Republicans and Democrats are guilty of ignoring the facts pertaining to criminal acts allegedly perpetrated by the current president and previous one. Keep in mind each of the men are leading preliminary polls to represent their political parties in the presidential election. Is this all America has to offer to its voters?

Trump is reaching new lows with recent statements he has made. He governed like a despot, ignoring tradition and exacerbated a wide swath of America with his big mouth and anti-democratic attitude. Not to be disrespectful, but I continue to scratch my head and wonder how any normal person with moderate intelligence could support a man like Trump and pull a lever with his name on it on Election Day.

Biden continues to dodge questions about potentially illegal activities by his son and himself that involve cash payments for access and other kinds of corruption. The liberal press is determined to protect the incumbent president and give him an advantage in the impending election. The information that has been accumulated regarding improper activities by the president seems to be mounting every day, in spite of efforts by journalists to convince us otherwise. The intensity of media coverage of Biden absolutely blows my mind when compared to the coverage that Trump has been receiving.

Republicans on the other hand are complaining about unfair treatment of Trump. The fact is that if both men are guilty of crimes, they both should be indicted and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The fact that Biden is just as bad has Trump, does not mean that Trump’s actions can be excused. They both are bad for America.

The Department of Justice has taken sides in this whole controversy and is supportive of Biden. I think we should expect dramatic changes in the way that the Department of Justice handles missteps by political players. If they do not act with fairness, they will lose credibility to do their job in the future.

Most Republican presidential aspirants are continuing to protect Trump to a certain extent. Some say that Trump is being treated unfairly and is not being held to generally accepted rules of law, while others think that time will tell whether Trump has committed illegal acts and needs to be punished. There’s also a group who believes that the alleged crimes should disqualify any person from running for president of the country. I stand with the last group.

As a citizen, I am concerned that Trump will be the nominee of the Republican Party, and we may be in store for another arduous four years of his leadership. This will not happen if Republicans recognize the fact that Trump is unworthy of being our leader and is an embarrassment to our country. But if his Republican competition does not accentuate Trump’s crimes, it is possible that Trump could win.

On the other side of the coin, our current president is feebly attempting to govern our country. It’s almost sad to watch such a vibrant man lose touch with reality and with the American people. Exacerbating his situation is that he is also a liar and a corrupt person, if one believes the information that’s being uncovered by those investigating his actions with his son.

What frightens me is that the longer we wait to get rid of these two men and make it impossible for them to run for president, the more risk we have in actually having one of them be our leader for another term. What also frightens me is that our country is in need of a strong, honest, capable, transparent person. Biden promised to bring Republicans and Democrats to the table to negotiate new laws that would help America. He has not done so, and there’s no reason to expect that a second term would be any better.

Trump incredibly continues to act obnoxiously and negatively. He has been evil and untruthful during the days before the primaries. I wish all voters would take the time to study the facts and make a judgment about Trump’s character because it does not rise up to presidential expectations.

I’m afraid also that our enemies are becoming more aggressive because of our lack of leadership during the past six years. China shows no indication that they are going to try to work with the US for world peace. Russia is a bully that is incapable of being a world leader and a dominant factor even fighting against a small country like Ukraine.

It’s time to recognize the realities and find a strong person to represent us.

In recent years, the medical system in the country has come under enormous pressure. I was fortunate to be a beneficiary of a shining moment that resulted in great medical care. When very talented doctors work in highly sophisticated hospitals on complicated ailments and diseases, the outcome is usually very beneficial for patients. In my situation, a surgeon listened to me carefully and was courageous in making his own diagnosis, even while others disagreed.

Several weeks ago, I experienced significant pain affiliated with my Achilles tendon. The pain persisted, and I went to see an orthopedic surgeon who treated my family on several other occasions. After perusing an MRI of my tendon, he said that I did not need surgery.

Note: the Achilles tendon is the thickest tendon in our bodies. When the tendon rips apart, surgery is the recommended treatment. When the tendon is partially ripped, it is possible to avoid surgery with intense rehab. The tendon does grow back. 

While away on vacation, I was casually walking indoors and heard a popping noise that emanated from my ankle. This was followed by significant pain for just a moment. I reported the situation to my doctor, who asked me to take another MRI. It showed the tear in my Achilles tendon worsened.

I began to take rehab and spoke with two foot specialists about the situation. One of them emphatically told me that the injury was serious and should be surgically repaired.

I asked the orthopedic surgeon to reconsider my situation, and he tentatively decided to repair the Achilles tendon with surgery.

I scheduled surgery and prepared myself to deal with an extraordinarily difficult rehab regimen. While doing so I noticed that my tendon was feeling a little better. I reported this to my doctor who said that before he did the surgery, he would take one more look at my injury.

On Tuesday, I checked in to get the surgery done with the assurance that the surgeon would consider my treatment one more time. I entered the surgical preparation room, disrobed, had my leg shaved and was hooked up to an IV. Suddenly, the doctor appeared.

He reexamined the area in question and definitively decided to not do surgery. He did not want to subject me to an extended rehab regime and wanted to avoid the perils of an invasive treatment. I was unhooked from the IV and walked out the door with gratitude. Before I left, the doctor said that he was not equivocating when he said, I should not do the surgery. It gave me great comfort that it was the right decision. I am extremely thankful that the surgeon made a tough call.

With confident, talented and experienced doctors, common sense and a strong desire to get well, we can all make better health care decisions and ensure our health. We only hear about situations where doctors and patients have erred and rarely hear about the great moments.

Thank you to my doctors, my wife, the rehab specialist, and all the others that participated in my final decision to not do surgery.