Letters

Karen McDougal is the latest woman to come forward with her story, which continues the seemingly endless string of scandals surrounding Donald Trump’s reckless and arrogant behavior.

It seems inevitable that for the foreseeable future our country will be bombarded with Trump’s infractions of the law and his indecent behavior. Whether or not he is not elected in 2024, no reasonable Republican politician will make any headway unless Trump’s popularity diminishes.

There are lots of parallels that can be drawn between the mess caused by Trump and what the Italians went through during the tumultuous decades when Silvio Berlusconi dominated the political world in Italy. Trials and allegations involving Berlusconi were extensive and included abuse of office, bribery, corruption, collusion, defamation, and involvement with underage prostitution.

Nonetheless, he was elected prime minister three times between 1994 and his death in June 2023, and even when he was out of office he wielded an inordinate amount of influence over Italy’s domestic and international politics. He created chaos and yet mesmerized the Italian people.

Does this sound familiar?

So for those who still support Trump, my question is this: What do you think the end game is here? As long as you continue to support him, he will continue to dominate the news, divide our country and wreak havoc with our legal system. Like Berlusconi, if his popularity continues, his legal appeals, which will go on for years and years, will dominate the news.

Meanwhile, all the important issues that need to be dealt with in this country and the healing that needs to take place will be compromised.

Do we really need our own Berlusconi in America? Do we really need an autocratic, chaotic, narcissistic dumpster fire dominating our news?

Is he really what America stands for? I certainly hope not.

Paula Angelone, Ph.D.

Southampton Village