To the editor:

Robert Reich posted the following on Facebook:

“Lots of people are weeping these days.

“They’re weeping for family members who have been arrested and abducted by ICE. For children arrested and imprisoned, even if their own families haven’t been affected. For people murdered by ICE or Border Patrol.

“Grieving the children now dying around the world because they no longer have medicines that America used to provide through USAID or because they’re starving in places of war or famine in which America is implicated.

“Crying for our planet being destroyed because Trump won’t adhere to the Paris Agreement and promotes oil and coal and kills subsidies for solar and wind.

“In tears over the common decency that’s being demolished, as Trump reposts a video of the Obamas as apes, calls Somali-Americans “garbage” and demands his name on an airport or train station in return for approving a vital transit project in New York. …

“They’re sobbing because they’re sickened by what has happened to America.

“Cry, our beloved country.

“I understand the tears. I have wept, too.”

When did it become acceptable for a president to give an interview on network news (NBC) filled with lies? Lies about the 2020 election, lying about the “crooked” elections that were NOT crooked. Sixty-three lawsuits were tossed. He incited a mob to attack the capitol. Two cops are dead, and many cops injured and some disabled permanently. He’s openly saying he’s planning on stealing the 2026 midterm elections. He knows the Republicans are going to lose “bigly”! This guy is morally bankrupt. He’s suing the federal government (which means the American taxpayers) for $10 billion for “embarrassing ” him? This guy was convicted of 34 felony counts of fraud. He stole from his children’s cancer charity, and was fined $2 million and ordered by the court to give away the rest. He bankrupted his businesses six times. He cheated his contractors out of monies owed them for work they did. His famous gig was “take a lower amount or else sue me” which small contractors can’t afford to do.

The U.S. dollar value has fallen by 10%. Tens of thousands of people have been laid off. January jobs reports indicate the highest number of people laid off. Immigrants pay up to $100 billion in taxes. They contribute to the economy. Who will fill all the jobs? Many are on work visas, many are asylum seekers. Many are going through the process legally. Yet they are being picked up and detained, deported. The Dilly Detention Center in Texas has 3,800 children; one is a 2-month-old. Rushing immigrants out of their state to Texas or Louisiana so they can’t be reached by family or lawyers. Stephen Miller says every single immigrant needs to get out of the country. He believes children are the problem … that they will grow up and cause problems like those in the countries their parents fled from. Who elected this guy? No one. He’s crazy. He plays on Trump’s worst instincts.

I could go on and on and on. This entire administration needs to go. Incompetence, lack of morals and decency are its hallmark. The lying seems to be the qualification. Some immigrants were ordered back into the country by a judge who quoted the lies used to deport them. Lies about the murdered victims of ICE goons. My beloved country has become a poisonous mess. Allies have been insulted. More lies about our allies. Allies who have fought alongside our troops. Who stood by us on 9/11. Do we just sit by and allow this to continue? With so much destruction in one year, how on earth will we get through the next year, let alone the next three?

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Jennifer Zahn is a resident of Saranac Lake.