Impeachment of Trump

At this point, if not well before, it should be clear to anyone but the most deluded zealots that Donald Trump is a traitor and a criminal, who has violated his oath of office in countless ways.

The Ukraine tape outrage may or may not be the most egregious offense of this corrupt enterprise masquerading as a presidential administration. It may, however, be a simpler way to understand his corruption, i.e., even Trump’s somnambulant followers should be able to comprehend the tit for tat.

And now, with a move as callous as it is mind-numbingly idiotic, Trump arbitrarily decides to abandon the Kurds, our staunchest and most effective allies in the Middle East. This “impulse” (the word policy implies something thought out) morally and pragmatically undermines America’s immediate and long-term foreign policy goals to such a degree that even Trump’s most house-broken sycophants are finally taking notice.

There is no longer any ambiguity about Donald Trump’s fitness for the presidency; no plausible deniability; no political slight of hand; no MAGA chamois that can polish this turd. He must be removed for the sake of our democracy. This is not a partisan issue; it is a vital, moral crisis. It is increasingly apparent that the actions of Republican senators will, in large part, determine Trump’s fate. It is time for these senators to show a backbone.

This is my letter to them:

To cravenly pander to the most misinformed and bigoted of your constituents has been the pattern for far too long. To give you the benefit of the doubt, stupid people rarely become senators, so you should be intelligent enough to know this is exactly what you have done.

In the words of Edmund Burke, “Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays it, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.”

Apparently, this is a dictum which does not apply to today’s Republican senator.  The words “Republican” and “conservative” at one time had positive and honorable connotations, even to those who disagreed politically. Associating these words with Donald Trump is a macabre perversion of the patriotic values your party once held.

Join with Democrats to take the moral, proper, and legal actions the Constitution demands of you.

If you shirk this duty, it will send a message to Trump that laws, political norms, and the Constitution do not matter. It will tell him that his id-driven bullying and intimidation tactics, however primitive, are effective with Republican “leaders” who quiver in fear with every new chunk of textual vomit he spews on Twitter.

Without hyperbole, allowing Donald Trump to run roughshod over the Constitution will be the end of democracy as we know it. Do you want that on your conscience?

Mark McCool
colinas de la misión

SDG&E charging for grid use

I had solar panels installed about two years ago and my electric bill has not gone over $10 a month. I do not understand the reasons behind SDG&E’s proposal to charge me $39 dollars a month as a penalty. The sun is a gift from God and He gave it to us to help us all. SDG&E should recognize this and accept some grace themselves, it’s free!

Ricardo Castillo
City Heights