Consequences of not impeaching

Re “House OKs impeachment process,” Nov. 1

So, the impeachment process has been formalized, but most Americans want to know: How bad was President Trump’s conduct?

If members of Congress believe withholding weapons from an ally locked in a life-and-death struggle is acceptable, then vote against impeachment.

If members see coercing a vulnerable ally to publicly comment on debunked conspiracy theories about a political rival as strategic foreign policy, then vote against impeachment.

If members believe that it is wise to show all of our other allies that our support is conditional on our current political whims, then vote against impeachment.

If members believe that it is a sign of honesty and integrity to prevent staff from testifying in a constitutionally legitimate inquiry, then vote against impeachment.

As a lifelong Republican, I cannot in good conscience vote any other way than in favor of the impeachment process. Scott Wrisley

Escondido

The House Democrats pass a resolution that lets Republicans subpoena witnesses in the impeachment inquiry, but only when they are approved by a Democratic committee chair or by the majority of committee members.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has the unmitigated gall to call this a fair, impartial and transparent process. Really?

Furthermore, it is absolutely mind-boggling that this entire impeachment nonsense is based on a phone call that was, at the very worst, “inappropriate” or “troubling.” But impeachable? Please. Rick Solomon Lake Balboa

I don’t understand all the fuss about our president trying to effectively bribe a foreign country in order to gather scandalous information about a political opponent. It seems as though our country has forgotten its rich history of presidents who have sacrificed their country for political gain.

Who cannot recall when President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill in 1940 to discuss World War II? FDR was holding back lend-lease until he could get some valuable info on his opponent Wendell Willkie.

Or how about President Dwight D. Eisenhower, when he made a deal with communist Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia to send U S. fighter planes in exchange for information about Adlai Stevenson? We never would have known Stevenson wore shoes with holes in the sole.

Our “stable genius” president is simply normalizing behavior that previous occupants of the White House had kept hidden. John L. Uelmen Newbury Park

Per the U.S. Constitution, only the electoral college has the power to overturn a popular vote; only Congress has the power to impeach based on the president’s actions; and only the Senate can remove an impeached president based on the evidence presented.

Republicans need to read and understand the Constitution rather than blindly defending the president.

Gary Allen

Altadena