The Constitution, democratic principles and the United States are too important to just hope and pray that the president will not do irreversible harm.

After thousands of lies, my conclusion is that if the president’s lips are moving or fingers tweeting, there is a substantial chance there will be lies, distortions, name-calling, praising dictators/enemies/white supremacists, bullying, spinning conspiracy theories, contradicting himself and cabinet members and trying to con, divert, deflect and distract  as much as possible.

He cares little about the fundamentals of American democracy. He appears to have never read the Constitution or Bill of Rights.

The president’s first priority is himself, not American democracy. He talks about himself (I, me, mine, myself) and crowd size in every circumstance, including a hospital visit for mass shooting victims.

American foreign policy changes so often no one in the world knows what it is, including the Secretary of State and allies.

The president is a pro at using wag-the-dog political strategy to distract attention from a scandal by fabricating a war or a conspiracy and blame anyone but himself.

The nation could be headed for a recession. Hundreds of economists oppose Trump’s plans, and he blames the head of the Federal Reserve. His trade war with China is shaking the world economy and the great tax cut for the wealthy did not do as expected.

Our democracy “of the people, by the people and for the people” is too important to be in the hands of an authoritarian wanna-be.

Crystal Ward, Lewiston