I was disappointed and dismayed – although, I’m sad to say, not surprised – by the Senate’s choice to acquit a president who has blatantly used his office for personal gain and treated the citizens’ representatives in Congress with open contempt.

But I was truly shocked to hear Senator Collins’s belief, now downgraded to a hope, that the Republican president has learned a lesson from the Senate’s refusal to do its duty.

I’m sure he has. This is the lesson that the Republican party has taught him:

That foreign election interference does not matter. That obstruction of justice does not matter. That violation of campaign finance law does not matter. That sexual assault does not matter. That lies do not matter. That fraud does not matter. That massive national debt does not matter. That a choice to traumatize children for political gain does not matter. That a president who “falls in love” with brutal dictators does not matter. That the only principle Republicans care about is Republican power.

We can only hope that, come November, the Republican Party will learn that truth, integrity, courage, and compassion actually matter to the American people.

Sarah Thomson

Portland