Idaho’s U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch are at a crossroads of conscience.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has told GOP senators that their vote on the impeachment of former President Donald Trump is a vote of conscience.
Will Crapo and Risch choose to lead Idahoans out of the lie that the presidential election was stolen and out of the swamp of misinformation that led to violence? Or will they cower before an state electorate that overwhelmingly voted for Trump?
Unlike 37 other senators, neither have said they will oppose conviction.
Crapo, Idaho’s senior senator, responds to constituents who write to him about the impeachment with the following: “As with previous impeachment trials, I will take my oath as a juror in this trial seriously, and will consider all evidence and arguments before making a decision on the vote.”
Conscience is that ineffable voice that helps humans distinguish right from wrong and good from bad.
Americans are taught to bring their conscience to bear on difficult decisions, especially those that may involve standing against a large peer group.
If Crapo and Risch vote for impeachment, they will risk infuriating some of the 70 percent of Idaho voters that supported Trump in the last election. They will risk being sneered at in airports like Sen. Mitch Romney, R-Utah, who voted for Trump’s impeachment the first time the Senate considered it.
Like Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who voted to impeach Trump, they might face censure from state party officials. Just eight of Wyoming’s 74-member Republican Central Committee opposed her censure.
They could face the primary challenges Trump has threatened against Republicans who don’t support him.
On the other hand, Crapo and Risch could stand up for right over wrong. They could hold the former president accountable for inciting the mob that overran the U.S. Capitol and threatened the nation’s highest elected officials with violence.
They could vote to make the buck stop with Trump for spending months setting the stage for stolen-election claims and then urging protestors to march to the Capitol and fight like hell or risk not having a country anymore.
His urging left five people dead, others injured and many more facing prosecution and jail time for criminal acts.
Idaho’s senators have to choose between the value of their own political skins or the value of a nation that must not be bowed by violent bullies.
They must choose between the embrace of fellow party members or the derision of history.
Jaded political observers say there’s no chance that Idaho’s senators will vote to convict Trump. They expect the two lawyers to find trivial reasons for not calling the events of Jan. 6 what they were: an attempt to overthrow the government incited by the sitting president.
Even so, the nation must hope that conscience will prevail over political and personal calculations of power.
*Editors Note: This piece was updated. Rep. Liz Cheney was originally identified as a Senator rather than a member of the House of Representatives. As such, she voted to impeach Trump, rather than to convict him.
“Our View” represents the opinion of the newspaper editorial board, which is made up of members of its board of directors. Remarks may be directed to editorialboard@mtexpress.com.
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(15) comments
"So now you're claiming Trump supporters "want to revolt" and "over throw America?" Big Woody, What do you think the flag the mob were carrying said, Welcome to Cracker Barrel.
Anyone can order a Trump flag online and show up at a rally, even you funkhouse. That doesn’t prove anything. The individuals who stupidly chose to illegally break into the Capitol Bldg on Jan. 6th don't represent the 74 million citizens who voted for Donald Trump. They represent themselves and are responsible for their own poor choices that day. Please stop using them as an excuse to foment fear and hatred of Donald Trump and the rest of his supporters who weren’t even there that day.
Big Woody your right part of what I wrote was a fictitious narrative of what could have happen if the mob turned right instead of left, oh so close to tragedy . The idea that Trump used the mob is fact as he said " we'll go together" and a mandra of "Stop the Steal" to over turn the election, even Republican Senators acknowledge that.
Big Woody, I look at Trumpers the same way I view Russian, both mean to over throw America, it's prosperity and way of life. The difference is Trump and his supporters are an insurrection from the the inside. Jan 6th, Trumpers show that violence is their game, they lost the election so now they want to revolt. What I've written isn't hate speech, it's a heads up, to beware of Trump and his followers, they mean us no good.
So now you're claiming Trump supporters "want to revolt" and "over throw America?" You're making even more stuff up, funkhouse.
And what exactly do you call statements like, "beware of Trump and his followers, they mean us no good," or "Trumpers are the enemy of our society?"
It sure sounds like hate speech to me.
There's a direct line from all Trump supporters and the slain police officer killed by the Trump mob on Jan 6th. Had an elected official been murder, Pence, Cortiz, Pelosi Romney, Cheney, Republicans would be over joyed as Trump declared marshal law and nullified the election. That was Trumps game plan ! Trumpers have made clear they are the insurrection, the fascist out to destroy democracy. All American should take note Trumpers are the enemy of our society.
You're making stuff up, funkhouse.
So Donald Trump's game plan was to declare martial law and nullify the election?
There's a direct line from ALL TRUMP SUPPORTERS and the slain police officer killed by the TRUMP MOB on Jan 6th?
TRUMPERS have made it clear they're the insurrection, the fascists out to destroy democracy?
All Americans should take note TRUMPERS are the enemy of our society?
That's some crazy, 'othering' kind of hate speech you've got going on there.
Remind me again who the fascists are?
" While the final vote did not lead to a conviction, the substance of the charge is not in dispute." Pres. Biden
" There`s no question, none, that Pres. Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. No question about it."
Senate MINORITY leader McConnell
I wonder what Sen. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. had to say about it?
....saying her (Liz Cheney`s) party "should not be embracing" Trump because he "refused to stand up immediately...and stop the violence." Washington Examiner
"Like Sen. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who has announced that she will vote to convict Trump, they might face censure from state party officials."
Really? The Mountain Express editorial board should be embarrassed.
Liz Cheney is not a U.S. senator. She's a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. She can't "vote to convict Trump" of anything. Where do you get your information from?
Expecting Crapo and Risch to suddenly grow a conscience is wishful thinking. They’ll go along with all the other Republican sheep and give that lying, disgraced former president a free pass on trying to overthrow the government. Sadly, most Idahoans will agree with them. God help us if he ever gets elected again.
What a joke! You people are little sheeple who wouldn't know an insurrection if it hit you in the face! If you put as much energy into researching what President Trump was really about as you do writing hateful rhetoric you'd realize he loves this country and only wants what's best for it's people. Wake up!!!!!!!
What is Trump really about? Ask anyone of the construction contractors that he's stiffed.
"only wants what's best for it's people."
He really demonstrated that with his response to C19.
DJT only wants what's best for DJT, that's all he's EVER been about.
"Wake up!!!!!!!"
No surprise, Senators Risch and Crapo both voted as expected:
Constitutionality-No
Witnesses-No
Convinction-No
Then traitor-in-chief wins again because Republicans embrace his lying hateful ways.
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