Telling the truth requires sacrifice and courage

To the editor:

If Republican lawmakers cared one tenth as much about fair elections as they do about a fair impeachment we might have a functioning democracy. Donald Trump is being impeached because he confessed to extorting an occupied foreign ally for dirt on a political rival.

In our current political situation, where Facebook’s Zuckerberg defiantly declared that he won’t stop disinformation in political ads at about the same time Trump’s lawyers argued in federal court that, yes, the president can shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and furthermore law enforcement can’t stop him firing the gun, there seems to be no dictatorial incursion that doesn’t get a fair hearing.

Trump and his billionaire backers (including foreign oligarchs) are not being abused here. They can buy highly optimized, micro-targeted lies, but telling the truth requires personal sacrifice and courage. I humbly thank all the patriots who are coming forward, one after another, to protect rule-of-law democracy.

Patricia Goldsmith

Hudson