President Donald Trump was inaugurated for his second term one year ago, on Jan. 20, 2025. In the 2024 election, I declined to vote for either Trump or Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, and from time to time, someone asks me if I regret that decision. 

While the second Trump presidency has failed to even meet my extremely low expectations for responsibility, competence and basic decency, I still would not vote for either candidate if given a mulligan. 

I stand by my decision because the reasoning I gave in the lead-up to Election Day in 2024 remains the exact same now: Neither Trump nor Harris was suitable for the presidency. Just because Trump has been given the chance to fully put that on display doesn’t make Harris a better candidate. 

On my ballot, I wrote in Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, but that specific decision isn't all that important. What is important is that America would be better under principled, conservative leadership that is interested in actually conserving the American founding values and structure. That's not Trump.

Despite the fact that I viewed Harris so negatively, I could not bring myself to vote for Trump because, like Harris, he fails to have even a modicum of respect for our structure of government. This is the minimum requirement to be worthy of my vote, and Trump has little........

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