What will this November’s presidential election say about us?

Trump promised to surround himself with the best and brightest. He gave us convicted criminals: Cohen, Manafort, Papadopoulos, Pinedo, van der Zwaan, Stone, Gates, Flynn. What does that say about him?

Twenty-five women have come forth accusing Trump of sexual misconduct. What does that say about him?

As of July, the Washington Post had tallied more than 20,000 false and misleading claims Trump has made since taking office. What does that say about him?

McSweeney’s has cataloged over 800 of Trump’s “worst cruelties, collusions, corruptions, and crimes” [see the well-documented complete list www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-complete-listing-so-far-atrocities-1-842]. Just a few of these would have doomed any other politician. What do they say about him?

Trump’s former chief strategist in the White House, Stephen Bannon, has just been indicted on fraud. Now Trump distances himself from his close friend, as he did with Michael Cohen, his personal lawyer and fixit-man. What does that say about him?

I assume this is not the sort of character one would want as a friend or neighbor, or leader. And if you voted for Trump in 2016, you couldn’t know all of these things or anticipate them. Millions of Americans obviously didn’t, even though the majority had a good idea of the kind of man he was.

Knowing these things now, though, and still wanting to vote for him — what does that say about you?

John Delaney
PORT TOWNSEND