Within the next twelve months, some of you will make decisions that could affect your respective futures and, maybe, the rest of your lives. Those actions will surround the presumed impeachment and subsequent trial of the current President of the United States, Donald Trump. Others will additionally have to deal with their consciences, as well as be answerable to the American people and, especially, loved ones. Most of you have taken oaths to “preserve and protect” the Constitution and people of the United States. In that regard, some of you have already violated your oaths. You know who you are and, I will leave that problem for you to deal with so long as you remember that you probably have a chance to make things right.

What’s at stake? Not only the security of the country, but maybe the future of humanity. The President of the United States controls the keys to nuclear destruction and many of  the variables surrounding other conflicts. Even if you have doubts about climate change, is it worth taking a chance on planet survival for the sake of your career and/or obeisance to a false prophet? Most of you are smart enough to know it isn’t, yet you act as if there are no existential threats. And there are so many lesser threats out there. Yet, you act selfishly and, sometimes, beyond reason, largely for a belief that your actions are “vital” to preserving your careers. Instead of explaining to the people you serve what’s at stake, you cower behind false platitudes and non-sensical behavior.

From an international perspective, Trump’s actions have been extremely hazardous to American security. Just recently, he renounced the American commitment to support the Kurds, our allies fighting against ISIS. Such actions have already resulted in countless deaths. American foreign policy has always rested on our word. Support for NATO and our other alliances rests on guarantees of assistance when necessary. In terms of Vietnam, if there was any reason for the sacrifices our country made, it was because of promises to protect our allies in Southeast Asia. In the Middle East, our promise over the last seventy-one years to come to the security assistance of Israel, has been the basis for our unofficial alliance with that country. Surely, Israeli decision-makers are wondering if they will share a similar fate as the Kurds under a Trump Presidency. In turn, each of our allies with their own nuclear weapons are now wondering if their independent use is more likely because American commitments are unworthy. I could go on, but ask yourselves what foreign policies Trump has supported that have left our country safer?

Domestically, American deficits have never been higher and trade policies are inexplicable. Racism has led to massacres and new levels of hate evident throughout American society. Wage inequality and identity politics have become pernicious components of daily life. Is American society operating at a more salutary level than it did four years ago?

Finally, in terms of values, religious and otherwise. The President of the United States is a racist, misogynist, and pathological liar. He is—and always been—all about himself. This makes him dangerous and certainly not a model for anyone’s children to look up to. Because he responds viscerally to the world around him, he will, eventually, explode. This is an individual who puts children in cages and then asks why people question his actions.

Everyone, please consider your oaths of office and personal responsibility to your country. You likely know what’s right, and history will judge you accordingly.