Editor,

I believe President Trump nailed it when he said he prefers the word “strike” to describe what is going on in Washington, D.C. right now. He is on strike against the American people.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his leadership team are on strike and refusing to report to work and do their jobs.

Congress is a co-equal branch of government. It is their job to consider and vote on legislation, publicly, so their constituents can see and evaluate their performance as elected legislators.

If said legislation passes both houses of congress, they must send it to the president for signature or veto. It is not their job to protect the president from having to exercise his own judgment, good or bad, on any legislative issue.

Even Mr. Trump’s terminology, “If we have to stay out for months, or even years, we will do that …,” shows his utter lack of concern or understanding regarding the devastation of the lives of the millions of families being harmed by this power play.

This is another, and the worst — to date — example of a familiar pattern for this president. Distract, don’t look at or talk about, an investigation into his corruption, tax evasion, hiring undocumented foreign workers, mistreatment of immigrants. The list could fill a newspaper page. Look and listen instead to a fight over a wall.

He seems to believe somehow that shutting down the government, and damn the consequences, might financially starve the investigations surrounding him. He is wrong. The damage is being done to ordinary citizens, many of whom may have voted for him.

And they will remember.

Carroll Young

Oak Harbor