Extra Letters: Impeachment of Donald Trump

A case of treason

EDITOR: With the storming of our Capitol, spearheaded by Donald Trump himself, we can only hope that the powers that be in the U.S. Senate take swift and immediate action to remove Trump from office. When given the opportunity during the impeachment trial last year, the Republican Party failed us by not following through, thus allowing him a wider berth upon which to create and disseminate his chaos. Fast forward to today, and we clearly have viable counts of treason committed against our country and citizens within it. To overlook this situation at this point would only allow our adversaries to take advantage of this window in time.

RAY VAN DE STAR

Sebastopol

Complicit Republicans

EDITOR: America is still rocked by the shocking insurrection we witnessed on Jan. 6. Donald Trump has been impeached by the House. Whether the Senate will do its duty to the country remains a question.

The legislators who objected to the will of the voters also bear blame as collaborators and should be punished. I think the leaders of the effort to overturn the election in Congress, Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, need to resign. I think all the other collaborators, at the very least, deserve censure.

After the attack, when it was safe for Congress to return, I expected 100% participation in accepting and confirming the electors’ votes — to demonstrate to the country and the world that we are one nation who love and respect our democracy. I am ashamed and disgusted by the Republicans who continued to conspire with the seditious forces led by Trump.

DONNA CHERLIN

Forestville

A time to choose

EDITOR: The Republican Party can’t have it both ways. They cannot condemn the actions of the president as heinous and irresponsible and yet still try to pander to his base. They must choose and, yes, risk losing in extreme primary battles and struggle to wrest back the soul of the Republican Party — if they can. They aren’t innocent bystanders, but rather their silence and excuses over the past four years have facilitated the president’s actions and brought the party to this point. Now is not the time to try to have your cake and eat it too. Enough is enough. Those who don’t stand up and defend democracy and condemn the behavior of this president in the strongest terms must own it.

MOLLY MacLEAN

Santa Rosa

Right, wrong, good and evil

EDITOR: After four years of chaos, and a culmination of what transpired in our nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6, I don’t know if I’m sad, mad, disgusted, outraged, or all of the above. I haven’t felt this way since 9/11.

But let’s be frank. Donald Trump’s intentions were (and are) very transparent … for a long time. He planted the seeds of discourse, and his plans to disrupt the election process and beyond are clear. So, why are we shocked? Who benefits from all this?

After the election, I saw a TV interview of an older citizen from one of the Southern states. This wise lady put it simply, “It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat. There’s ‘right’ and there is ‘wrong.’ ” I’ll go a step further. There’s good, and there is evil.

It will take years to do a postmortem on this dark chapter in history. I only hope that we all have learned something.

DEAN JOHNSON

Petaluma

A worthy effort

EDITOR: Bob Proctor wrote, “What a waste of time,” referring to impeaching Donald Trump with just a week to go in his term (“A third world country,” Letters, Friday). The House has impeached the president, and if two-thirds of the Senate finds him guilty he will be removed from office. In addition, Congress has the constitutional authority to include terms to disqualify Trump from future office. All of this is unlikely with the time left. However, a shot at keeping Trump from any future office would be worth the effort.

DAN RYAN

Sebastopol

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