Dear Donald: Please, Go Gently Into That Good Night

Sir,

I know you've got five kids and some grandchildren at this point, and while you are incredibly well off, I'm fairly certain you would have at the very least seen a temper tantrum from any one of these individuals. Surely, you wouldn't have been so disconnected from your family that you wouldn't recognize a tantrum when you see one.

However, given the increasing way in which you appear to be disconnecting yourself from reality, I'm not at all sure that this might be the case.

So, here's a piece of advice: quit being a bully, having a tantrum, and actually take the advice from your advisors and try to be a diplomat.

You need to step away from the presidency. Please. You're not just playing politics with one of your businesses at this point, and you're not just bullying someone into ceding their business assets to your company.

You're playing with people's lives, and you're approaching it in much the same way as a child does when they're having a tantrum.

Think about it. You ran on a platform — more of a slogan, really — that said, "Make America Great Again." You've made claims that you want to see greater prosperity from the United States, and you've said that the way to do that is protecting American interests.

That's a lovely thought, but have you looked at the state of your military?

According to a 2015 infographic from Time, there are approximately 1.3 million American military members worldwide, with roughly 150,000 of these serving in various capacities overseas. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates — because there are still so many individuals who are either in denial about their mental health or simply don't want to acknowledge that they might be struggling — there are a number of vets from various theaters of operation who have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Their statistics report that 11 to 20 percent of those who served in either Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) or Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) have PTSD, while 12 percent of those who served in Desert Storm have PTSD. This doesn't even consider those who served in Vietnam, but I'm bringing up these figures because it's possible that anyone who served in any of these three operational theaters could be in any branch of the United States Armed Forces and still serving. These individuals might be receiving treatment, or they might not. If one was to assume that all individuals who served in these operational theaters are still in the military, you're looking at around 130,000 or more individuals dealing with PTSD and still defending the United States.

Why am I bringing this up?

There are people looking at your ridiculous posturing with North Korea's Kim Jong-Un and feeling honestly afraid that you're going to plunge the world into a nuclear war. You're not even attempting to try a diplomatic solution; you're spouting off, much to the chagrin of your advisors whose advice and guidance you either don't solicit or don't care about, and everyone around you is trying to pick up the pieces.

The United States military is unquestionably one of the strongest in the world. I don't doubt that for an instant, and I grew up as a child of the Canadian military, which is among the best trained, if not the best trained, globally. However, you're dealing with soldiers who are completely worn out from their work in Afghanistan. They've gone on year-long deployments — or darn close to that length of time — and spent time away from their families, risking their lives daily. That wears horribly on people as it is, and when you think their daily routines would often involve hearing gunfire, either up close or in the distance, or explosions (or both), you're talking about individuals who are dealing with heavy burdens as far as their mental health might go. Humans aren't designed to live feeling as though their lives are threatened daily, and you, sir, are increasing that pressure for all of us, not just our soldiers.

There are claims by your secretary of state that you said what you did because it's language that the North Korean leader would understand, but that's crap, sir, because again, no one seems to know what will come out of your mouth next. You're using the term "military action" when you're talking about Venezuela. Venezuela. Let that sink in for a moment or so.

How big do you think your military actually is? How much money do you think it actually has?

You can't just pitch a fit and threaten military action at every turn, sir. I freely acknowledge that North Korea is a huge concern and something needs to be done. Kim Jong-Un is itching to start something, but don't feed into that desire. Continue to pursue diplomacy, tighten the flow of resources into and out of the country, but you need to step away from the presidency before you do something completely disastrous. While you might have a bunker you and your family can chill out in until everything stops, the rest of us don't.

Only 22 percent of Americans interviewed by Pew Research have faith that you're able to handle yourself well when it comes to international affairs. That's stunning, and not in a good way; your predecessor had a 64 percent margin of support. I get that your relentless posturing is probably more to do with trying to take the media's attention off of Robert Mueller's Russia probe than anything else, but you have to quit playing games with people's lives.

You're the president now.

It's no longer just about you.