LETTER: Most GOP senators in Trump trial were profiles in cowardice

To Ozaukee Press:

In John F. Kennedy’s 1955 Pulitzer Prize winning book “Profiles in Courage,” Kennedy profiled eight U.S. senators from the earliest days of the Republic to the mid-1940s. Among the men profiled were such luminaries as John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Sam Houston and Robert A. Taft. These senators exhibited tremendous personal courage in casting votes that were morally justified and based on sound principles but contrary to the wishes of their constituents or political party.

By the time this is published, the impeachment trial of Donald Trump will be over, and in all probability he will be acquitted of the charge of incitement of insurrection in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, despite overwhelming evidence proving his guilt.

All but a few GOP senators will probably vote for Trump’s acquittal for one simple reason: They lack courage to do the right thing. They are afraid that if they find Trump guilty, Trump and his morally bankrupt base will turn on them and work for their defeat in the next election.

In contrast, the eight senators profiled in Kennedy’s book were willing to do the right thing even though it cost them dearly.  They lost their Senate seats, lost many friends, several lost their fortunes and some even had their families threatened.  That is what courage looks like.

How many GOP senators will display courage in their vote? As I write this, I see only six:  Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben
Sasse and Patrick Toomey. The others will go down in history as spineless cowards.

As Andrew Jackson once said, “One man with courage makes a majority.”

Tom Wellnitz
Saukville
Editor’s note: Donald Trump was acquitted. Fifty-three senators voted to find him guilty, but the number was well short of the two-thirds majority needed for conviction. Among the 53 were the GOP senators listed above, plus Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina.