I am a hopeful Republican who needs our party to return to a higher path. I have been voting Republican since 1968, up until Donald Trump. For many reasons, I thought he was the wrong person for our country and was proven right after four years.I am a Vietnam veteran who took an oath upon entering the Army “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. ...” I did not take this oath lightly.
Sen. Dan Sullivan took a similar oath upon entering the Marines, and he and Sen. Lisa Murkowski took oaths entering the Senate. Trump also took the oath, but failed to protect our country and uphold the Constitution.
Trump may say he has “free speech.” Well, I don’t have free speech to yell “fire” in a theater or incite a mob to violence. Nor does Trump. He may state that the government can’t impeach him, since he has left office. He is wrong. It was done once before, in 1876, against Secretary of War William Belknap for corruption charges.
What Trump did is indefensible. His numerous lies about election fraud; his pressuring election officials to “find” votes for him that did not exist, state legislators to replace electors, and governors to disqualify votes cannot be overlooked. Any reasonable person would accept the election results verified by all the state election officials, legislators, Attorney General William Barr, governors and some 60 court lawsuits (including the U.S. Supreme Court).
I don’t know if Trump believes all of his lies and is delusional, or more likely, is disingenuous. But his lies brought people to Washington, D.C., and his lies incited a mob to storm the Capitol and attempt to overthrow the government. Any other person doing what Trump did would already be in jail.I ask senators to do their duty and convict Trump. They will be doing what is right for our country, and in turn, what is right for the Republican Party. At the very least, Trump needs to be censured and barred from ever holding office again.
— Michael Terrance Archer
Anchorage
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