“I can do whatever I want as president.”
On July 23, President Donald Trump spoke those exact words at the Teen Student Action Summit in Washington, D.C.
Two days later, he proved beyond any doubt that he truly believes those words in their most literal sense.
On July 25, our president was on the phone coercing the president of Ukraine to investigate his political rival. He actively solicited the direct assistance of a foreign leader for his own political benefit and committed to direct follow-up from his personal attorney and the U.S. attorney general. No words are minced and there are no gray areas requiring detailed analysis or interpretation.
Despite the spin-doctoring efforts of the hypocrite-of-the-century Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and the incoherent babblings of U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the direct evidence in this call is inescapable and irrefutable.
We also learned that the White House hid the call transcript in the most ultra-secret server in the federal government. This is consciousness of guilt in the purest form imaginable.
And now, the president insists on confronting the whistleblower and blurts out “treason,” “spies” and “civil war,” shamelessly making reference to violence as remedial action.
This isn’t about “Trump derangement” or “undermining democratic values” as referenced in the Post-Gazette editorial, “Trust the Process; Trust the People” (Sept. 29). This is about upholding those critical values of governmental checks and balances that the Founding Fathers envisioned.
Our president cannot do whatever he wants—he is not a monarch or a dictator—even though he frequently admires autocratic rule on the global stage.
Our Constitution assigns Congress an explicit obligation to act when confronted with this brazen, lawless behavior by the president and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has now initiated that action. Despite all the combative rhetoric and public vitriol we will surely witness going forward, this is not about petty politics; it is about preserving the fundamental tenets of our treasured democracy.
J. C. VELTRE
Richland
