To my cherished family and friends who vote Republican and have urged me to “disregard campaign rhetoric and wait and see what President Trump actually does,” I offer John Hagney’s op-ed (“Trump faces master manipulator in Putin,” Feb. 5).

Our community is so fortunate to have John Hagney teaching at Lewis & Clark (U.S. Presidential Scholar Distinguished Teacher), imparting to our children the critical thinking skills we will all need now. His published research on the late Soviet period is invaluable to all of us who are determined to study history so that we do not repeat it.

We have heard and seen before Trump’s rhetoric (“America First”) and his executive order (the ban on Muslims of seven nations). I will always remember my late husband, Robert Glatzer, and I nearly collapsing at the pile of shoes before the exit from Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem as we vowed “never again!”

Had Bob lived, I’m sure he would have been marching with me, twice already, and it’s only February. My favorite sign, “First they came for the Muslims - and we said stop this disgrace right now.” My vow: to be part of the loyal opposition for the next four years.

Mary Ann Murphy

Spokane