DEAR EDITOR:

In the impeachment trial, 17 Republicans voted against accepting the rules set forth by a bipartisan committee. Forty-four Republicans voted against the constitutionality of the trial itself.

Considering the fact that all constitutional lawyers, even the most conservative, have stated that it is constitutional, 44 Republican senators, including Ohio’s Portman, voted that it is not.

None of these people belong in the U.S. Senate. They either do not have the intelligence to read and understand the Constitution or they are unwilling to display that intelligence because they were under the spell of their cult leader. They are in violation of their oath to uphold the Constitution.

I implore each citizen of our country who values democracy to speak up. Call, write and get involved in the election process by organizing and talking to friends and neighbors. Every single one of these individuals must be voted out of office at the next opportunity.

If you watched any of the trial, it probably helped you understand how close we came to losing our democracy. If we do not hold everyone accountable, particularly the chief instigator, we may see it happen again. Next time it could succeed.

Yet 70 percent of The Vindicator readers indicated they would not watch the trial. Several Republican senators did not even watch the 13-minute video of the insurrection presented by the House impeachment managers. They were jurors in one of the most critical trials in American history.

This is not behavior befitting a senator of the United States. Democracy is fragile. If we want our children and grandchildren to grow up in a democratic country, we must work to maintain it. We must elect people who are willing to put country first.

CHRISTINE ROHDE

Boardman