Letter: Senators’ votes to acquit were mistake

Sens. Todd Young and Mike Braun voted to acquit the ex-president on charges of inciting an insurrection against the legislative branch of our government. You may support Sen. Young’s and Sen. Braun’s votes to acquit. But for our nation, for our economy, for our financial markets, for your businesses, it was a terrible mistake for our senators to allow our former president to lie about election fraud and his false victory and to go unpunished for inciting attacks on the legislative branch.

Why? Because truth matters in a democracy and because truth matters for a smooth functioning economy and vibrant financial markets. Our democratic republic and its system of government undergirds our economy, our financial markets and the means by which we innovate and build personal and country wealth. They are inextricably linked.

Our government and financial markets need their leaders and members to act with good will and in good faith, to understand their role in upholding and advancing the system, and to hold bad actors accountable. They need to know that those who game and abuse the system for their personal gain will no longer be allowed to participate and will be punished. This is not to say that these institutions are without fault or not in need of being streamlined or made more open, efficient and just. It is when the attacks on the institution, within or without, are driven by contempt and disdain and with the intent of personal preservation and power that we should act decisively to prohibit and to punish.

When our leaders and representatives fail to act with integrity and a responsibility and forethought of how their actions impact the system from which they have gained, and there has been no accounting, we risk the emergence of other bad actors. And we risk destroying the faith, trust, commitment and personal responsibility that is needed from all to support and advance our democracy, the bedrock of our own prosperity and wealth.

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Deborah Pickett