Impeach and convict Trump now

With only 11 days left in his term, it is reasonable to advocate “let’s move on and let the country heal.” Fair statement — in ordinary “bad” times. But when is presidential behavior so outrageous, so dangerous, so iniquitous that the foregoing is not applicable, that the country cannot heal if decent, civilized citizens don’t stand up? Don’t demand responsibility?

I say this is the time: to prosecute a would-be usurper in the only constitutional way that is impervious to selfpardon. That alone is worth the effort. Moreover, there is some precedent from the Ulysess S. Grant administration when the House impeached a cabinet secretary and the Senate tried him after he resigned.

I know many say that impeachment and conviction risk making Trump a “martyr” and maybe sparking more violence. If that happens, so be it. He has pitched his supporters onto such a razor’s edge of fury and hatred they cannot and will not be mollified with magnanimity and appeasement.

With Trump barred from running for President again and hence his toxic messaging diminished, will he finally have to exit the national stage? God, I hope so. But, in the meantime, I say this is America’s time to confront our own homegrown usurper, this instigator of a coup d’etat. It is time to cut off the head of this snake.

I don’t advocate this fecklessly or recklessly. I’m not an hysteric, a bomb-thrower, a knee-jerk reactor. Instead,

I say let’s put the feet of our congressional representatives to the fire. Make ’em vote — on the record — yes or no.

The irrefutable evidence supports impeachment and conviction. Most important, justice demands it.

SARAH C. SPENCER SANTA FE