Judging by his harmful actions, Donald Trump is no patriot

Since the presidential election of 2016, many actions by our former president have occurred. His conduct causes one to consider what constitutes patriotic or unpatriotic behavior. So that leaves the question, “what is patriotism?”

A way to begin is to look at what patriotism is not.

It isn't patriotic to dodge the draft. It isn't patriotic to mock veterans who are war heroes. It's not patriotic to mock prisoners of war as losers. It isn't patriotic to mock veterans who have given their lives serving their country. It isn't patriotic to exclude disabled veterans at a public function because that would tarnish his public image.

It is not patriotic to dodge paying taxes, and then prevent that behavior from becoming public knowledge, when American citizens are asked to and do pay taxes.

It isn’t patriotic when he praises dictators such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un as good and strong leaders, then publicly derides our president as a weak and ineffective leader.

It's not patriotic when he derides our Department of Justice, FBI, CIA, Department of Defense and other intelligence agencies when they provide credible evidence that other countries are trying to undermine our democracy. It's not patriotic when he didn't believe our intelligence agencies that Russia was interfering in our election but took the word of Putin that Russia was not involved.

It's not patriotic when he uses deliberate racist rhetoric to purposely cause deep divisions in our country. It's not patriotic when he refuses to accept he lost the 2020 election, even though it was a fair election, and continues to promote the lie that it was stolen from him.

It wasn’t patriotic when he tried to persuade then Vice President Mike Pence to prevent the certification of the 2020 election so that he could stay in power. It wasn't patriotic when he encouraged the insurrection of Jan. 6 to destroy our democracy so he could stay in power.

It's not patriotic when our senators and congresspersons from Iowa continue to support the lie that the election was stolen. It's also unpatriotic when the former president and our senators and congresspersons continue to state indictments against him for improper sexual behavior and fraud are shams.

It's unpatriotic when a political party abandons its principles and throws its support solely behind one person, who is narcissistic and concerned only about himself, rather than supporting efforts to promote ideas that are in the best interest of our country.

As a veteran who has served our country and took the oath to defend and protect our ideals and way of life, I find these behaviors very troubling.

A patriot is a person that supports and promotes a nation's ideals. A patriot wants the nation to live up to those ideals. Patriots continually ask, “Are we as a nation living up to those ideals?” They also want the nation to continually seek new and better ways of implementing those ideals and making life better for our people.

On Nov. 5 we can assess presidential candidates, and many other candidates up and down the ballot, to determine how they uphold our ideals as a state and nation. There are good choices. Vote for patriots.

Bob Sprengeler lives in Cedar Rapids.