This is a message to friends who either support President Donald Trump or are uncommitted to either support or detraction.

Speaking as a lifelong Democrat, I’ve disliked Mr. Trump as long as I’ve known who he was — both for his entitled view of the world and for his shameful racism. I thought poorly of the celebrity coverage that somehow made his views seem relevant through his playboy real-estate days. They enabled him by virtue of his wealth, but certainly not for his behavior or character.

I did not want him to be president, but was willing, briefly, to assume that if I tolerated George W. Bush, that I could get through a Trump presidency. I was not looking for further reasons to dislike him — those came with great frequency and on their own, because of the behavior of Donald Trump and the administration he’s led.

Most obvious at first were the lies and equally obvious was the information that became evident linking Trump to underhanded behavior through the election in illegal underhanded behavior.

The links to Russia, and his admiration of violent oligarchs followed suit and secret meetings with Russian ambassadors without witnesses raised suspicions. Those people who say that this is a witchhunt or that Democrats have been manipulating facts to bring Trump down have it wrong.

Trump has been attempting to manipulate facts in ways that are well documented. And the choice to impeach him reflects not simply a dislike for the man, but the conclusion that his actions have been dangerous for our country, and dishonest to our citizenry.

Using another nation as a tool to promote his election is not only immoral, it is illegal. This is not acceptable behavior, and to stand by and permit this behavior is an assault to our nation, to our constitution, and to our future as a democracy. I do not expect Republicans or other conservatives to embrace Democrat values because of this, but Republicans who accept un-American values in order to support Trump need to consider their own loyalty to this nation.

Let us unite in our refusal to accept Trump’s un-American behavior, and return to our discussion of our values in the ballot boxes. Nobody voted for Trump believing him to be impeachable, but let us all acknowledge that he is.

Barbara L. Albert is a Fredonia resident.