Trump just needs to make good on oath of office: Second Look

Letter to the editor:

Why should the vast majority of Americans care if President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t keep his campaign promises as suggested in Paste BN’s editorial “Trump’s flip-flops”? They shouldn’t. Yet, making good on the oath of office is not something to be negotiated. The oath is 35 words, without exaggeration or distortion. It’s an irrefutable promise that signals to the entire country the campaign is over.

When Trump states, “to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” it will be more than an utterance of policy or personnel selection — more than complying with a time-honored tradition. It will be the independently verifiable standard that all Americans can use to judge Trump’s service to the nation.

Mark Spradley; Chevy Chase, Md.

Facebook comments are edited for clarity and grammar:

Trump has flipped on so many things, I can’t even keep them straight. “A political ‘outsider’ who will do things differently?" Sure. So he appoints a long-time Goldman Sachs executive to be secretary of the Treasury. “Heal the divisions in our nation?” Sure. Then he hires an alt-right movement sympathizer (Stephen Bannon). I could go on, but it won’t change the fact that Trump conned his supporters.

— Michael Anthony Shea

Here’s an idea: Let’s wait and see what Trump does after he’s inaugurated. The news media has the public judging before he has taken the oath.

— Mike Herman