Viet Nam veteran still seeks validity for service
But it turns out that I also believed in things that had nothing to do with the Vietnam War. I believed things that were not disproved by the routine treatment of minority citizens. I believed in what was taught in civics class and what I was led to believe the Founding Fathers were trying to achieve. I believe to this day that in our form of governance, we have three co-equal branches – at least, that is the way it is supposed to be. But that Congress has openly subordinated themselves to the head of the Executive Branch, the POTUS (President of the United States). I do not think such a thing is right regardless of a political party or social/fiscal ideology.
It appears increasingly likely that you will sit as a juror in the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump. While we are all aware of the reprehensible things he has said and the childish manner in which he has conducted himself, those are indeed insufficient to justify removal from office. However, I rather seriously doubt that those will be significant in the final draft of the Articles of Impeachment.
What I need from you as MY representative in the Senate, is to set aside your personal feelings about impeachment and give a fair hearing to the testimonies and evidence presented. Should you come to the conclusion, as I believe likely, that DJT has violated his Oath of Office as well as having committed crimes against the electoral process by requesting and suborning electoral assistance from a foreign power, then you must convict and you must remove him. To do otherwise would make a mockery of the protections put in place by the Founding Fathers and it would give lie to the reputation you have built as a fair and just academic and student of our democracy.
Nowhere in the Constitution or other founding documents, of which I am aware, does it suggest that elections must be the only method available to the nation to ensure competent and legal governance. The impeachment process was not developed as a simple thought experiment, never to be actually used. Rather it is simply one of the tools in the democracy toolbox.
You need to be openly and obviously willing to use it. If you are not open to the possibility of its use, you are in violation of your Oath of Office and shown yourself unworthy of the trust placed in you on multiple occasions by the good people of Tennessee.
If you honestly come to the conclusion that conviction and removal are unwarranted, though I might not see your path to that conclusion, I can accept that possibility as the reason why there is a trial in the first place. However, if you are unwilling to even consider conviction and removal, you are unable to do your duty, you are unable to participate in justice.
Your legacy is at stake but the lives of humans in this nation and around the world should be your larger concern. I implore you, sir, fairly listen and review the testimonies and evidence, then do the right thing.
Stephen Dupree has served on the board of directors of Race Relations Center of East TN, and CTOin the United States Navy with tours in Spain, England, and training in Pensacola, Florida according to information available. He can be contacted on Facebook.
