To the editor:

In the first few days after the election I was perplexed by the people who were my friends, classmates, family, and shipmates who continued to spread lies and disinformation about the election results, parroting the lies and disinformation of Donald Trump. Not since pre-World War II Germany have so many been lied to with such fervor and believed those lies so totally.

To continue to support Donald Trump in the shadow of what occurred on Jan. 6 in the nation’s capital where he incited his zealots to commit acts of insurrection in his pathetic attempts to hold on to power is morally reprehensible and treasonous to the American public.

This has always been beyond politics, Republican or Democrat, Left or Right, Conservative or Liberal, it has been about common human decency and the person who was defeated in the election that you supported, Donald Trump, has none. When your blind, complete loyalty to one man becomes greater than your love for your country then you truly are what is causing the corrosion of the foundations of democracy in this country. I am an American, I am a Navy retiree, I am a patriot, and I Love my Country. None of these are mutually exclusive to one political party or ideology.

Today I have never been prouder of my country I wore a uniform in service to most of my adult life. We as a nation have unseated a tyrant who lied constantly to spread hate and division. Democracy and the rule of law have once again been restored to the country. If my beliefs make it impossible for you to continue to have a relationship with me or have contact with me, remember that says more about you than it does about me.

David Nelson

Fredericksburg, Va.