To the editor: May 30, 2024 was a historic day for our country. This was the day that indicated that the end of our long national nightmare may be in sight. (“Guilty: Trump becomes first former US president convicted of serious crimes,” May 30)
We are not there yet and there will be many obstacles along the way. But for the first time in a long time I feel optimistic about the future of our country.
I am reminded and encouraged by Winston Churchill's words after a decisive Allied victory in 1942: “Now this is not the end. It's not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
Jan Judah, Torrance
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To the editor: With former President Trump's felony conviction, the Republican Party now has the unique distinction of having the only president to resign from office, Richard M. Nixon, and the only former president who was a felon.
When will Republicans in Congress today find the integrity that their predecessors Barry Goldwater, Hugh Scott and John Rhodes showed when they confronted Nixon in 1974? The Republican Party is certainly no longer the party of Abraham Lincoln and all that he stood for.
Michael Simonian, Laguna Niguel
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To the editor: A former president was recently convicted of fraud and falsifying records.
Some on one end of the political spectrum have sought to delegitimize the verdict by calling it political and pointing out that such prosecutions are unheard of. Some on the other side point to the evidence and say it should not be ignored.
They are both right.
As someone whose job it is to report evidence of fraud, dishonesty and corruption in government only to see that it often goes uninvestigated for political reasons, I humbly suggest that each of us quietly consider how people come to be above the law. , what kind of government we would have. we would like to have and how we could build it.
Max Huntsman, Pasadena
The writer is inspector general of Los Angeles County.
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To the editor: Regardless of the politics of the situation, the critical question is whether or not we believe that jury trials are fair or at least the best way for us to regulate ourselves as human beings.
Tearing down our institutions when we disagree with the results is incompatible with democracy, serves no one, and puts us on the path to civil conflict or dictatorship.
John Williams, Burbank
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To the editor: You can't make this up.
A porn star, by not telling her story to a media outlet that would have reported it, was likely instrumental in Donald Trump winning the presidency in 2016.
Now, his testimony at his trial could be decisive in his losing in 2024.
Supreme irony or poetic justice?
Jill Chapin, Santa Monica
