President Trump said he employs the “best people,” the “smartest people.”

Rumors have circulated since the beginning of Trump’s presidency that these “best people” call him an “idiot,” a “moron” and a totally “amoral” man. Gen. John Kelly publicly said he was “uninformed,” and reportedly describes the administration as “Crazy Town.” The op-ed in the New York Times and Watergate reporter Bob Woodward’s new book, “Fear,” further confirm these rumors.

Apparently, cabinet members pondered invoking the 25th Amendment to remove this person they saw as a danger to the country from office. These “best people” around him every day have that kind of an opinion of the president. They believe their job is to save us from his ignorance and insanity.

Allegedly, he ordered the assassination of Syria’s President Assad. Secretary of Defense Mattis told him he would “Get right on it,” then told aides, “We are not doing this.” Thank God! Gen. Mattis, beloved by the military, will likely be a casualty of Woodward’s book because in it he is quoted as saying Trump has the understanding of a fifth- or sixth-grader.

Last night, at a Trump rally, a spectator was removed for not clapping. We have learned Trump had pictures of the crowd size at his inauguration edited to remove the bare areas. His entire day is absorbed with his preoccupation with himself — not policy, not in educating himself on issues so he can make more informed decisions, only in how to use his office to enrich himself, and now in how to protect himself from prosecution for crimes, past and present, he has committed. Such a man is not a president and should not be one.

This country was created with three branches of government — each to be a check on the other two. Today we have a majority party in Congress who put the nation at risk by refusing to perform that function. Instead, these cowards continue to act as though Trump is a “normal” president, and to cover for everything he does, pushing the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice who enthusiastically prosecuted Bill Clinton, but now does not believe a sitting president should be investigated, let alone subpoenaed. His name was not on Trump’s list of Supreme Court nominees until Mueller’s investigation, when it was added. Why? Because he would be the justice least likely to vote against Trump in any decision to come before the Supreme Court.

The people do not support Kavanaugh. Seventy one percent of Americans are against overturning Roe v. Wade, yet Kavanaugh’s views on abortion are extreme. He believes contraception pills are abortion-inducing.

The NRA is spending $1 million to help get Kavanaugh confirmed. He considers assault weapons normal and would rule in favor of gun lobbies. He has sided against unions. Corporations already have the rights of “people” — he would give them more. He supports unlimited dark money in politics, virtually selling our government to the highest bidders which would, ultimately, further harm our environment.

Vote blue.

Lonna Gooden Van Horn

Northwood