Last year, embarrassed and broken hearted, I abandoned Donald Trump, his astonishing tribe of supplicants and my 50-year-old allegiance with the Republican Party that extends back to my parents and grandparents; I became a Democrat.

Perhaps I was hasty. Not because I’ve seen the light and the value and profitability of supplication, but because the place for me to be most effective in helping to bring the Republican Party to its senses is not from outside but from allying myself with the few who have remained stubbornly loyal to the party’s noble but former principles, those who have insisted on the truth and who have retained the courage of conviction and a firm grip on reality.

I hope Sen. Susan Collins will muster the resolve, as she has in the past, to again swim against the tide of blind and mindless fealty and defend Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who lost her position in House leadership for speaking the truth.

Phil Crossman
Vinalhaven