I'm glad Sen. Lisa Murkowski was "stunned" by President Donald Trump's performance in Helsinki on Monday. That's an appropriate word. His denial of Russian meddling in his election, blanket dismissal of the findings of our nation's intelligence agencies and enthusiastic personal endorsement of Vladimir Putin were all truly stunning. He did all this immediately on the heels of serving Putin's interests by sowing the seeds of chaos and discord in our NATO alliance.
Taken all together, President Trump revealed that he is effectively an agent for Vladimir Putin's ambitions. If Russia did indeed meddle in our election (and our intelligence agencies have unanimously determined that they did) the man committed treason in front of the entire world by siding with an enemy that has attacked us.
In response, our senators have bravely stepped up to present him with a firm "tsk-tsk." It's time for more assertive action from our congressional delegation, time for them to stop pretending that the Trump presidency is just quirky and a little dysfunctional. Time to stop accepting his ever more outrageous behaviors as the price for forwarding the GOP agenda. And isn't it way past the time to stand up to his relentless assault on our democracy?
What can they do? Defer the selection of a Supreme Court justice until the Mueller investigation is completed — at the very least, don't approve the current nominee, who was almost certainly selected because he has championed the idea that a sitting president is immune to prosecution. Publicly and enthusiastically support and defend the investigation until it is completed. Act firmly and decisively if its findings ultimately point to the man who has benefited most from the Russian meddling.
Most of all, stop pretending that this would-be emperor is anything but naked as a jaybird.
— Kenneth Higgins
Anchorage