Trump’s conviction proves America’s sharp left turn

Barack Obama’s transformation of America is now complete with the successful persecution of a political adversary, as authoritarian tyrannical governments do.

Abraham Lincoln’s admonition that we could only be destroyed from within has now come to pass.   

Fact check: Abraham Lincoln quote is fabricated but Lincoln did once warn against internal threats

I usually point out that it is Independence Day we celebrate on the Fourth of July and to relish saying every syllable when you say that; but there is grave concern now that we have taken such a sharp turn to the left that you will regret you allowed to happen.

Dennis Singleton, Dayton

The witch was hunted

It was a witch hunt and 12 citizens of his peers found the witch.

Susan McNally, Columbus

I mourn the loss of the Republican Party

Even though I consider myself to be a Democrat, I have voted for many Republicans during my almost 50 years of going to the ballot box.

This is because, most of all, I believe that our government is doomed unless we have good, decent people from both political parties who want to serve all the people and who want all of us to have a better life.

Sadly, as the Republican Party has morphed into the Trump Party, I know I can never vote for any Republican.

The Trump Party is designed to enrich and give power to the few at the expense of the many. It is determined to weaken our American form of democracy and to bring authoritarianism to the country.  It is constructed to promote an extremist white, evangelical nationalism.

In short, it works to bring to a halt those American values so eloquently written into the Declaration of Independence and other documents.

More: ‘Rigged’ is Donald Trump’s favorite word but hush money jury proved he’s just a sore loser

So, while some may celebrate the conviction of Donald Trump, I mourn the direction members of the Trump Party (the now defunct Republican Party) have taken.

I grieve the loss of our state and our country. Mark Hiser, Dublin

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The fairest criminal justice system in the world

Those who claim that the New York prosecution of Trump was all political, and that the jury’s verdict against former President Donald Trump is meaningless, have never sat on a jury.

Our American juries base their decisions on the evidence presented in the courtroom, not in the court of public opinion. In the jury room, after sitting through days and days of testimony, they conscientiously deliberate on a verdict.

The judge has instructed them that they should consider the opinions of their fellow jurors, but each must individually make his or her decision on whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty. If one or more conclude that the evidence on one or more elements of the offense charged has not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, they will vote not guilty.

Fact check: Trump jury had to be unanimous in hush money trial to find him guilty

Before any of us reject the jury’s verdict out of hand, we should remember that we did not sit and hear the evidence, listen to the judge’s instructions about the law that applies to the crimes charged, and deliberate with our fellow jurors on a verdict.

America has the fairest criminal justice system in the world. We should be proud of it and not tear it down because our political beliefs make it gut-wrenching to accept the jury’s verdict.

Mark Abel, Columbus

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Donald Trump is the witch the jury hunted.