Open letter to Senator Rubio
Dear Senator Rubio:
I recently saw a news clip in which you stated you would vote to end the Senate impeachment trial to convict former president Donald Trump “the first chance I get . . .”
I feel your decision is an error because he employed incendiary language to incite his political base leading to the January 6 insurrection. Mr. Trump repeatedly stated proven lies that this election was a fraud; was rigged, and Joe Biden is not the legitimate US President.
When Mr. Trump, and others on the stage on January 6, urged his followers to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell,” that is exactly what they did. You and all your fellow congress persons were escorted to safety; after the insurrection was finally quashed you were able to continue the vote confirming Mr. Biden as President. By then the damage was done. In the space of 6 hours, our standing on the world stage was diminished and Nationally voters were aghast that one man could come so close to overturning the certified election results. We have been ridiculed abroad, and US citizens feel that there is no integrity in our electoral system.
Mr. Trump should be held accountable for his salacious lies repeated over and over again which led to the insurrection. Mr. Trump incited an insurrection, and he should be accountable to Congress and the US Citizens for his acts. I believe that the only way to hold him accountable for the role he played is to convict him in the Senate.
While you may think conviction is “stupid” and would only serve to further divide this nation, a non-conviction would disavow the Constitution and the basic founding principles of our Democracy. Is one man worth the shredding the very foundation of our Country. I think not.
I am sorry you believe that Mr. Trump should not be punished, but a basic tenant of our Democracy is: “No one is above the law”. Were he to be exonerated, this would open a dangerous door for future Presidents who could subvert Democracy and the Constitution to their own authoritarianism to remain in office. We must protect the basic foundations of our Democracy and defend the Constitution to insure against future fracturing of our Democracy. We must convict Mr. Trump in his Senate trial.
I urge you to vote for healing the fractures Mr. Trump created by convicting him and barring him from holding federal office in the future instead of your decision to vote not-to-convict.
Very truly yours,
Barbara Hormuth
3973 Hall Road
Big Pine Key FL 33043
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Dear Ms. Hormuth,
Thank you for your excellent letter. It’s an important, and some would say existential, issue for our nation and I agree with your reasonable, rational and courteous explanation as to why that is.
(I might be wrong but I suspect spellcheck betrayed you by substituting “salacious” for a different word – like salient.)
Roger