Show 'reality-TV president' the door

Your excellent editorial on Sunday, Oct. 11, sums up the way many of us feel. Yes, we are exhausted by all the acrimony and disruption caused by the "Narcissist and Disrupter in Chief." We wonder when this nightmare will ever end.

Even before he was inaugurated for his first term Trump declared he was running for reelection. Governing the country for the benefit of all was of no interest to him. Aside from an insatiable craving for adulation and intolerance of any dissent, he sought only to enrich his family and favored cronies. This is the hallmark of a would-be autocrat.

The COVID-19 pandemic was an opportunity for Trump to show that he could rise to the occasion and put the welfare of all the people above his petty political and partisan interests. Instead, he was dismissive of his public health advisers and flouted their science-based advice. By his actions and inactions thousands of people have suffered and died needlessly. Worst of all, he has not shown one iota of empathy for the losses so many people have endured.

The pandemic has exposed all the holes in our country's social structure -- food scarcity for many, unequal access to health care, jobs without benefits and homelessness -- all of which affect people of color more.

Rather than trying to address these deep-seated societal problems, he has sown hate and division, all to achieve a narrow partisan victory.

For the sake of our country and the futures of our children and grandchildren on Nov. 3, this "reality TV president" needs to be decisively shown the door.

Christopher and Carol Melby

Arlington Heights