Jake Angeli is the ugly symbol of The Former Guy's cult to destroy democracy

Unchecked! The Former Guy intended to destroy democracy.

Echo opinion letter published in the Idaho Statesman in Boise, ID

Jake Angeli, of Phoenix AZ, had been on the list of persons the Metropolitan Police of Washington D.C. arrested after the deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021, by supporters of The Former Guy.

Indeed, The Former Guy went too far.  At the end of his failed term as the former president, he even tried to overthrow the American government! 

• Unchecked, revoked security clearances for everyone who opposed him. 
• Unchecked, he called for the shutdown of a free press. 
• Unchecked, he focused on how to divide Americans. 

In fact, the  Trump "beer hall" style rallies risked putting the First Amendment in grave danger, as he called for attacks on everyone who did not support him. 

Judge Ellis needed U.S. Marshals to protect him because he was receiving threats over the Manafort case. 

Although the United States is supposed to be a free country. Yet, Trump and his cronies were turning it into a dictatorship. 

Unfortunately the 33 percent of those interviewed who could not name any of the First Amendment rights, are equal to the percent of intransient cultists who blindly obey The Former Guy.

Our Constitution sets out the checks and balances of the three branches of our government. Where were our Republican representatives during this four years of unchecked tyranny? 

In fact, Republicans are supposed to be the checks and balances of government. The Former Guy intended to weaken the Legislative and Judicial branches of government and empower the Executive branch. 

There is no longer a democracy when all three branches are complicit and corrupt. Donald Trump is corrupt. His intention was to weaken the two branches of America's government, while destroying the checks and balances that have worked in the past. 

Trumpziism wanted to see the "land of the free" to look like the land of tyranny and corruption. 

A free press is essential for a democracy!

Joan Ehrnstein, Meridian, Idaho