Dear Donald Trump: Don't Let The Door Hit You On The Way Out

Dear #DonaldTrump;

To paraphrase Canadian musician #ColinJames, it's been four long years.

There's been a lot I've had to explain about your tumultuous tenure to my girls, who are now almost-12 and 16 and were nearly-8 and 12 when you started your #WhiteHouse shenanigans. They've been allies of the #LGBTQ community for years, and when they learned that you were trying to pull protections for transgender youth and, in general, trying to make life more challenging for those who were transgender, they were dismayed and were full of questions about why you wouldn't want to keep these individuals safe. I didn't have a good answer.

They've been old enough to take an active interest in the news for at least the last four years, if not longer, and have heard your misogynistic views of women several times over. Do we need to revisit your words about how you would just grab women by the...cat?

Your ongoing habit of lying about everything from COVID to your involvement in any one of a number of dalliances or your working relationships with your fellow world leaders has been astounding at best and sad at worst. I realize that you seem to have an overwhelming desire to make yourself look the absolute best, but in reality, you're a 74-year-old man who's made lying a career and when you were on Twitter, you had to go for the lowest possible denominator when discussing your fellows on the United States political scene. A leader does not disparage those around him using schoolyard nicknames that I've often discouraged my children from using when they were little; a leader leads by example, and the example you've set, sir, has not been a positive one.

Perhaps what has been most disturbing of all has been the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021. You exhorted the crowd to "walk down to the Capitol and ...cheer on [your] brave senators and Congressmen and women,” according to Reuters. There is no way you could have possibly not known the crowd you addressed would do exactly that while you sat back and watched the outcome. You lost the election and, even though election observers said outright there was no evidence of tampering or of voter fraud, absolutely refused to accept the results. Because of your alleged role in trying to upend democracy, sir, you are now making history as the first United States president to be impeached twice - this time for inciting insurrection.

Yes, you've certainly been a historic president, but for all the wrong reasons. You're down to your last day in the White House, and undoubtedly facing trouble from which you are no longer protected. There have been legal eagles of various stripes looking to come for you when you leave the White House. There could be investigations into your various businesses for issues you experienced prior to your presidency, there are rumored obstruction of justice charges, and there is, of course, the second impeachment trial. You've taken a softer line against racists and supremacists than those before you, and the ripples of damage you've done to America are felt all the way up here in Canada. Don't think we haven't noticed how troubled America is at this point, and don't think you haven't had a good deal to do with that since you took office.

Do I have faith that president-elect #JoeBiden will do a good job? Sure. Will he be perfect? Absolutely not, and there is not a single politician on the planet, I don't think, that is above scrutiny for their dealings on some level. However, you haven't been the leader America deserves - not by a long shot - and I hope we don't hear from you for a good long while once you leave the White House tomorrow.