Before a Historic Impeachment: ‘Right vs. Wrong’

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/17/opinion/letters/trump-impeachment.html

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To the Editor:

Re “Key Moderate Democrats Commit to Impeachment” (front page, Dec. 17):

I am getting tired of picking up my newspaper every day and seeing the stories about impeachment pitting Democrats against Republicans.

The issues that the House is raising in its articles of impeachment are about right versus wrong. The case that the House has built is about a man who has no regard for honesty or for the people of America. He cares only about himself.

The issues raised have to do with the future of this country, the lessons we teach our children and with the truth. The men and women in Congress who support this egotistical man should not be classified according to their party affiliation but according to their belief in the truth.

I can only hope that the members of Congress will act responsibly instead of politically. The honest people in the House are doing their job. Now we must wait to see if the Senate will follow. I am not optimistic.

Jay CharkowWoodbridge, Conn.

To the Editor:

Re “The Rule of Law Still Matters,” by William Webster, the former director of the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. (Op-Ed, Dec. 17):

Mr. Webster, nearly 96 years old, makes more sense than many members of the House and the Senate, the White House and the cabinet. And as an 80-year-old, I am almost in tears and sick at heart. How could we have gone so wrong?

I used to think that the next election would solve the problem, that once Donald Trump was gone, we would revert to past practices. But I don’t believe that anymore.

The damage was done before he entered the White House. He is only a symptom, not the agent of change.

Joan GrabeSouthport, Conn.

To the Editor:

I’ve heard Democrats say that Republicans are putting party before country, but that interpretation befuddles the truth. The G.O.P. has decided to put President Trump over a party that bears little resemblance to its former self.

Trumpism, unlike the Republican Party I remember, does not advocate free trade, deficit reduction, internationalism, and fidelity to law and the Constitution. Trumpism supports neo-mercantilist tariffs, huge deficits, abandonment of international treaties and alliances, and attacks on its own intelligence agencies while conjuring alternative facts to protect criminals.

Even those privately appalled by this administration’s unethical and illegal conduct and its abandonment of G.O.P. values have withered and fallen silent under pressure from Mr. Trump and his rabid base. This is Trumpism over the G.O.P., and Trumpism before country.

Jane W. GibsonLawrence, Kan.

To the Editor:

Re “Prodded by the Right, Graham Joins the Impeachment Battle” (front page, Nov. 30):

Senator Lindsey Graham has performed a remarkable feat: He has rivaled Donald Trump in self-serving abuse of his office. Indeed, Mr. Graham’s conduct is even more reprehensible because he once had a moral compass that told him right from wrong, while it is doubtful that our president was ever so equipped. Mr. Graham’s mentor was once John McCain, but he has now adopted the tactics of Mr. Trump’s mentor, Roy Cohn. Can he really be so desperate to cling to his Senate seat?

Mr. Graham’s embrace of Mr. Trump and his betrayal of Joe Biden, a longtime friend, is a bargain that would be enough to make Faust blush. As a lifelong Republican who served in two Republican administrations, I find the descent of Mr. Graham and his ilk into the swamp of Trumpism difficult to fathom and impossible to accept.

Douglas M. ParkerOjai, Calif.The writer served in senior positions in the Nixon and Ford administrations.