When a man spurs baseless fears that his opponents are destroying the country, when he refuses to accept the result of the election unless he wins, when he urges supporters to threaten election officials everywhere he loses, you should know he doesn't deserve your vote.

What does it take to convince you that Trump is unfit for the presidency?

Does Christianity matter?
Trump claims to have the backing of Christians, and many evangelical Christian leaders do back him. But his words and actions are not those Jesus would have endorsed. The evangelicals are not concerned; their aim is to establish a Christian theocracy, for power is what they want most.

Does coherent thought matter?
Every policitian, when making speeches, forgets details, garbles words, gets facts wrong. Trump, though, does it so frequently as to raise doubts about his mental sharpness. He confuses people's names: Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi; Barack Obama with Joe Biden. He garbles place names: "Azurania" for Arizona; "Nambia" for Namibia. He substitutes company names for the names of their leaders: "Tim Apple" for Apple president Tim Cook; "Marilyn Lockheed" for Marilyn Hewson, then president of Lockheed Martin. He claimed Washington's army destroyed airports during the War of Independence. He warned that Biden's actions could land us in "World War II." He wanders off topic like no politician ever did, maundering about boats and sharks and electric batteries; he praises Hannibal Lector, a character from The Silence of the Lambs.

Does common sense matter?
Trump's actions in the Oval Office made life in America worse for most people. Remember the pandemic? Trump claimed in 2020 that COVID-19 would go away "like a miracle" when spring came. It didn't.

Do facts matter?
Trump claims that wind turbines cause cancer, that tariffs are paid by foreign countries, that climate change is a hoax, that cutting taxes on the wealthy helps the middle class, that COVID-19 could be cured by hydroxychloroquine. All of these claims have been proven false.

Does health care matter?
President Obama, by passing the Affordable Care Act (aka "ObamaCare") with great difficulty, gave health care to some 20 million more Americans. Trump vowed to repeal it, though he had nothing to replace it. With Congress's help, he nearly succeeded. He failed only because Republican John McCain voted "no" on the final repeal measure.

Does history matter?
Trump follows the path trod by Hitler and Mussolini and a hundred other fascists.

Does memory matter?
Trump spent four years doing what he now claims — with no evidence — the Democrats are doing.

Does paying bills matter?
As a businessman, Trump routinely refused to pay contractors. If they sued him, he would countersue, and thanks to his aggressive tactics and deep pockets he often prevailed. He still owes hundreds of cities for security and other services they provided during his campaigns, going back to 2015.

Does public education matter?
Trump's education secretary was Betsy DeVos, a woman on a crusade to replace public education with private Christian schools.

Does science matter?
Every citizen in our modern, technically complicated nation should have at least a basic understanding of science. But Trump doesn't understand science and doesn't care to learn. His administration rolled back more than 100 environmental regulations, including limits on emissions of mercury and other pollutants from coal-fired power plants.

Does truthful reporting of news matter?
Not to Trump. From the beginning of his term, he called any reporting that was critical of him "fake news." He removed White House press credentials from reporters he didn't like, such as Jim Acosta. Later he took to calling the press "the enemy of the people" — a phrase used by Josef Stalin.

Does illegal immigration matter?
I put this out of order because our immigration system has been out of order for decades. Trump promised to fix it, but he did not. His wall was ineffective. In 2019 he slashed the funds going to improve conditions in three Central American countries most immigrants come from. And early this year he killed a bipartisan immigration bill that would have cracked down because he wants to campaign on the problem, not fix it.

Given all this, why would anyone still vote for Trump?
Because he strokes their egos? Because he hates the people they want to hate? Because he "owns the libs"?

You want to shout and jeer and belittle the other side? Save it for football games. In politics, that's the recipe for a quick end to democracy. A bunch of billionaires backing Trump hope to see it happen. Disappoint them.

I first posted this on 16 October. Things have changed from then to now, and so this page must change too. Trump is elected. He will once again occupy the Oval Office. It appears that Republicans will have the majority in both houses of Congress, as they did when Trump began his first term.

But Trump's track record hasn't changed. His first term still marks him as the worst president in US history. His announced plans will still bring troubles for this nation and the world — among them the higher inflation that so many people mistakenly think he will fix.

It is now the duty of every American to work with the elected leaders. Just remember: that duty includes correction when necessary. I think these elected leaders will need a lot of correction.

Keep the faith. We will get through this.