LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

No excuses. Put country over party

A recent Sun Sentinel letter writer from West Palm Beach called for the removal of all Democrats who voted to impeach on “only hearsay or personal thoughts” of President Trump. It is astounding to me so many of his supporters gloss over the fact he has admitted to the charges. His defense is he did nothing wrong. That is where we Democrats disagree. Using the White House for personal political gain is not OK.

It becomes more obvious every day that we will not convince each other. Hyperbole aside, the coming election is probably the most important in our nation’s history. We have the opportunity, having seen Trump in action, to either reelect or reject him and his policies. There are no excuses this time. We are either a country of party over country or not. I certainly hope not.

Bill Helsabeck,

Pompano Beach How will history judge us?

What is President Trump afraid of? The answer is a fair and impartial trial.

The House held impeachment hearings and indicted Trump on two charges. Unfortunately, witnesses refused or were prevented to participate, and the House leaders did not want to wait for the process to require the witnesses to attend. Supporters of the President do not connect the dots the same way as the Democratic House does.

The Republican-controlled Senate does not want to hear, see or speak about the accusations, and they want to vote and not convict this President. Our Constitution clearly separates the powers of our government in three co-equal branches. Our President and the Republican Senate is afraid of Chief Justice Roberts. He will preside over the Senate trial and will probably dictate who will be a witness. What really is important in this trial is how history will look back on whether true justice was done — 50 or 100 or more years after the trial.

I feel Justice Roberts will have the responsibility to the future to help determine if our President exceeded his Power in withholding foreign aid for personal gain or obstructing Congress. Many future issues will be decided by this trial that will determine what power each branch has constitutionally. I hope the chief justice does his job for the present and for the future of our nation.

Michael Schlossberg, Delray Beach

A Senate sham

Trump supporters rage at Speaker Nancy Pelosi for delaying a Senate trial. But what they are after is no trial at all.

They spurn any effort to examine the accumulated evidence or to summon witnesses who could further clarify what actually happened. As Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has made perfectly clear, the Senate GOP has only one goal: to rubber-stamp the President and not hold the kind of open inquiry that characterizes a real trial.

Some may wonder: Why are Republicans reluctant to call on Trump and his entourage to tell the story they know more about than anyone else? The answer is clear: Republicans know in their hearts that, under oath, Trump & Co. won’t be able to make the case for the president’s innocence. But today’s Republican Senators are martinets who march to Trump’s command. They dare not worry about the truth of the charges against their leader or their oath to uphold the Constitution and place the nation’s well-being ahead of party loyalty.

Irwin Shishko, Delray Beach