Editor:

This note is addressed to U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, our erstwhile representative to the US Congress. The front page story on Sunday’s edition quotes Rep. Carter from a Thursday interview as saying, “I’m very excited, this is my first inauguration, aside from that I’m excited it’s Donald Trump. You can feel the electricity in the air, people have a bounce in their step.”

My question to Rep. Carter is, why in the world are you “excited” to see Donald Trump sworn in as president of these United States?

The man is rude, crude and lewd, insults people right and left, speaks without thinking, and is probably the absolute worst candidate for any office in this land that we have ever seen. His very unpredictability makes him unfit for office, let alone his utter and complete disregard for anyone else. And you’re “excited?” Please explain yourself.

The good people of this district need a congressional representative who is thoughtful, respectful of others, able to think complex issues through, and come to a balanced opinion that is defensible, not someone who simply swallows whole, without thinking, whatever the person at the top of the ticket throws out as shark bait. Sure, that will bring a lot of blood and a feeding frenzy by other sharks — but is that who we need guarding our constitutional freedoms, and guiding this country through the rocky shoals of international relations, in today’s day and age?

Jack Kingston used to be that way, before he got seduced by the Republican leadership’s ridiculously divisive ideas on ramming things through Congress without buy-in from others. Which is why I ultimately had to vote against him, in his last race. He deserved to lose that race — and he did.

I am so completely disappointed in you, Rep. Carter. I did not vote for you in the primary, because I thought you were too quick to jump on someone else’s bandwagon, and less likely to think things through on your own, and then take a principled stand. Your comments, as reported today, only reinforce that perspective.

This man Trump is a dangerous demagogue. He puts this country at enormous risk through his ill-considered, unconstrained, obscene verbal spewings, which are not fit to print in any family publication. I was no follower of his opponent, either; she was wrong for many other reasons. This is the first national election in my lifetime that has been between choices that can only be described as “bad” and “worse.” I never thought I’d see our political parties sink to such lows. It’s sad, disgusting and frightening for the dangers the world faces are real.

I will vote for any credible candidate opposing Buddy Carter in the next congressional election. He does not deserve to be sent to Washington to represent the First Congressional District of Georgia, as he has shown, in my opinion, to have no judgment. Which is what we send people to DC for: to exercise independent judgment, on behalf of the folks “back home,” and to stand up to those in leadership positions who are simply wrong. He has not done so. Instead, he has embraced the devil, and forsaken the ideals we as a country have struggled to maintain, and all for what — the supposed “glory” of standing on the same stage as the devil himself?

This is enormously dangerous to the Republic we hold so dear. Rep. Carter, you should be ashamed of yourself. I sure am. I don’t think your parents brought you up to act like this. If you were my son I would disown you.

Rafe Semmes
Midway