a poor kid who knew nothing of privilege. But I always stood at attention with my hand over my heart, and a lump in my throat, when I recited the Pledge of Allegiance. I went off to war because I felt it was my duty to do so despite my meager start in life. My three brothers also went to war for this nation. One flew 500+ combat missions. He survived in the jungles of Vietnam for days under intense enemy fire while rescuing many wounded American soldiers. Another brother was severely wounded for life when he was captured by the Nazis. He also escaped captivity, helped to liberate three concentration camps, and helped capture 70,000 German soldiers.

This is not a political statement. It is an appeal to common sense, to borrow the words from Thomas Paine. Whether you are from humble beginnings or from privilege, any person who would vote for Donald Trump for any office—however grand or small—would thus brand him/herself in my eyes as a co-conspirator with him in the foregoing list of evil traits, causes, and outcomes. I cannot imagine a worse denunciation of American values than to vote for him. Listen to your own sense of honor, to decency, and to the voices of your better angels.  We need to defeat him with a patriotic fervor so resoundly that it sends a chilling effect through the halls of Congress and throughout this land that warns others like him they have no place in our government, on our ballots, or in our sensibilities.