To the editor: May 30, 2024, was a historic day for our country. This was the day signifying that the end of our long national nightmare may be in sight. (“Guilty: Trump becomes first former U.S. president convicted of felony crimes,” May 30)
We’re not there yet, and there will be many bumps in the road along the way. But for the first time in a very long time, I am feeling optimistic about the future of our country.
I am reminded of and heartened by the words of Winston Churchill after a decisive Allied victory in 1942: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
Jan Judah, Torrance
..
To the editor: With the felony conviction of former President Trump, 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 to be 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
..
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 correct.
As someone whose job is to report evidence of fraud, dishonesty and corruption in government only to see it often remain uninvestigated for political reasons, I humbly suggest that we each consider quietly how people come to be above the law, what sort of government we would like to have, and how we might build it.
Max Huntsman, Pasadena
The writer is inspector general of Los Angeles County.
..
To the editor: Regardless of the politics of the situation, the critical issue is whether or not we believe that jury trials are fair or at least the best way we have to regulate ourselves as human beings.
Tearing down our institutions when we disagree with the results is incompatible with democracy, it serves no one, and it puts us on the road to civil conflict or dictatorship.
John Williams, Burbank
..
To the editor: You can’t make this up.
A porn star, by not telling her story to a news outlet that would have reported it, was likely instrumental in Donald Trump winning the presidency in 2016.
Now, her testimony in his trial could be instrumental in him losing in 2024.
Supreme irony or poetic justice?
Jill Chapin, Santa Monica
