Apr 22, 2020 3 min read

I am not a liberal. I am not a conservative. I am not a Democrat, and I am not a Republican. I am simply an independent American who uses his own mind on all issues and ignores political bias and political party agendas.

It is often that in times of national crisis, the true measure of a man (or woman), a president comes through. They either show that they are good leaders or that they are bad leaders. When the Great Depression began, Herbert Hoover kept lying to the American people about the severity of the problem and kept saying the economy would bounce back quickly and prosperity was just around the corner. He lost his bid for reelection.

A large and complex economy cannot return quickly after taking a crippling blow. That is impossible and Hoover failed the test of a good leader and paid the price. Franklin Roosevelt told the American people, “This will take time, it will happen in steps, I won’t sugar coat it, but we will get better.” He was reelected, and it did take time, and we did get better even before the start of World War II. FDR passed the test of a good leader. And he never lied about the economy. He didn’t make promises he couldn’t keep.

Watching and listening to President Trump in the last three months, I have heard so many lies that I am shocked. Today, he says one thing, tomorrow a completely different thing; sometimes he contradicts himself in the same hour. A nation that needs a leader is being confused by his mixed messages and his continuing praising of himself, massaging his own inflated ego.

Trump says that we have enough tests to test everyone. That is not true. He says he has total authority over when to reopen everything. That authority belongs to state governors, and the U.S. Constitution says so. Trump is not the king of a monarchy, and the United States is not a communist country where a leader has “total authority.”

Trump says that every health-care worker on the front lines in America has enough personal protective equipment. They do not. He said that two months ago, and he still says it. Repeating a lie does not make it the truth. Using this terrible pandemic and his daily press conferences as political tools to attack his opponents is deplorable and beneath contempt.

Now he is encouraging civil unrest by tweeting dangerous messages, wanting people to risk spreading the coronavirus by staging protests with people not practicing social distancing and not wearing masks. At a time when Americans need to unite, our own president is promoting discord and division. Trump has failed the test of a good leader.

John Bradburn

Washington