Many in Congress are speaking against impeaching Donald Trump, claiming it makes no sense, even if there is a case against him, and that holding the President accountable for wrong-doing would only divide the nation further.

But consider the alternatives. We the Majority can hardly be expected to start showing solidarity with the Trump minority, not after the horrific Trump-incited attack on the Capitol January 6th. Nor can our leaders expect the nation to ignore the evidence and just let the President “depart in peace,” given that this President has never shown a desire or inclination to “depart in peace.” The people want to condemn this attempt to change the outcome of the election that removed him from office.

When Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860, this country was already sorely divided. As soon as it was known what train he would be taking to his first Inauguration, a band of Southerners plotted to board his train and kill him. He was warned in time and switched trains. Soon he was engaged in Civil War, but ineluctably and full of grief. And basically, Lincoln’s justification for the war was, we cannot allow part of the electorate to reject the outcome, not by demanding a recount, but declaring, “If we don’t win, it calls for armed rebellion!”

Lincoln’s side won the war, freed slaves and made racial equality Constitutional, three things for which he is both loved and hated to this day. The South blamed, hated and ultimately assassinated him for the same reasons the North praised, loved and mourned him. Should Lincoln have foreseen all that? He might have headed it off by saying, “Maybe we’ve gone too far. We don’t want to antagonize, we’d divide the nation even further. After all, there are good people on both sides.”

When Lincoln was killed, there was dancing in the streets in the South. What were they affirming?

• Their joy at seeing the leader of an enemy nation slain;

• Their resentment of their own defeat by that enemy nation;

• Their opposition to majority rule;

• Their refusal of peace and reconciliation;

• Their rejection (in most cases) of the idea that all races were created equal.

How far have we progressed since 1865?

Taffy Wallace

Fayette