Letters to the Editor: Trump’s indictment over Jan. 6 will determine the fate of our democracy
To the editor: Donald Trump has finally been indicted for his horrific attempt to destabilize our democracy on Jan. 6, 2021.
It’s an important step toward accountability and I’m thankful that our legal system is working as intended. But it’s hard to feel any relief when Republicans in Congress are even now actively trying to enshrine Trump’s crimes into law. The American Confidence in Elections Act should be called the Big Lie Act, since it will finish what Trump started.
If passed, it would make it easier for dishonest politicians to challenge election results, increase the corporate and dark money influence in our elections, disenfranchise millions of voters, block states from running voter registration programs and empower the spread of disinformation. It is designed to help Donald Trump regain power, despite his indictments.
The fact that Trump has been charged with a whole list of new, serious crimes, along with all his other indictments and convictions shows us once again that the former president and his MAGA enablers in the House are a grave threat to our democracy and our country.
We deserve and demand fair, free and open elections, not shameless power grabs and endless corruption.
Ken Rosen, Beverly Hills
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To the Editor: If there is one simple pronouncement in the Jan. 6 indictments made by former President Trump made that captures his modus operandi, it is his declaration to Mike Pence, “You’re too honest.” So often Trump’s actions and words during his presidency — and in its aftermath — can be characterized by dishonesty and deceit.
His latest indictment surrounding the riots at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. contain perhaps the most significant charges to be leveled against him in the last several months, but they by no means capture the totality of the harm that Trump’s presidency caused our country.
Lynn Lorenz, Newport Beach
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To the Editor: After the 1972 Watergate break-in occurred, it took more than a year for investigators and the public to understand what Richard Nixon and his top aides had been plotting in the Oval Office. Because Nixon resigned the presidency in 1974, many were relieved that a constitutional crisis had been averted.
Now that Donald Trump has been indicted on various crimes — including an effort to thwart the peaceful transfer of power and, thus, rob Americans of their right to vote — it feels to me like I’m in a speeding car heading directly into a concrete wall. It is with a heavy heart that I say we aren’t simply facing a constitutional crisis, we already are experiencing one.
Hyperbole aside, the former president is now, in my opinion, at the center of the greatest crime ever committed against the nation. I know Trump is innocent until proven guilty. I also know that once his trial begins, there is no way to know what the jurors will decide. My hope is they will carefully consider the facts as they are presented.
The future of democracy is at stake. Will this be the first step toward putting a pin in our current constitutional crisis?
Denny Freidenrich, Laguna Beach
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To the editor: Historically, the importance of Tuesday’s indictments against Donald Trump cannot be overstated. But their practical significance and impact on the former president remain to be seen.
If past is prologue, Trump will successfully deflect these indictment charges and turn them to his advantage, at least with his core base.
The question is not: Will this cause him to lose the primary for the Republican presidential nomination? This will not happen. Rather the question is: Will this cause Donald Trump to lose the general election in November 2024?
Ken Derow, Swarthmore, Pa.
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To the editor: The smartest man in the room, the self-proclaimed genius, just hit the daily double for stupidity.
I can still see Trump talking about the “bad people” crossing the border. We could never imagine how bizarre the political landscape would become.
All Trump’s legal woes are self-inflicted. He is a victim of his own arrogance, ignorance, ego, greed and selfishness. Perry Mason could not help Trump, the evidence so overwhelming.
Trump makes Benedict Arnold look like a choirboy. Historians will not be kind to the Republican Party that coddled this political Frankenstein, putting party before country. The GOP has an opportunity in 2024 for redemption and to make America great again.
I pray our country can withstand the forthcoming criminal trials that await us.
Paul Shubunka, Santa Clarita
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To the editor: The words of the U.S. presidential oath of office are precise and blunt: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
It is pathetic and disturbing that a majority of the GOP candidates running for president in 2024 show disdain for the Constitution by making excuses for Donald Trump’s violations of his office and the law.
Winfield Wilson, Redondo Beach
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To the editor: If found guilty, consequences for Trump are essential to maintaining the rule of law for all. His indictment for trying to overturn an election is another huge story. Yet the mass delusion that drives 54% of surveyed Republicans to still support him is also a sad and tragic American story.
In high school, most all of us learned about mass delusion while reading Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” Today, persecutory delusion is one of the drivers of Trump’s following.
Why, and how, he continues to be supported by so many may be a bigger story than even Trump himself.
Robert G. Ferguson, Atascadero
