OPINION

Carol deProsse and Caroline Dieterle | Writers' Group

“The Lives of the Twelve Caesars” by the Roman historian Suetonius describes the reign of Caligula, Emperor of Rome A.D. 37 to A.D. 41, and Caligula’s cruelty, extravagance and sexual perversion. His last wife’s name was Milonia. Caligula continually tried to increase the unconstrained personal power of his position, and spent much of his attention on ambitious construction projects, including luxurious dwellings for himself. He exhausted the treasury and resorted to new taxes and extortion to make up the deficit.

Donald Trump is two years into his destructively warped presidency. During those years he has proved himself to be racist, petty, a religious bigot, a misogynist, and wittingly or not, an agent of Vladimir Putin. Trump has had at least six private, one-on-one conversations with Putin and afterward confiscated the translators’ notes, keeping the substance of the discussions hidden.

White supremacists were proclaimed by Trump to be “very fine people”; black athletes have been vocally attacked; he has initiated attempts to deport Haitians, Salvadorans and others who received temporary protective status under previous administrations due to natural disasters or political upheaval. Trump derided immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries by asking “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries coming here?”

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His long-standing belief that all Muslims are potential terrorists resulted in the imposition of a travel ban against seven Muslim countries, resulting in separation of family members. This and other Islamophobic policies are abetted by members of his right-wing staff.

Trump has driven numerous appointees out of office; noteworthy are those who then have co-operated with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigations into whether Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Russia to throw the election in Trump’s favor. Trump has hinted at presidential pardons for witnesses who remain loyal to him.

Public humiliation by Trump of those who surround him in the White House is common and their failure to leave is a demonstration of systemic sycophancy.

Caligula reportedly had little hair and to look down on him from above brought execution. Combed-over Trump has damaged international relations among allies as he aligns himself with dictators and authoritarian leaders around the globe. He blew up the pact with Iran that deterred development of nuclear weapons, and is intent on creating a Space Force and new nuclear weapons. He’s threatening armed intervention in Venezuela and Iran.

Puerto Rico had to wait a full year for power to be fully restored after Hurricane Maria’s devastation and still lacks adequate support from FEMA. Ignorant, racist Trump apparently didn’t know Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.

Trump’s tweets mocked Christine Blasey-Ford, a victim of sexual abuse, during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s publicly televised confirmation hearings. Blasey-Ford is the most recent in a long line of women victimized by Trump.

His policies and appointees are chiseling away Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and prescription contraceptives coverage.

Trump’s hateful executive orders to allow discrimination against LGBTQ persons are driven by religious bigotry. He is intent on driving transgendered individuals out of the military.

His failure to deal with Saudi Arabia’s cold-blooded murder of a journalist is rooted in his international business dealings with Saudi Arabia.

Trump angrily caused and perpetuated the longest government shutdown in history, oblivious to the deprivation suffered by workers with no paychecks. Food stamps were running out, airport security lines slowed as TSA security people called in sick, national parks were trashed, the national zoo and museums became shuttered, people in subsidized housing faced eviction, food inspections decreased and 42,000 immigration court hearings were canceled. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the loss to the economy caused by Trump’s tantrum at $11 billion.

Trump’s cruelty in separating thousands of children from their parents and detaining them in crowded, unsafe quarters has provoked national revulsion; the shutdown prolonged their detention. Trump now threatens another shutdown to build his wall, a monument to himself.

Thousands of presidential lies have been documented. The president’s word means nothing.

Trump is easily the worst chief executive the U.S. has ever had and is unfit for the presidency. His impeachment, conviction and removal from office would be a way to stop him.

Writers' Group members Carol deProsse and Caroline Dieterle live and write in Iowa City.