I cannot support Donald Trump for many reasons. Until he ran for President, his character flaws only annoyed my from time to time as I saw his bragging, cheating face on The Daily News or some other metropolitan publication, often posturing that he was some kind of “tough guy.” Proud of shaming his wife and family and glad for the free publicity, my view about him isn’t that he’s tough, except with those less powerful than he. I get annoyed with other obnoxious individuals, but they aren’t President. They don’t warrant my devoting substantial time to highlighting their flaws. Indeed, Trump doesn’t warrant me wasting my time either, but I believe it’s important that my friends see my litany of complaints, and if they trust my judgment, if they truly think about the travesty of his administration as this first year progresses, then perhaps some of my acquaintances who voted for Trump will reconsider their position. I will discuss the points raised below in future essays and in more detail, but I thought an overview of my reasons is a good place to start.

1. Trump isn’t tough, he is a bully. As a wealthy and powerful man he pushes little people around. He’s flaunted his extramarital affairs with (e.g., Marla Maples) and publicly shamed his wife, Ivana, in the process. Anyone who treats those he loves with such disdain cannot convince me he has the interests of the American people at heart. Certainly he won’t have their interests above his own selfish desires. He’s already demonstrated the truth of what I say. He cozies up to leaders perceived as tough and enemies to the United States while pushing around our allies and neighbors who pose no threat to us.

2. He has no clue how to run a government. On its own, many will see this as a positive trait, making him out to be a courageous outsider who can change things in Washington D.C. for the better, but he needs some background, some education, some experience at least with how a government works. He also need a work ethic, not regular excursions to his country club. How to write a bill and the process necessary for that bill to become law. Getting factions to compromise. At least hire someone who knows about government. Something.

3. Trump is a pathological liar, an exaggerator and bullshit artist of the first order. When people lie because they’re afraid of being caught (Nixon) or because they have been caught (Clinton) or because they are ashamed of their actions or fear what public knowledge will do to their relationships and careers (Jimmy Swaggart) I can at least understand their reasons for lying. President Trump lies when he doesn’t have to. He just makes things up, like having watched thousands of people in New Jersey cheering the death of the World Trade Center. I don’t understand how voters can believe his claims, promises, or excuses. Even though he’s in office, he keeps the bullshit flowing (inauguration size, best health care ever, etc.). When the leader of the world’s most important nation ignores actual facts and twists reality into something he’d like it to be instead, he is leading the entire world toward an abyss. After all, if the US can do it, why not other nations? The fascination with National Socialism – NAZIISM – spread for a generation, culminating in World War II. Many nations willingly joined Hitler and assisted him in his madness; many nations conquered by Hitler had substantial fifth columnists supporting his ideology. Imagine the same process in a nuclear world.

4. He has admitted to being a sexual predator. For all the excuses about such talk being common locker room banter, I know I’ve never heard guys talk with such aggressive arrogance about women. Not as an athlete, not as a coach. Not as a teen. Not as an adult. The number of women who have accused him is lengthy. So too are the instances when Trump is seen on video following through with his statements, such as his impromptu entrance to the teen Miss USA dressing room. Teenaged girls? Really. He’s the choice for president?

5. What responsible grown man doesn’t admit when he’s wrong? Failures in life are a rite of passage everyone undergoes. How we react to our setbacks determines our characters, personal growth, and often our future successes. Trump never admits to being wrong. Ever. He’s certainly been wrong – very publicly so – such as with Trump University or his “Birther” falsehoods. But settling out of court, agreeing to pay a fine without admitting guilt is a technicality not worthy of an innocent person. Someone who promoted conspiracy theories around Obama’s place of birth and created a university that bilked students out of their money is by his statements and actions already showing his guilt. He refuses even to admit the slightest mistake, and all I can say to that is “covfefe.”

6. Donald Trump has no ideological focus. Consider what this means: He believes in nothing, at least nothing beyond the superficial or selfish. He believes in winning, but when he wins, someone loses. Usually someone in the poorer or middle class. He believes in showing power over people, in being a strongman that can exert his will by the power of his money, his attorneys, and his bluster. Lyndon Johnson exerted his authority over others, too, but he believed in desegregation among other things. What does Trump believe in? A wall? Great, twenty four billion dollars for a security device that can be breached with a ladder and a rope. Not a lot of deep thought there.

7. When the leader of a country believes personal loyalty is more important than professional excellence when choosing his advisors and department heads, the threat of abuse of power increases. Rather than devotion to the Constitution, to laws, to ideologies, there is devotion to the leader. That’s when palace spokesmen are seen tripping over their own falsehoods when they try to explain what’s gong with his administration, ala Sean Spicer and Sara Huckabee. That’s when leaders challenge the credentials of honest judges, rule by dictat rather than procedure, and attempt to alter the truth by introducing falsehoods or preventing the honest testimony of those who have suffered beneath him. Trump’s war against the media is standard operating procedure for dictators. Next would be the formation of their own press corps – oh, wait, Fox News already wears that crown as they justify his every action and question nothing he says or does. Remember when he gave away the most highly classified secrets to the Russians in the Oval Office meeting? It was revealed that because he is president, once he opens his mouth he “officially” unclassified that material. So ignoring the obvious – that Trump went out of his way to share highly sensitive data with our main adversary for no purpose except to brag – Fox News reported with smiles thatTrump did not commit a crime. This is the high bar they set for a white president. We should support him because he didn’t technically break the law.

8. Trump supports conspiracy theories. I don’t trust conspiracy theorists because they usually only consider those facts that are outstanding to them. They often ignore the common sense matters that any police officer would recognize is an investigation-killer (or those that are obvious as positive investigative developments). Sure, some conspiracies do exist, but I’m pretty sure that Jackie didn’t arrange for Jack Kennedy’s murder as confided to me by one conspiracy theorist I’m acquainted with. For the president to have pursued the lunacy of “Birtherism” for five years and lied along the way about what he’d found disqualifies him as a viable presidential candidate, let alone having him actually in the office. Ignoring the positive economic promise of developing alternative energy sources to help combat climate change, Trump bases his decision to exit the voluntary Paris Climate Accords in part because the economy of some coal-based areas will be impacted. That’s rather like ignoring development in automobile research because we are concerned what might happen to the Conestoga Wagon industry.

9. Donald Trump lies as easily as other people breathe. Like a used-car salesman, Trump embellishes, cajoles, and outright lies in an effort to make people believe some fantasy claim. As if he is in some alternate reality, Trump claims that facts are lies and that lies are facts. The Orwellian observations about the totalitarianism of communism have somehow come full circle to now appear in the White House. He thinks he can change reality if he doesn’t like what he hears on the news. That’s more than troubling given his war against the media.

10. Because of what I’ve already listed, Donald Trump cannot be trusted as President. You can’t trust a bully nor can you trust someone who knows so little about the job. If he was someone that learns from his mistakes, it would be different, but how can you trust a guy to learn the job when he never admits to being wrong? I wouldn’t trust a leader who surrounds himself primarily with family and lackeys. Society as a whole doesn’t – and shouldn’t – trust sexual predators. Convicted offenders must register in their communities upon release from prison. Accusations are not proof, nor would they alone lead to an indictment, but Trump’s own admissions would be used in any attempt to prosecute him in this area if other evidence surfaces. And so the question must be asked: Why have so many of my friends and acquaintances voted for such a person for president? His thinking is so shallow that he believes the last person he speaks to. That’s not evidence for strong character, that’s being wishy-washy. And if Trump is in charge of the ship of state for too long, the United State will appear wishy-washy as well.

He sidles up to autocrats from The Philippines, China, and Russia while insulting the leaders of our allies from Germany, South Korea, Australia, and Mexico. This is not “fake news,” this is the reality that is the Trump Administration. Perhaps you thought last November that you were casting a vote for a strong personality who had some real principles. Maybe you thought that someone would finally stand up for you, the little guy. Possibly you believed his bluster about standing up to China’s unfair financial practices, quickly ending Isis’s reign of terror, and repairing America’s infrastructure.

What we’ve got so far is a health bill that steals from the poor to give to the rich, as much terrorism as ever, and not a peep about fixing America’s bridges, roads, and utilities. So maybe you had good reasons for voting for a buffoon like Donald Trump in November, but I hope it’s getting clearer that the person you thought you voted for isn’t occupying the White House.