Dear President Trump

Dear President Trump,

As a young man in the military, I was told by my first supervisor -- I'll call him Staff Sergeant (SSgt) G. -- that you should learn something from every supervisor. From some, you learn how to act; from others, you learn how not to act. You, sir, have been a case study in how not to act as a leader.

Over 18 years of service, I've had a lot of supervisors; I've learned a lot of things. I've learned how important credibility is. I've learned how important accountability is in establishing and maintaining that credibility. I've learned how vital it is to be the voice of reason, of hope, and of unity in times of peace as well as times of war.

But, I took SSgt G.'s advice a step further. See, you can learn how to act and how not to act, what to do and what not to do, but there's more to be learned. In my experience, there's much more to be learned from a poor leader than an outstanding one. And for this reason, sir, I have to thank you for teaching me quite a bit.

I have raised my right hand and sworn to protect and defend the Constitution five times in my career. While I've always had an interest in the Constitution and democracy, I've never found the motivation to sit down and educate myself on the subjects. That has changed over the last two years, and I have you to thank for that. You have provided more than enough relatable, real-world instances to which I can practically apply lessons about the Constitution and democracy. And, true to SSgt G.'s guidance, I've learned more from your bastardization of both than I may have ever learned from a true supporter of either.

You see, I supported you when it first became clear that you were actually going to win the presidency. To be frank, I did so more for what it said about Americans' feelings towards the current state of politics than I did what you stood for. I was tired of the same old, scripted political b.s. and I felt that your being elected said the same for the rest of America. I didn't mind the brusque talk, the name-calling -- having served in Korea, "Rocket man" was actually one of my personal favorites -- and the harsh rebukes towards other countries. But, at some point, Mr. President, you turned your heated rhetoric inward.

I don't know precisely when it happened. I don't know which particular response to what event or circumstances caught my ear and raised my brow. Perhaps it was the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement when you started demanding "law and order." That was one of my first lessons, Mr. President. When I learned that federal agencies, including the National Guard, could only be rallied without a request from the state to protect federal property. I learned that when you discussed sending troops into "Democrat-run cities" to impose your own idea of peace.

By the time the pandemic became a clear problem, I have to admit I was actually impressed! You presented a clear, concise plan for opening the economy back up. While I didn't necessarily agree with some of the plan, you took the initiative and provided the states with guidance. But then you got bored, didn't you, Mr. President? That wasn't fun; so, you cold-shouldered the pandemic and played it down to address other matters that were more important to you.

But poor handling of the first nationwide -- worldwide for that matter! -- pandemic in a hundred years could be excusable, Mr. President. It would have required that you take accountability and reign in some of your more renegade beliefs and behaviors, which you clearly had no interest in doing, but it could have been excused. Many of your missteps probably could have. Then came the 2020 election.

This is where my lessons really began.

You gave me the opportunity to learn about Libertarianism, because I no longer had any interest in supporting the two-party system.

You gave me the opportunity to learn about the supreme court justice nomination process as your lackey, the distinguished gentleman from the great Commonwealth of Kentucky -- Mitch McConnell, hypocritically rushed Amy Coney Barret's nomination to the Senate floor after having refused to allow a vote on President Obama's nominee in the years prior. That was enlightening.

You gave me the opportunity to learn about the electoral college. It really isn't all that complicated if you take the time to read up on it -- you should try it sometime.

You gave me the opportunity to learn about how the Constitution grants the states the responsibility of creating their own internal voting processes, and that several states have been conducting mail-in voting for years -- decades, if I remember correctly -- without significant incident.

You gave me the opportunity to learn about how, when, and why Senators can object to the counting of electoral votes and about the vice president's role in the process; to be more specific, what the vice president cannot do during the process.

These were all great educational opportunities. I am a philosopher, sir, in the truest sense of the word: a lover of wisdom or of learning. I was grateful for these opportunities.

But then I had to educate myself on some things I'd rather have not been given the opportunity to learn from real-world experience.

Mr. President, you gave me the opportunity to learn about "sedition," "incitement," and "insurrection." See, I don't like to complain about things I don't know about and I know the talking heads on the 24/7 news channels tend to inflate their rhetoric even as they condemn you for doing so which means I had to educate myself to ensure I wasn't ignorantly regurgitating some nonsense that the anchors on the clearly-biased news channels were feeding me which, I thought surely, would be the case but you know what I learned, Mr. President?

It wasn't.

You gave me the opportunity to learn about these things as a group of followers so staunch in their devotion stood ready to begin a violent march on our Capitol. You and your group spoke of "trial by combat" and kicking some ass. You placed the responsibility -- where there was absolutely none to be placed -- square on your vice president's shoulders. And it was his name they chanted as he and his family cowered in a room seconds away from an angry mob, galvanized by your words. It was his name they chanted as mock gallows wer constructed on our Capitol's lawn.

"Hang Mike Pence."

You gave me the opportunity to learn about treason, Mr. President.

But, you gave me something more, sir. You gave me hope. Because despite your heated rhetoric, your blatant lies, your lack of accountability, and any number of other characteristics I know to be undesirable in a true leader, I witnessed something great. I witnessed democracy prevail. Vice President Mike Pence and the rest of the Senate were back in the chamber after the Capitol had been secured, and they were there until they certified the fair and free election.

Democracy prevailed. Democracy prevailed. Democracy prevailed.

It is clear that America has some work to do. But, democracy is a living process. It breathes and eats and digests and eliminates (almost) as much waste as it retains; we know that now. Sometimes it takes an all-out assault to learn where your weak points are. While you may never be held truly accountable -- at least not in this worldly realm -- you have taught us a lot over the last four years, Mr. President. That knowledge will contribute to making our democracy stronger than it has ever been.

And whether we like it or not, whether we are willing to admit it or not, we have you to thank.

Best of luck to you, sir.