Dear Editor,

As we watched the second impeachment trial of former president Trump, it is worth noting that he lost the election by over seven million votes, that he lied about this for months, he fought the outcome in every legal venue he could, losing 61 out of 62 law suits, claimed massive election fraud which he could not prove, and now has led a rabble of disaffected protesters which turned violent and led to the death of 5 people, 140 + capital police injured, the Capitol building ransacked.    And all this because his ego cannot accept that he lost.  

When seven Republican senators voted to convict him, the Trump machine turned on them as traitors.   They are patriots, as well as all the election officials who worked so hard to make this past election a success under extraordinarily tough circumstances.   The institutions that underpin our democracy held strong, although showing just how fragile democracy is.   The only traitor here is Trump himself, who spent the time after the election “trumping” up frivolous lawsuits,  fomenting insurrection, and fighting the peaceful transfer of power, instead of managing the Covid crisis, the economic woes, or anything else.  It appears that Trump wants all the flash and pomp of the office without wanting to do the hard work of governing.  

The Republican Party has some soul searching to do.  

Bill Thibedeau
Gilpin County