This election is a contrast between a charlatan and a victim of 25 years of lies, slander and utterly imaginary charges.

To deal with the charlatan first: Donald Trump is guilty of treason, sedition, and business fraud. He is also a hypocrite. Hillary Clinton, to quote The Atlantic Magazine, is treated as having been the subject of “No other American politicians — even ones as corrupt as Richard Nixon, or as hated by partisans as George W. Bush — have fostered the creation of a permanent multi-million dollar cottage industry devoted to attacking them (http://theatln.tc/2cxktsJ).”

The charges against Trump are serious, but they can all be documented.

Treason, General Michael Hayden director of the NSA and the CIA under President George W. Bush said, “If he is talking about the State Department emails on her server, he is inviting a foreign intelligence service to steal sensitive American government information.” Alternatively, “If he is talking about the allegedly private emails that she destroyed, he is inviting a foreign intelligence service to violate the privacy of an individual protected by the Fourth Amendment to the American Constitution (http://nydn.us/2abN3m0).” In one case he is guilty of inviting Russian hackers to violate the security of the United States. In the other, he is guilty of violating a citizen’s Constitutional rights. Either is treason.

Sedition is inciting people to act against a nation. His co-chair of the Trump veterans coalition called for Hillary Clinton to be shot by a firing squad for her part in the Benghazi deaths, which he later changed to being shot for using a private server. Trump has not disavowed Baldasaro (http://bit.ly/2c4EqYD). When we discuss Hillary we will see that both reasons are lies. Trump is also guilty of sedition when he claims that the only way he can lose the election is if the voting is “rigged.” (http://bit.ly/2c0b1QP) This is seditious in that he is inciting his fervent followers to “exercise their Second Amendment rights” if Trump is “cheated” out of his “rightful” victory.

Trump is a thoroughly shady businessman. He is involved in over 3,500 lawsuits during past three decades (http://usat.ly/1Vx8b4P). This doesn’t include people and firms that were unable to go to court because the cost would exceed the benefits of a suit. He cannot borrow money from American banks because of his indifference to fulfilling a contract. (http://on.wsj.com/2cgaOqE)

Trump is also a religious hypocrite; he pretends faith to court evangelical voters. He refers to the Communion bread as his “little cracker” (http://bit.ly/2cdHLC4). To Catholics, he is referring to the actual Body of the Savior. To most Protestants he is talking about a symbol of the Lord. In the same speech he says that he has never asked for forgiveness. Further, he has had three wives and cheated on all of them. His Bible literacy is such that he referred to Second Corinthians as “Two Corinthians.”

Hillary Clinton is uniquely qualified to be president of the United States. She has legal, legislative and executive experience. Thus she knows all three branches of the government.

As a lawyer, she did extensive pro bono work for children and migrant farmworkers. She was twice named as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal (http://cnn.it/2cMfbwZ). She was the first woman to make full partner in the Rose Law Firm.

As a senator, she was well-known for her ability to work across the aisle — even with political enemies of Bill Clinton. She introduced legislation to increase the size of the army by 80,000 soldiers to relieve the strain of constant deployments. (http://bit.ly/1jOOLFb). She voted for many child safety measures. She passed legislation to help homeless veterans. She voted for veterans mental health funding. (http://bit.ly/2cquxXp).

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was well-respected by foreign governments. We read, “Clinton was an influential secretary of state and a savvy manager with a clear agenda that, at least in part, she translated into policy. So how did it all work out? The answer: Historians will probably consider Clinton significantly more successful than run-of-the-mill secretaries of state.” (http://wapo.st/2cAP2wt). From the same article, “Clinton brought a clear vision of U.S. interests and power to the job, and future presidents and secretaries of state will find many of her ideas essential.”

She has been persecuted for Benghazi, wrongfully. The claim: She didn’t provide sufficient security for the outpost; the “diplomatic outpost” was actually a CIA operation. (http://fxn.ws/2cJNh0p). State should not have been defending a CIA operation, in fact, two of the men who died were CIA “military contractors.” She lied: It’s part of the job for a Secretary of State to lie when needed; Dean Rusk was ordered — and carried out the order — to lie about the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty (Dean Rusk, As I Saw It,(W.W. Norton, 1990) p.388). Secretary Clinton has undergone eight Congressional investigations into her actions. Colin Powell lied about Iraqi WMDs but has not even received a request for a statement from Congress. (http://huff.to/2c4FqMp). When a Republican does something it’s ignored, but a Democrat — and particularly a Clinton? Call out the Thought Police.

Emails, another double standard: Both Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice used private servers and handled classified information on them (http://bit.ly/1nRklrZ). Again, the two Secretaries of State under George W. Bush don’t even get a censure. Hillary Clinton has a full FBI investigation.

Hillary walks the walk on her religion. She was asked about forgiving Bill his affairs, and she replied with the parable of the prodigal son. A Methodist, she has been quoted using the three rules of the church.

So, it comes down to this: Do you trust a traitor with the nuclear codes; do you trust a man who has no regard for the Constitution with the internal security services of the United States; do you trust a man reduced to borrowing from the Chinese with the economy; do you trust a hypocrite to fulfill his oath of office? Wouldn’t you prefer a skilled diplomat, successful lawyer, and effective legislator?

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Jeff Bourget is a Coeur d’Alene resident.