This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Recently on Bill Maher's HBO weekly show a film clip showed a town hall meeting where an angry constituent told his sitting congressman "to be an American and not a politician," regarding Donald Trump's ties to Russia and his handling so far of the situation.
Sen. Orrin Hatch and the rest of you diehard GOP Utah delegation, I am repeating this to you: Be an American, not a politician.
The American voters put a fool in the White House and you are going to back him till the plane hits the ground.
Sen. McCain of Arizona, a fellow Western state GOP leader, seems to be the only Republican with the brains to publicly say there is a fool in the White House.
But not you, Utah Republicans. Oh no, you won't state the obvious because unfortunately the majority of your constituents still have a favorable view of the fool.
Your unwavering Republican views are ridiculous. I simply can't believe down deep you all don't see the daily folly going on in Washington and the damage your actions are doing to the republic and its citizenry.
If you don't believe this, then, quite frankly, you are fools, too.
Time to make a stand. Oh, you already have. Have a nice descent.
Tom Ridge
Layton