“Purposeful deceit, willful lying by a government spokesperson is the hallmark of a totalitarian or an authoritarian regime. It’s absolutely pernicious in a democracy. The act of dishonesty and arguing about it is a big deal.” – Steve Schmidt

It shouldn’t be any big surprise that U.S. Rep. Tom Reed has fully supported Donald Trump in his bid for the office of the president. In fact he was one of the first to throw in his support and was named as one of his three co-chairs to his New York campaign committee. He was joined by Rep. Chris Collins and Carl Paladino of the Buffalo Board of Education what a group, three philanderers and one of them being a racist. What a coup!

Reed is well known to us in the NY 23rd as being in the pocket of big oil and gas; he loves photo-ops with veterans but has voted to deny veterans the benefits they all were promised. Reed likes to hold town hall meetings in small out-of-the-way places where he has a strong contingency of Republican voters because he is afraid of telling the actual truth to his constituents, much like Trump, himself.

Trump was elected because people wanted “change;” much like the way President Barack Obama was elected but denied being able to make those changes for the middle class because of the obstruction of the Republicans — like Reed and his Tea Party cronies. Don’t forget the help Trump got from Russia and his friend, Putin. Remember the “Do Nothing” Congresses of the 113 and 114?

Well thanks to riding the “Trump wave,” they were re-elected. Thought you wanted change, hypocrites. And now we have a bunch of incompetents to boot to lead the very departments that have protected you for all these years.

We are treading on thin ice when you look at the credentials of our new Administration’s Cabinet, let alone his advisers. I won’t get into his long, long list of conflicts of interests; that could take a full page of the OBSERVER and I don’t get that much space. Most of the cabinet is made from multi-millionaires who either gave heavily to the campaign or just those who garnered “favors” when their spouse looked the other way when Russia was involved.

The biggest thing that puts my panties in a twist is the lies are considered “alternative facts” and Trump uses them in every statement that either flows from his mouth or types from those tiny, little hands at all times of the day or night.

In an article from Politico on Jan. 22, a statement was released from Reed: “He (Trump) and people who support him are going to talk around the media and right to the American people. The opportunities we will succeed upon,” said the man on the president’s executive transition committee. “Any time the president of the United States and his administration speaks, it carries tremendous credibility around the world. The office of the presidency carries with it its own credibility. When the president speaks, I am confident that the credibility will continue.”

Really, Tom? Tom Reed never defended the credibility of the Obama Administration. He always called for transparency — that thing he refuses to give to his constituency. There is a simple and crucially important principle Reed and the new administration need to learn: you must be careful in how those in government present themselves publicly. There are national security implications of an administration willing to dispute facts is a “great concern” and a “crisis waiting to happen.”

According to Lt. Gen. Patrick Hughes (Ret.), former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, “delivering the straight truth is always important. You should never say anything unless you’re sure that what you’re saying are both truth and that you can try to anticipate the effect of what you say.”

Bottom line: Reed still supports everything Trump has proposed — hold him accountable at his next Town Hall meeting. We need an adult in the White House.

Cath Kestler is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com