U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt (left) and Josh Hawley.
For me, the most dangerous outcome of Donald Trump’s trial isn’t that Republicans acquitted a guilty man or that they lied about voter fraud. It’s also not about a Missouri senator fist-pumping the rioters. The most dangerous outcome is that Sens. Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley are lying to themselves about the seriousness the insurrection posed to the integrity of our constitutional democracy.
When a person has lost the capacity to be honest with himself, he is easily given to delusional, even pathological speech and behavior. He becomes a danger to himself and others. What’s to stop such a person from trampling on the Constitution again — or ignoring the rights of the people he or she was elected to serve?
Our esteemed Missouri senators seem to have succumbed to self-delusion. That’s a frightening thought. When the time comes, I can only hope that Missouri voters will elect senators who are honest with us, and with themselves.
Mark Etling • St. Louis
