Opinion: If Trump won’t resign, Congress should find a reason — any good reason — to impeach and remove him

To the editor: Now that President Trump has revealed his true colors (not for the first time, but perhaps in the starkest light), it is time for everyone to come to a consensus — that this man is a disgrace to the presidency and is not fit for office. (“Republicans distance themselves all over again from Trump’s Charlottesville remarks,” Aug. 15)

Even a Republican-led Congress can now see clearly that Trump is a terrible leader. He must be impeached and removed from office.

For what? Pick one of many reasons, but the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause is a good start. The 25th Amendment is another, and then of course there is the Russia issue.

The main point is that Trump and Trumpism must go.

Mike Greene, Tustin

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To the editor: Trump said that there were some good people among the torch-carrying neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Va.

I can also imagine there were a few good people among the throngs in Nuremberg in the 1930s who cheered Adolf Hitler. Maybe some good people got swept up into smashing the windows of Jewish shops on Kristallnacht in November 1938. But Nazism stood for all we hated, so we fought a war to defeat it.

Now, in our own land, the ugly seed of this hateful political belief has been planted again. How can any American president give it even an ounce of credibility?

It’s time for Trump to leave the White House and return to his New York tower.

Thomas G. Smith, Glendale

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To the editor: In his unscripted, improvised press conference on Tuesday, Trump stated that he had watched television coverage of the Friday march on the campus of the University of Virginia, complete with torches and chants.

What part of “Jews will not replace us” and “blood and soil” does Trump not understand? His unguarded angry defense of the white supremacists, claiming that both sides were guilty of violence, reveals his failure to understand history and his lack of a moral compass.

The president has proved he is incapable of exercising leadership when clashing values erupt in violence, injuries and death. His shocking inability to grasp the reality of Charlottesville and the impotence of staff and family to restrain his outbursts and unpresidential behavior portend future extremist actions that put this nation at risk.

Lenore Navarro Dowling, Los Angeles

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To the editor: There is the saying, “Blood is thicker than water.” Not so for the father of Peter Tefft, a 20-year old avowed white supremacist from Fargo, N.D., who marched in Charlottesville last weekend.

He is no longer part of the Tefft family. His father, Pearce Tefft, publicly stated that “Peter Tefft, my son, is not welcome at our family gatherings any longer. I pray my prodigal son will renounce his hateful beliefs and return home. Then and only then will I lay out the feast.”

After the president’s unconscionable statements of moral equivalence equating protesters of racism with those who promote it, I wait with bated breath for members of Trump’s family to utter words similar to those of the white supremacist’s father. Better yet, the president himself should consider Pearce Tefft’s words.

It is time for the president to resign and return home to his ivory tower.

Rabbi Reuven Taff, Sacramento

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To the editor: Isn’t it about time that Republican members of Congress stopped rationalizing and trying to prop up this president who in seven or so months has demonstrated his unfitness for office?

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) should step up their acts and stop putting party above policy, morality, ethics and truthfulness.

If Trump has truly “drained the swamp,” there seems to be a residue of stench emanating from the chasm.

Dan Pellow, Westchester

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To the editor: The hypocrisy of Republican politicians calling out Trump for his support of racism and hate groups is mind-blowing. Modern Republican power, after all, is built on Southern racism.

Remember Richard Nixon’s “Southern strategy,” welcoming the segregationist South into the Republican fold? In a remarkably ethics-free move, he promoted racism as he enhanced his own political power.

Remember Ronald Reagan campaigning in Mississippi with his “I believe in states’ rights” mantra? That was code for “you can count on me to not enforce civil rights laws.”

Republicans today are continuing this tradition in many ways, including with their voter suppression laws. Today’s GOP is certainly no longer recognizable as the party of Lincoln.

Michael Briley, Ojai