Here are my thoughts on Sen. Mitt Romney’s decision to convict the President of the United States of America.

Since February 1, 2020, when Sen. Mitt Romney became the first 2020 recipient of my John McCain “Thumbs Down Award” for putting self and vengeance ahead of country, I thought I would share some of my thoughts with you.

I am not one to quote from the Bible.  I don’t wear my religion on my sleeve. However, since Romney claimed to make his decision to convict the president based on his belief in God, I have chosen this verse to lead into my thoughts about Romney:

“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.” – James 1:26

Speaking on the floor of the Senate, Romney declared, “I am profoundly religious.  My faith is at the heart of who I am. I take an oath before God as enormously consequential.  I knew from the outset that being tasked with judging the president, the leader of my own party, would be the most difficult decision I have ever faced.  I was not wrong.”

Facing his fellow senators, knowing they would be voting not guilty, Romney appeared to chastise them, saying, “the people will judge us for how well and faithfully we fulfilled our duty. (As if they didn’t understand this.) The grave question the Constitution tasks senators to answer is whether the president committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a ‘high crime and misdemeanor.’  Yes, it did.”

Doesn’t it seem odd that he stood alone in his belief that “the House managers presented evidence supporting their case,” yet he sought additional witnesses and documents?

“Were I to ignore the evidence that has been presented, and disregard what I believe my oath and the Constitution demands of me for the sake of a partisan end, it would, I fear, expose my character to history’s rebuke and the censure of my own conscience,” Romney said.

After listing the reasons for his vote to convict, he concluded. “the president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust.”

With that statement, I believe he essentially insinuated that all of the other Republican senators, who no doubt have their own religious beliefs, ignored the oath they took to God to exercise impartial justice.

Romney would have you to believe that “my promise to God to apply impartial justice required that I put my personal feelings and political biases aside.”  Those of us who have followed his political career; especially his public disdain for President Trump, know this was his way to finally stab him in the back.

“I will be vehemently denounced,” Romney said of his decision, and indeed he was, except in Democrat quarters, where he became a temporary hero.

Though clearly disappointed in Romney’s decision, I noted that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell keenly chose his words, recognizing that he will continue to seek his vote on key issues. Romney claims to have voted for Trump programs 80 percent of the time.

A LOOK BACK:  Did Romney think about being “profoundly religious” in March 2016, when he told a raucous audience at the University of Utah that Donald Trump was a “phony,” a “fraud,” a “con man,” and a “fake?”

Did he forget this passage from Ephesians 4:29-31? “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.”  Does he fall back on his faith when it becomes convenient?

It’s important that you recall other remarks from that speech:

“If Donald Trump’s plans were ever implemented, the country would sink into a prolonged recession.”

“Donald Trump tells us that he his very, very smart.  I’m afraid that when it comes to foreign policy he is very, very not smart.  His foreign policies would make America and the world less safe.”

“His promises are worthless.”

“He has neither the temperament nor the judgement to be president.”

I don’t have the space here to list all of his domestic and foreign policy achievements, but notably, Fred Barnes, senior columnist with the Washington Examiner, just called Trump, “A foreign policy president.”

“President Trump has become a successful foreign policy president,” wrote Barnes, noting his “breakthroughs in foreign affairs.”

Romney concluded his floor statement with the line, “we are all footnotes at best in the annals of history.”

That may be, but until that history is written, his colleagues will not soon forget his challenge of their oath of impartial justice and his questioning of their faith.

 My footnote would read, ‘Mitt Romney put self before country, using his faith to cover for his disdain of President Trump, in a vote to convict.’

                  May God continue to bless the United States of America.