Shortly after Sen. Susan Collins voted to acquit President Trump of the articles of his impeachment, she said that she hoped the president had learned his lesson.

In the handful of months since Collins’ vote to acquit, we have learned that President Trump ignored multiple warnings from medical and health organizations about the threat of COVID-19 infection to the United States, lied repeatedly to the country about COVID-19 infection rates, and refused to accept any responsibility for his actions that contributed to the ensuing epidemic — an epidemic that has cost over 50,000 American lives to date. Beyond this, we are seeing unprecedented unemployment, a stock market plunge, widespread food insecurity, and a significant threat of upcoming recession.

Most recently, President Trump has promoted random unproven cures from chloroquine to injections of disinfectants and radiating intense light into the human body. When called to explain these latter cures, President Trump said he was merely being sarcastic about them, even as survivors mourn the deaths of those who could not be saved by any cure, whether sarcastic or not.

This all makes me wonder if Sen. Collins might have yet learned her lesson.

 

Mark Nordberg

Litchfield