The entire weekend was chock full of conversation and debate about the impending re-investigation of Hillary Clinton’s disastrous email scandal.

What some people fail to recognize is that endangering our national security by mishandling classified information is a crime. And ignoring rules and protocols for social media devices in government is also a crime.

At this point nobody seems to know exactly what FBI Director Comey has in mind. So it’s a waste of time to speculate about his future actions. However, given the storm that he has created just a few days before the election, Comey better have some really juicy crimes and misdemeanors to tell us about this week. Otherwise he is going to look like a fool.

Let’s get back to the election. Despite Trump’s impending loss (my assumption ), his legacy poses a serious threat to Democrats and Republicans moving forward.

Setting aside all the ubiquitous jawboning relating to the man’s temperament, misogynistic tendencies and arrogant and obnoxious behavior, Trump is responsible for opening up the dialogue about a number of issues facing our country that to date have been swept under the rug. Millions of Americans will be voting for Trump (over 40% of all voters) in spite of all his warts. These people feel disenfranchised by our government and our leaders. They are crying out for change.

Bernie Sanders has had the same impact on a large group of liberals. Many people across party lines want change and a more responsive federal government that is focused less on issues around the world and more on inequality, poverty and over taxation here at home.

Let’s analyze the millions of people that are unhappy with the direction of our country. This perspective is best exhibited in our urban centers where too many African Americans are subjected to violent crime and poverty.

Welfare rolls are increasing, jobs are scarce for young people and police/community relations are at a nadir. Trump has attacked this problem by ignoring political correctness. Unlike Democrats he talks about the problems in urban communities openly even as local leaders bury their heads in the sand.

Working people across the nation are lamenting trade deals that have caused America to lose jobs and become less competitive. Trump support has been strong from many of those negatively affected by treaties such as NAFTA. He promises to abrogate these destructive arrangements. Very few other politicians have had the courage to tackle this issue in a meaningful way.

Illegal aliens, whether you want to admit it or not, are putting a great strain on our economy, health care system, municipalities and society in general. One thing we can all agree on is that new illegal immigration must end. Trump has led this effort and showcased it from the first day of his campaign. Only after the tide of illegals is stemmed will the federal government be able to enact real immigration reform and create a path to citizenship for the 11-12 million illegals already in the country. Trump inspired this dialogue, and we should be thankful he did.

The state of our national security is tenuous. The greatest reason for our discomfort is the threat of violent Islamic groups. True, the U.S. has its own homegrown nut cases that want to bring down the government. But the real risk is from outsiders, particularly jihadists from the Middle East.

All immigrants to America must be carefully vetted. The problem is that “refugees” from Islamic countries cannot be vetted because there are no formal law enforcement agencies that track these people in the Middle East. Trump has exposed the inadequate efforts on the part of U.S. Immigration to protect our borders from those that would do us harm. Now even liberals have agreed that open borders are problematic.

For the past half century the U.S. has subsidized the defenses of many countries around the world. The objective has been to protect our national interests and to garner favors from those we help. I’m not even going to address the latter item because it is a sham.

The U.S. has built military bases around the world, transferred military equipment to far-off countries, sold high tech weapons at a discount and stationed thousands of troops overseas at great cost. The issue is that a large number of beneficiaries of our military assistance are wealthy nations. We are paying for security of European countries, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Philippines, NATO, the United Nations and many others. Trump has brought this outrageous misuse of taxpayer dollars to the forefront.

Trump has looked at the military industrial complex in this country from a business perspective, and he sees waste. Generally he thinks that businesses and high net worth individuals pay egregious tax rates because we spend our money unwisely in many areas.

Liberals and conservatives alike have not come to grips with the reality that our country overpays for goods and services and never ends appropriations for programs that have served their purposes.

How much money for social programs are lining the pockets of people other than those that need the money? How much does our military overpay to its suppliers? How effective are tax dollars that are being used to improve education of our young people, entitlement programs and health care? How convoluted is our tax system?

Trump has promised to apply his business background to solve these problems. Maybe it’s time we had someone in the White House with business experience that can take a close look at how wasteful our country has become.

I’m not suggesting anyone vote for Trump. I will not vote for either of the two major party candidates. But I totally understand why Trump has been so popular for many downtrodden Americans. His perspectives will become more widely accepted as time passes.