Open Letter to the Electors

"You can't make this issue partisan. It is too important.

A fundamental part of a democracy is a free and fair election." - Sen. McCain 

I sent an email to the Electors via AskTheElectors.org. As a few have already bounced back, some email addresses are wrong. Many have auto-replies in place, likely due to the barrage of emails they're receiving.

Of course, after clicking send, I thought of additional things I should have said, such as:

• Trump is endorsed by the KKK. Hate crimes are on the rise since the election. His administration is rife with bigots: anti-gay, anti-Black, anti-Muslim, anti-Jew, anti-Woman, and therefore, anti-American.

Following is the text of the email I sent, which also appears at this link. 

Dear Electors,

My name is Rachel Wolf from Salem, OR. I have been proud to be an American my entire life. As a White person, I have always felt safe, although as a woman and now an older woman, I cannot say the same.

Stopping a Trump presidency is not and should not be a partisan issue. Politics and ideologies aside, Hamilton and his contemporaries created the Electoral College as a fail-safe for elections exactly like this one, in which an inexperienced demagogue might take power and irreparably shred the very fabric of our democracy until it is no longer recognizable.

Throughout his campaign and during the weeks since the election, Trump has shown that giving him power will lead to no good. He has surrounded himself with extremists.

Let's get to the fact that the CIA has uncovered proof that Russia was instrumental in getting him elected by manipulating the election.

No good can come from a Trump presidency. None. I fear for myself. I fear for my fellow Americans who are people of color, minorities, disabled, unemployed, retired, and low-income. He does not have their best interests at heart. He has shown that he is only concerned with fame, money, and power for himself.

Trump embraces Fascist ideologies and follows Hitler's playbook, even now holding Nuremberg-like rallies and tweeting at all hours to feed his narcissistic personality.

I know many of you are registered Republicans and may feel duty-bound to vote for your party's candidate despite all evidence to the contrary. But it is time to erase that line in the sand between Democrats and Republicans, and do what is best for our nation.

I ask you to honor the popular vote results. Hillary Clinton received almost THREE MILLION more votes than Donald Trump, proving SHE is the choice of the majority. In addition, her decades of experience make her exactly the kind of qualified leader our nation's founders expected.

The Electoral College is not meant to be a rubber stamp that merely parrots a party's wishes. You are that emergency contingency plan which, until now, wasn't required. We've never before had a candidate so utterly unqualified and dangerous.

Instead of attending intelligence briefings, Trump watches SNL and then tweets how he doesn't enjoy being parodied. He arrogantly says that he is "like, a smart person," and therefore doesn't need to be briefed. He declares that he knows more about ISIS than all the generals. He says that he is the only person capable of making things better.

These are not the statements of a leader. These are the words of a fascist dictator. This is a man -- like North Korea's despot -- whose skin is so thin, he is capable of starting a world war if he feels slighted.

Trump has no regard for the law and, in fact, believes he is above it.

Trump has no knowledge of foreign affairs, and ignored protocol by calling Taiwan's leader.

Trump claims he cares about American jobs, but he and his daughter have all their merchandise made in China and Mexico.

Trump lies constantly and, when called on it, either doubles down and denies he said it (even when video shows otherwise), or pulls a gaslighting technique and accuses those who catch him in lies of being biased and unfair to him.

Trump wants to curb free speech (except his own) and expand libel laws so that anyone who criticizes him is punished.

Trump wants to keep running his businesses while President, in direct violation of the Emoluments Clause. He is abusing the office for personal financial gain and brand building.

Trump violated the Logan Act when he conspired with Russia to hack Clinton's emails.

Trump ignores and denies evidence from the greatest scientific minds around the world, and insists that global warming is a hoax.

Trump cares for only one thing -- himself. His words and actions demonstrate that.

Please. On December 19, make history and do the right thing. Do NOT vote for Donald Trump. The welfare of our nation and the planet depend on you.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I appreciate and respect the role you serve in our electoral process.

Sincerely,

Rachel Wolf

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Alexander Hamilton wrote in “The Federalist Papers” that the Constitution is designed to ensure “the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.”

Can any rational person -- even for a moment -- assert Trump has the requisite qualifications to be POTUS? Compare Donald Trump with Hillary Clinton on this checklist. How do they stack up against one another?

• Character and Integrity - One need only go to a search engine and find endless examples of Trump's lack of character and integrity documented by legitimate news sources. Negative results for Clinton come from alt-right propaganda sites and those accusations have been proven false and debunked.

• Political Experience - Trump has none. Clinton has been First Lady (twice), Senator of New York, and Secretary of State.

• Business Experience - Trump has been a grifter his entire life. He has run numerous businesses into the ground by borrowing money and then filing bankruptcy to avoid paying the debts. The amount of his debts is likely substantial but since he refuses to release his tax returns, no one knows for sure just how many foreign governments and entities exist to which he is indebted. Trump's "foundation" was found to have engaged in repeated misuse of funds, even misappropriating donations in order to commission a painting of Trump. His "university" settled a class action fraud lawsuit after bilking thousands of people of their savings. In contrast, Clinton has devoted her life to public service, not personal financial gain. She and her husband's foundation has done philanthropic work for decades.

• Military Experience - Trump has none, unless you count the fact that his wealthy father sent him away to a military academy since he needed discipline. Trump dodged the draft multiple times and has never served his country. He insulted John McCain (who had been a prisoner-of-war) and said that real heroes don't get captured. Clinton has not served in the military.

• Foreign Affairs Experience - Trump has none. His recent call to Taiwan (in defiance of a long-standing agreement with China) proved he also has no foreign affairs finesse. Clinton was Secretary of State and has extensive foreign affairs experience. She is well-respected and liked in the diplomatic community.

• Community Experience - Trump has none, unless you count the fact that he's a landlord. But since the DOJ sued him for discriminating against prospective Black tenants, the only community he seems to have experience with includes billionaires, lobbyists, third-tier celebrities, and disgraced politicians. Clinton has advocated for children and women her entire life, and has devoted much time and energy to the Children's Defense Fund.

• Overall Leadership Experience - Trump employs people. He also likes to fire people, even earning a reputation for the "You're fired" catchphrase on a television reality show. Even with his recent transition team, he has demonstrated ever-shifting loyalties as he doles out punishment to those who disagree with him. He seems to want to lead only his supporter base mostly comprised middle-class White racists, corporations, and wealthy people, but has shown little to no interest in leading minorities or the rest of us. Clinton's leadership experience comes from decades in government, not the private sector.

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Hamilton cautioned: “Nothing was more to be desired than that every practicable obstacle should be opposed to cabal, intrigue, and corruption. These most deadly adversaries of republican government might naturally have been expected to make their approaches from more than one querter [sic], but chiefly from the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils.”

In other words, Hamilton warned we should guard against foreign powers that seek to gain "an improper ascendant," and wrote of opposing corruption. The CIA now reports that a Russian cabal maliciously and surreptitiously infiltrated our Democratic process and manipulated our election in order to install Trump as Putin's puppet. The recipe for disaster that's now cooking includes a foreign power, cabal, and corruption. 

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Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools

who don't have brains enough to be honest. ~ Benjamin Franklin

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