Letter: No, Donald, it’s not over

I guess we are supposed to be impressed that Donald Trump finally admitted that Obama was really born in the U.S. Now he wants to move on; that is “over” in his mind.

I’m sorry, with me, and many others, this will never be over. Trump brought his nascent political career to life by beating this drum for years. Certainly, he knew the whole time that it was all a ruse.

He did it for two reasons. To gain fame and notoriety in the political arena, and to delegitimize a properly-elected president. Our system relies on the electorate believing and accepting the results of its elections, and without that, chaos will ensue.

The whole “birther” episode damaged our political system, but it also taught Trump that there was a very significant number of people who really didn’t have the inclination or time to think critically on their own. They were easily persuaded to follow someone who said what they wanted to hear.

With this part of the electorate, Trump’s truthfulness really doesn’t matter. His growing list of “Pinnocchios” and “pants on fire” ratings from nonpartisan organizations are irrelevant to them. Other countries have followed similar men, often to their peril.

Certainly his main opponent has issues, but they pale in the face of his own.

This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 2:57 PM with the headline "Letter: No, Donald, it’s not over."