My word for the week is “vindictive.” The word is an adjective that means “one who has a strong and unreasonable desire for revenge.”

This week, the president went off the charts in his desire to seek revenge. He is the first president in history to demand that security clearance be revoked for the intelligence and law enforcement chiefs of former administrations —Republican and Democratic — who dare to say he’s wrong.

First, the people whose clearances he wants canceled are American patriots who have simply pointed out what they believe to be facts about Russia’s actions based upon their personal history, experience and training. Second, several don’t even have security clearances at this time. Third, the president is contemplating (or “has not ruled out,” according to Press Secretary Sanders) also revoking the security clearances of Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama.

Criticism based on the truth isn’t speculation. It is fact. On the other hand, what purpose is served, even if were appropriate, to revoke security clearances, just because you can. These threats make the leader of the free world look weak and uninformed. That’s sad.

Ours is the most powerful nation on Earth. We have undisputed military power. We may be divided politically, but when it comes to patriotism, we are one.

In our American community, the experts acknowledge the Russians interfered in the last federal election and even now continue to do so wherever they find us vulnerable. Our elected leaders in Congress agree that this has been proven. Only the president refuses to acknowledge the interference because he thinks it reflects upon the legitimacy of his election. But wait! He acknowledged it last week — then unacknowledged it a few days later. Now he says it never happened. It’s all, he insists, a witch hunt and a hoax.

Some readers think I don’t respect the president because of his policies. Those folks give me too much credit! From day to day, I have little idea what his actual “policies” may be, other than a few exceptions: 1) separating children from their parents or guardians and putting the kids in holding pens; 2) doing little or no planning to comply with the federal court’s ruling that they must be returned to their parents.

The courts have ordered the government to reunite these children with their families on a timely basis. But as the story developed, we’ve learned that the odd venture proceeded without keeping adequate records to proceed with many of the reunions the judge has ordered.

I’m glad I’m not the judge in this situation. I would be prone to order the arrest of the heads of the departments charged with executing the administration’s policies and not releasing them until the all the children are back in the arms of their parents. I’d also order the government to pay all travel expenses involved in bringing them back together.

Meanwhile, we’re on the verge of a trade war. Imposing tariffs on allies — while not enforcing existing sanctions against Russia — drives a wedge between us and our long-time friends.

None of our top national leaders — not the secretary of defense, the secretary of state nor the intelligence community — have the faintest idea what was said when Putin and Trump met in private. In Moscow, the Russians are bragging about “the agreements reached” in Helsinki. Yet none of our own officials know what they’re talking about.

Given the many state and federal investigations into this administration, it would be prudent as never before to truly have “open government” — no secrets from our leaders and the public. While President Trump has a hand in this, I am more critical of a U.S. Congress that is afraid to act. Our Congress is supposed to be a separate but equal branch of government. Its members have abandoned their responsibilities and the priceless duty of oversight.

This is America. We disagree politically, and that’s not unusual. What is just plain weird is the silence of those we elected to speak up and represent We the People!

While the administration bashes our own law enforcement and intelligence agencies, they cannot and do not respond to the lies that are being told. Yet several state criminal investigations continue to dig into the administration’s potential misdeeds. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation continues and has already generated many indictments. He does not comment, and that’s the way it should be at this stage. It’s too bad those who know better can’t stop their baseless bashing of the investigation.

Remember the years of the endless Benghazi investigation? Remember Congress’s digging into the suspected Clinton email fiasco? Millions of dollars and tens of thousands of hours were spent, grabbing endless headlines and fanning baseless speculation. In the end, neither found an evidence at all of unlawful behavior. Now, that was a real “witch hunt.” Amen.