Dear Mr. Trump,

What you did with Putin is deplorable on every level. Beyond deplorable. “Sir.”

The only way to comprehend the enormity of your crime is to compare it to the following scenario, a series of hypothetical events immediately after the Confederate bombing of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, which led to the fall of the fort on April 13, 1861.

Imagine if Confederate President Jefferson Davis telegraphed U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1861 and asked for a “summit” to discuss matters of mutual interest.

Imagine if Lincoln then met with Davis against the urgings of many in Congress, including members of Lincoln’s own party, the Republican Party.

Imagine if Lincoln insisted on a private one-on-one meeting, so no one could hear what he said to Davis.

Imagine if, just before this “summit,” Lincoln said publicly that the United States’s bad relationship with the Confederacy was due to its own stupidity and foolishness.

Imagine if Lincoln refused, after the meeting, to blame the Confederacy for the bombing.

Imagine if Lincoln insisted that he wasn’t sure that Fort Sumter had been bombed at all, or, if it had, that the Confederacy might not have bombed it, because Davis had assured him – assured him “very powerfully” – that the Confederacy did not.

Imagine if Lincoln then berated the brave United States soldiers who defended and died at Fort Sumter, calling their efforts a “rigged witch hunt.”

That is exactly how you have behaved.

Very truly yours,

Bruce J. Berger