It appears that one of our consistent contributors to the opinion page has figured out why Democrats don’t like Donald Trump. He thinks it’s pragmatism.

Oh really, it’s that simple? I won’t use the word “hate” as the writer did, mainly because it is actually “hate” that is one of the reasons we don’t like Trump. He harbors hate, resentment, revenge, for any and all who have dared to criticize him, he sees them as enemies. Congressional Republicans are even afraid to express disagreement. He’s not a president to do good for the country, he’s using his office to wage his own personal vendettas while allowing the billionaire profiteers in his camp to scrounge up as much of the federal funds as they can for private gain.

Greed is one of the seven deadly sins. We don’t like that. We believe that we should be taking care of our fellow man, actually following the golden rule that every religion abides by.

We don’t like him because he is lawless. We believe in upholding the Constitution under which this country was founded and that includes the ideal that no one is above the law; under the law, we are all equal. We are being dogmatic because we believe in the constitution, and Trump is being pragmatic when he breaks the law for his own purposes, I guess. He’s so pragmatic that he’s received 91 criminal charges, 34 felony convictions, 26 sexual assault allegations, four indictments, two impeachments, two convicted companies, had a fake university and a fake charity shut down, and paid multiple millions in legal settlements. He has dispensed with due process and allowed even citizens, including children, to be arrested and detained without being given their rights.

We don’t like the economy being thrown into a state of confusion, even though gullible MAGAs believe that it is all part of a grand plan. We don’t like the status of our country in the world being run into the ground because of a man who is fixated – not flexible – on tariffs. We don’t like the stock market being played by a hustler who is giving insider trading a winning hand.

We don’t like losing our 401Ks to his tariff games. We don’t want our groceries to cost a fortune or the store shelves to go empty. Trump’s game is just the opposite of a pool hustler. He talks a great game but doesn’t deliver. At least not for those who voted for him.

We certainly would not mind a genuine populist who would return the government to the people, of the people, by the people, for the people. All the people must be included though for it to be a true populist.

Seems the government has been turned over to one person, the world’s richest man, and his troop of tech bros. We don’t like that an unelected benefactor of his has run roughshod over our government agencies and now has all our social security information to do what he wants with it. We don’t like that.

Being pragmatic can include doing the same things over and over because that is what is known, even though that gets the same result every time. That is the definition sometimes used for insanity. It lets out critical thinking. We like critical thinking. We like education. We like free speech.

We like positive change. We want our schools and universities to be free to teach truth, not fake history and whatever dogma the MAGA world wants us to believe. We want our scientists to be able to search for the cure for cancer and not have their funding cut. We don’t like dying from cancer.

Does being a pragmatist mean being stuck in the past? We don’t like Trump wanting to send us back to the past. We don’t like women losing their rights to reproductive freedom, or now to voting. We don’t like men who prey on women, and brag about it. I suppose it’s just being pragmatic to take advantage of being a celebrity, they just let you do it. We don’t like that the freedoms that women and other minorities have fought for are at risk of being taken away. We don’t like that Trump is doing that.

We don’t like it when a commander in chief disrespects the sacrifices of our military. They’re not a set of green plastic toy soldiers. And it’s not his military to do what he pragmatically wants to with, regardless of the constitution.He has put us in a constitutional crisis, disregarding the rulings of the courts. Definitely do not like that.

We don’t like to see people with disabilities being made fun of, and funds to help them be a successful part of society being stolen from them. Democrats believe in inclusion.

We believe Bernie Sanders when he says the 1% controls most of the wealth, the percentage hasn’t changed. The dollar amount of the wealth gap has gone from millions to billions. Millionaires are no longer part of the 1%. So we don’t begrudge Sanders for writing a book that we all wanted to read. We don’t begrudge him having a nice home. We don’t like, however, showoffs who cover everything in gold. That’s gaudy.

Democrats, and others, are doing the only thing that is pragmatic for them right now, since the control of the federal government is in the hands of Trump, his cronies, and the republican congress. That is to take to the streets and protest. To hold town halls, to call their representatives. Yes, the crowds are growing. People don’t like what Trump is doing. He has done none of what he promised. His most recent approval rating is 41%, the Washington Post poll has him at 39%, breaking his own record for the worst at 100 days. Oh, yeah, we don’t like liars or broken promises either.

Or bullies. We don’t like bullies. Trump likes to bully other countries. Denmark, Mexico, Canada — Canada! Our allies he perceives are weak. They are proving they are the pragmatic ones, banding together against us.

They can no longer trust the United States, because of Trump. We don’t like not being able to trust our government to do the right thing or that we are untrustworthy to the rest of the world. The only country that can do no wrong in Trump’s eyes is Russia.

Democrats remember his first term. We remember how many Americans needlessly died from COVID because of his mishandling. We remember his shutdown, his tax cut for the rich, Charlottesville, the election interference, Jan. 6, and so much more. We didn’t like any of that then, still don’t.

So as far as the Democrats disliking Trump because he is pragmatic – boy is that a miscue! I think I’ve managed to run the table with reasons we don’t like him.

I used to like to play pool, and one time, in jest, I declared that I was going to get the eight ball in on the break. That’s a hard thing to do. Well, I did it. Did anyone believe I planned it? No. It was luck.

Just like everything that happens with Trump is his blind luck, and it works for him, not for others. He holds a get out of jail free card, backed by Project 2025 creators, Russian oligarchs, Elon Musk, and who knows who else. He had no four-dimensional chess strategy with his tariff war. He has no plan to make America great again. At least not the America that lives outside his head.

Susan Bigler is a Sheridan resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com