Give a pardon, but …

I so long for Donald Trump to be gone, stripped of power, ignored and reduced to a footnote in our nation’s history.

But surprisingly, despite my intense antipathy for this — let’s at least agree — braggart, I have no objection to an immediate and wide pardon by President Biden, as long as Mr. Trump publicly accepts the pardon. President

Gerald Ford was right to pardon President Nixon. His reason still stands. We had too much work to do then, as we certainly have now; we have no need to continue a useless debate about Trump’s “greatness.” History will unfortunately answer that question for us, and quite quickly, I fear.

We have a lot to do. You don’t have to be Chicken Little to recognize our to-do list is long and difficult, full of challenges; let’s not waste a moment more on a petty TV personality impersonating a president. Folks, the election was not stolen from him. He had his turn at bat and he struck out. It’s that simple; no complex convoluted conspiracy theory is needed to cover the facts.

Let’s leave the battlefield to the Trump coalition: white supremacists, conspiracy theorists, other true believers, members of unregulated militias and needy cult followers. Let them continue their search for meaning in his life and tweeted teachings while we learn from history and move on.

But — and a significant “but” here — there should be one essential exception to the pardon: treason.

If or when history reveals why Trump defended and protected the former KGB agent Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin at every turn, repeatedly undermined, attacked and minimized our intelligence services, fired attorneys general, the head of the FBI, uniformed soldiers and lifetime diplomats for failing the “Russia test,” and let Russia graze unhampered on our data, he should finally be held accountable, even if the trial is 100 years hence in absentia. He was the chief executive and he was completely responsible. This most recent Russian fiasco wasn’t someone else’s fault.

DANNY HANCOCK

Lonoke