The second impeachment trial is over. Mitch McConnell said Trump was “morally responsible” and his action was “a disgraceful dereliction of duty” pertaining to the attempted insurrection. Unfortunately, he and 42 other Republican senators did not have the courage to stand in support of the Constitution. Their faulty reasoning is that Trump was no longer in office.
Under this reasoning, any president in the last few weeks or days in office can commit any crime and not be answerable if they leave office prior to an impeachment trial. Under this reasoning, if a president at any time during their term commits any crime, is impeached by the House of Representatives, and then chooses to resign before the start of the impeachment trial, they cannot be held responsible for that crime. To me, this defies all logic.
People in the armed forces are willing to give up their lives to defend our democracy. Yet most Republicans in Congress are not willing to possibly give up their seats in defense of our democracy.
It is truly unfortunate that these 43 senators have put their party and thirst for power above their sworn oath to uphold and protect our Constitution. They have opened the door to allow future presidents to incite violence and not be held accountable.
Stan Tetenman, Poland
Send questions/comments to the editors.
