The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

To The Eagle:

I always try to be an informed, balanced voter. I vote for who I feel is the best person for the position, just as I used to when hiring people in my previous life. It’s because of this that I’m having such a hard time understanding Trump’s support among his followers. I am trying to though.

Last week, an Eagle article did a good job delineating the multiple faults that my GOP and Trump have. He missed one critical fault that I’m shocked doesn’t get more attention though: Trump’s disregard for the security of classified information, and documents, to a point that’s arguably treasonous.

In Trump’s first year, during an Oval Office meeting with Russia’s Sergei Lavrov, Trump showed him confidential government papers that his then chief of staff Reince Priebus reluctantly admitted later weren’t declassified. Then, on the world stage in Helsinki, in 2018, Trump stated he agreed with Putin and didn’t believe the consistent, contrary findings of 17 American agencies, including the CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, Depart of National Defense, etc.

Then there was the “Mar a Lago papers” we all know about. And now, we’ve all learned he shared top secret info on the capabilities and limitations of our most lethal weapon, our Ohio Class subs, to an Australian billionaire friend at his Florida club, who then shared it with a mix of 20 or so other individuals. And that sadly is just what we know of. This is factual, folks. Don’t just take my word for it. Look it up.

This was my president doing all this. It’s no wonder the armed services is having such a hard time recruiting. Would you want to put your life on the line if Trump was your Commander-in-Chief, making foreign policy decisions affecting you?

Where’s my GOP that we need to hold him to account? Even the GOP Senate called out Nixon and forced his resignation when he crossed the inevitable line regarding Watergate.

I’m also trying to understand the Religious Right. The Bible states multiple times that the sins of lying are all serious, yet we all know people with very strong faith still supporting Trump, and flying Trump 2024 flags. I just don’t get that either.

I ask the MAGA crowd to objectively think about all this. Before you find yourself saying “but, but, but” or “well, what about,” look in a mirror, and ask yourself if you’d still be so dismissive of all of Trump’s actions if you changed the name from Trump to Clinton, Biden, or Obama?

We need a strong, balanced, and trustworthy GOP and Democratic Party to most effectively move our country forward. Working together. Both of them. With big ideas.

Let’s all be critical thinkers when we approach the 2024 elections. Much of what we’ve all worked so hard for is at stake.

Bill Wainwright

Cathlamet