I write to express my dismay at reading U.S. Rep. Jared Golden’s “For Democracy, Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast,” which he published on his personal blog on Feb. 19.

In a wide-ranging piece, Golden took a moment to urge his colleagues in Washington to “choose our words carefully” when it comes to characterizing President Trump’s actions as “an authoritarian takeover.” Golden even invoked the fable of the boy who cried wolf.

Trump is seeking new, often wildly unnecessary fights from one minute to the next — moving to politicize the military and the Justice Department while wielding state power against transgender Americans, women and African Americans. In defunding the USAID, closing Social Security offices, and setting up cuts to Medicaid, Trump is targeting the sick, the poor, and the old — not just here, but around the world.

And, thanks to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, Trump’s administration is aggressively trying to take the power of the purse away from Congress.

Language is important — and caution is fine — but let’s not use it to try and deflect from how things actually are.

Persecuting political opponents, moving to restrict civil society, attempting to erode the norms of a non-politicized military, usurping checks on power — if this isn’t an attempted authoritarian takeover, what would Golden suggest we call it? A “Sparkling Bureaucratic Endeavor”?

Golden’s caution may be informed by his voting record — on H.R. 29, S. 5, H.R. 26, and H.J. Res. 35, amongst others — all Trump bills Golden backed that deserve greater scrutiny.

Evan Fleischer, Lewiston