Dear Mr. Trump,

The Republican Party, which you head, has lost all moral bearing. I clerked for a Republican court of appeals of judge appointed by Dwight Eisenhower, both of whom, by now, are spinning in their graves at what their party has become.

Judge John Minor Wisdom hated demagogues and dishonesty. He cared about the rights of the oppressed minorities. He cared about the rights of women to control their own bodies. He served in the Army during World War II against the very oppressive maniacs you now befriend and seek to emulate. It’s a disgrace of monumental proportion that the vast majority of Republicans have drifted so far away from these ideals.

Today, the Republican-controlled Congress has shown that it would rather stand by without action while you attempt to subvert our democracy than stand up for it. The Republican-controlled Congress has no qualms about cavorting with Russian spies and letting you keep secret your deals with Putin.

The party that came into being with Abraham Lincoln has been irreparably tarnished by your having become Putin’s puppet, by your collusion with our most aggressive adversary, and by your forsaking our allies. Your Republican Party, doing your bidding, has now taken away money from our country’s efforts to fight Russian interference with the 2018 election.

When the historians of the 22nd century analyze the downfall and destruction of the United States, they will blame you, yes, but they will also blame the Republican-controlled Congress that let you get away with your crimes, and by the voters who put those Republicans in place and kept them there. They will say that our democracy was a failed experiment.

Unless, of course, the Republicans can be put out of control. That can happen only at the voting booths, and, with God’s help, it will.

Very truly yours,

Bruce J. Berger