Murkowski showed great courage

Senator Lisa Murkowski is today one of the most widely admired people in American politics. She won that distinction by making a very unpopular decision, one that could cost her the Senate seat.

It seems strange that a person could be both much-admired and widely hated but Senator Murkowski chose to vote to convict President Donald Trump in his latest impeachment trial. And that has won her the hatred of former President Trump’s many supporters.

She had a choice between principle and politics and she chose principle. Former President Trump was way out of line when he whipped up the mob that invaded and trashed the American Capitol Building on January 6. And Senator Murkowski called him on it.

Murkowski’s vote was not enough to convict Trump of the charges against him so he is still free to run for the presidency again four years from now. And Lisa may pay a steep price for her vote when Alaska voters go to the polls in November of 2022, if she runs again..

There are very few people in this country who have both commitment to principle and great courage, but Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski has both.

She is under great pressure now but only because she has already made one of the most controversial decisions any elected official can be called upon to make. A lot of Alaskans will be angry about her vote and they may vote against her in the November election.

Murkowski called on Trump to resign and said that if the Republican Party cannot separate itself from Trump, she isn’t sure she has a future with the Republican Party. I’m sure she is talking about her own choice but her rejection of Trump could obviously cost her the support of the party. And that would foreclose her future with the party and could jeopardize her re-election.

I’ve had mixed emotions all along about Donald Trump as our president. I have been entertained by many of his actions but consider some of them inappropriate for the president of the United States. And his tweets on January 6 that whipped up the crazies who invaded our Capitol were inappropriate, embarrassing and downright dangerous.

While Trump may or may not pay a political price for his antics on January 6, there also exists the possibility that he could be sued for damages to the Capitol building and to the offices and individuals that were invaded and injured that day. Since the value of President Trump’s properties has declined with his political fortunes, his financial future could be problematic to say the least.

Trump can run for president again in 2024 when he would presumably be running against Joe Biden, who will almost certainly run for re-election.

I’m a Republican and have been one for many years. For that reason I vote in the Republican primary for the candidate I admire most. But when the general election comes around I vote for the individual I admire most, and that can be either a Republican or a Democrat or perhaps something else.

Lisa showed great courage and I admire her for that.

Tom Brennan is an Anchorage columnist and author of six books. He was a reporter/columnist for The Anchorage Times and an editor and columnist at The Voice of The Times.