Prosecuting a former president: We will ‘put out the fires and soldier on’

Bobby Ghosh makes compelling arguments for and against prosecuting former President Donald Trump [“Democracies can weather prosecutions of former presidents,” Aug. 11, Opinion].

The angst felt by folks on both sides seems to be encapsulated in the notion that, “We have never done this before.” It seems to me that precedent is becoming more passé as we stumble into the 21st century. What happens in the White House, and the current decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, attest to this evolution.

So, the question is, if the Department of Justice proceeds with prospective prosecution, will our tattered democracy survive the potential national mayhem? Since we purport ourselves as the world’s leading democracy, we cannot possibly be so fragile that we are unable to sustain the result of a legally arrived at result of the prosecution of a former president.

Unless I am underassessing the grit of our people, whatever the result would be, we will wipe the blood off, pick up the glass, put out the fires and soldier on.

Henry Thompson, Seattle