Donald Trump continues to spew dishonesty. Trump's litany of lies are dangerous to our nation and the world

Dear Editor of the East Aurora Advertiser, in New York:

“That Is So Donald Trump”—a (rhetorical) phrase that now serves as a grim shorthand for deception, chaos and the corrosion of democratic norms.  Too many people are acquiescing to Trump's deliberate cruelties.

Donald Trump doesn’t just lie—he industrialized lying. From the size of his inauguration crowd to the Big Lie about the 2020, election, he built a political career on a foundation of falsehoods. And too many Americans came to accept that dishonesty was just part of the deal. That’s what’s so dangerous: the normalization of behavior that once would have disqualified anyone from public office.

“That is so Donald Trump” also means self-enrichment at the public’s expense. He turned the presidency into a family business, funneled taxpayer dollars into his private clubs and used the power of the office not to serve the nation, but to serve himself. The line between state and personal gain was not blurred—it was erased.

And in the process, he wages war on the very institutions that uphold our democracy: the courts, the press, the intelligence community, even the peaceful transfer of power. He has shown nothing but contempt for accountability, civility and truth.

So, when people say “That is so Donald Trump,” let’s be clear about what that really means: manipulation, exploitation and an unrelenting assault on the principles that make this country worth fighting for.

We cannot allow this to become the American standard. We should demand better—from our leaders, and from ourselves.

From Geoffrey K Hintz in East Aurora