The fact that the United States of America has no officially sanctioned State Religion, but does in fact have a policy of separation of Church and State, means little to Mr. Trump who claims Christianity. A look at his family relations, his actions toward women, his belittling and name calling, his lies and deceit in business and political matters is appalling and in no way offers a look at a Bible believing, God loving person. He is the opposite of the Sermon on the Mount.

Yet, because of his ability to sway the lesser informed and under educated in America, many believe he is the epitome of a Christian. He is quite the opposite of a person who carries the love of Christ in his bosom, but in fact is a self-serving autocratic-minded individual who claims to love America. If he truly put his country first, if he really believes in American Democracy, he would have graciously turned over the reins of power after losing both the 2020 popular and electoral college vote, but instead he put forth the falsehood that the election was stolen.

Fox News and Tucker Carlson were the biggest proponents of this lie, even in the face of scores of failed court challenges. Failure to prove the lie regarding fixed voting machines cost Fox News $758 million in settlement and Mr. Carlson was out the door.

Given this wave of Christian Nationalism, what can we expect for the upcoming 2024 election? Unless something unforeseen arises, the contest will be between President Joe Biden and Mr. Trump. A Democratic landslide win will be the political end of the whole Trump clan and that phase of American politics is left to historians. But if a close election it will not matter who wins, as Mr. Trump will claim victory through one nefarious means or another as he has shown he is a very poor loser; and he is one of the biggest losers in American business circles.

(Take a quick look at his other losing ventures: Trump University, Trump Shuttle Inc., Trump Vodka, Trump Mortgage LLC, GoTrump.com travel service, and the famous Trump Steaks, which ceased operations after just a few months. His foray into the gaming business was spectacular in the number of failures, one of them even failed twice. Mr. Trump built Trump Taj Mahal only to file bankruptcy in 1992. Trump Plaza, Trump Castle and the Plaza Hotel, all filed for bankruptcy in 1992. And Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts Inc., filed for bankruptcy in 1995 then changed its name to Trump Entertainment Resorts but failed in 2004. Currently, his Truth Social online site’s investors want their $200 million back. Failure upon failure.)

And what if Mr. Trump once again gains the White House? He has stated he will deal with any persons or institutions he feels are a threat to his autocratic ideals with prosecutions and, with contempt for the judicial system, he has stated he will pardon all those convicted of crimes in wake of the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol. And he will do it, just as he pardoned lawyers caught lying for him and his daughter’s father-in-law after he did a two-year prison stint for being, what else, a crook. Using this same ploy, Mr. Trump will pardon a whole slew of rightfully convicted people onto the national landscape.

Let me interject here that while at this time my disappointment in the Republican Party is obvious, it was not always the case. I was raised in a Republican home; both my parents were Republicans who had come from conservative families in Iowa. From an early age I heard my father’s scorn for Franklin Roosevelt (“He was a damned Socialist!”) and John Kennedy (“Spoiled rich kid of a crooked father!”) and later his praise for Ronald Reagan, who was a friend from their old Iowa days. The Stars and Stripes we displayed on appropriate holidays had flown over the U.S. Capitol Building; a gift from President Reagan.

When it became evident President Lyndon Johnson was increasing America’s involvement in Southeast Asia, I backed Richard Nixon in 1968, and when able to vote for the first time I cast for Mr. Nixon in 1972. And though I no longer support Conservative policies, I realize that without a viable opposition party the checks and balances so necessary to keep America on a middle road would not exist, and that is unacceptable.

I believe those Republicans that truly love this country, and they are legion, can only bring the Grand Old Party back to its proper place in society with the complete rejection of Donald Trump and his separatist and divisive plan for America. If Republicans want to make American great, then they must do their part to once again be the great party they once were; and that path is clear to them.

The election of 2024, if people vote their Party line, will see Mr. Trump defeated in both Monterey County as a whole, and King City specifically, as the registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans; 110,262 to 41,250 countywide, and in town 2,096 to 776. I am one of 143 registered American Independents in King City and can choose to vote either the party ticket and stay out of the two-party dominated fray. But I won’t. It will be the most important and vital election in American history with many of the foundational stones of democracy feeling great pressure from the Far Right attack mode of Mr. Trump and minions who simply cannot accept that America and the world are far more diverse and inclusionary than their narrow interpretations of what is “traditional.”

We are a country of multiple nationalities, sexualities, languages, religions and localized cultures with varying “traditions” and that will not change back to a time when White Christians ruled the roost no matter how people clamor for such a time. America has moved on, and if the Grand Old Party wants to stay viable, it must also move on and contribute more to the landscape than vitriolic rhetoric and revenge politics, then it must move past Donald J. Trump and all he stands for.

Take care. Peace.