Sen. James Lankford.

Senator Lankford,

People will tell you “this is not a big deal.” They’ll say “don’t be catastrophic ” and “the nation will survive just fine!” You’ll be reassured with “the party needs you.”

I won’t lie. All this is true. I’ll say something else that’s true. Our nation has teetered on the edge many times. We’ve always made it back. It didn’t have to be that way. We were in some ways just lucky.

The civil war could easily have been lost. Lincoln could have lost the debates with Douglas.

The corruption of the Gilded age through the Harding presidency might have have buried us all. The list goes on.

It wasn’t big events that killed the Roman Republic. When Caesar crossed the Rubicon or When Marius had his unprecedented succession of consulships these acts merely kicked the corpse of the Republic into its grave. What killed the Republic came by unnoticed steps. It sickened a little more each time men put their interests or their families’ interests before that of the state. It died when winning became more important than the race of honors itself.

For generations Democratic and Republican presidents have taken more and more executive power. The erosion of the balance of powers turns the Constitution and guidance of the founders on its heads.

If we allow a president to assert he is above the law the world won’t stop spinning. A vote to acquit will be one more weight on the scale. How many more till the scale tips?

The cult of personality around President Trump will fade. We only have to look to President Reagan to know this. The lasting damage to our institutions will not fade. It will accrue.

Please vote to convict.

Thank you,
Sean Fitzgerald, Tulsa