Fifty-two years ago, in July 1974, freshman Maine Congressman Bill Cohen voted to advance articles of impeachment against then President Richard Nixon out of the House Judiciary Committee, on which Cohen sat, and on to the House floor. It was a brave, gutsy act for a freshman congressman, especially a Republican. Just two years before, Nixon had won re-election by the biggest margin in the history of U.S. presidential elections.

But Cohen did the right thing. And now it is time for Maine's Congressional delegation to show equal courage and act to remove a president who is becoming increasingly unstable. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden must introduce and support articles of impeachment against an increasingly volatile and dangerous president, and Susan Collins and Angus King must call for the president's removal.

This is not about politics. The president is putting the country, and indeed the whole world, at risk with his erratic behavior, and he must be removed from office before he does irreparable harm. 

The time has come to move beyond pretending that everything is normal. It is not. This is a Bill Cohen moment for Maine's congressional delegation. They must put aside political considerations and calculations. They must stand up and act to protect and defend the country they have sworn to protect and defend.

Lawrence Reichard lives in Belfast