Last week, we watched the nation’s leaders as they tried to solve the ultimate political puzzle.

Our TV sets pictured elected officeholders dancing around the question of impeachment of a President of the United States. It was a task none of them wanted.

As all the TV talking heads and their alleged experts spewed hate and sarcasm on them, the Constitution turned the spotlight on the 100 senators. They faced the task of voting to convict or acquit the man that millions voted to lead our nation.

In many ways, the verdict was predictable from the start. There are 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats (including two independents, who vote with them, Vermont’s Bernie Sanders and Maine’s Angus King.) The Constitution says it takes a two-thirds vote to remove a president. That was never going to happen.

But why? Even many Republican senators say the president did something wrong.

It is a complicated puzzle.

As usual, I called Ms. Pigette to get her take on the situation. As usual, she had an answer, based on her wide experience in political matters. “It is complicated. For guidance, you might look to the wisdom contained in a pair of classic satirical works,” she said. “In the end, it boils down to a contest between the Lewis Carroll character, the Queen of Hearts, and Gilbert and Sullivan’s over the top comedy, ‘The Mikado,’” she said.

Do you remember them? Of course, you don’t. Both were written in the late 19th century; both were widely popular; both are easily misunderstood. But they have a point.

The Queen of Hearts is a character in “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” The Queen of Hearts executes anyone who offends her in just about any way. “Off with his head,” is her cry.

The Mikado is the title character in a Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera. As the Emperor of Japan, he is a bit reflective of the nation’s justice system. “My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time, to let the punishment fit the crime,” he sings.

“That is exactly the dilemma faced by the senators,” said Ms. Pigette as she banged her smartphone on the side of her mailbox to get a few more electrons to ease out of the cold battery.

“Sure, many senators believe the President tried to get a foreign leader to dig up some dirt on his political rival, but was the offense bad enough to kick him out of the White House?”

“Shouldn’t we leave the question to the voters on election day in November,” they asked.

The perceptive wooden porker, who holds up a mailbox beside Route 27 about a mile up the road from the Boothbay town hall, has read her copy of the Constitution. And it says the only penalty for impeachment is removal from office.

In other words, if he is convicted, it is “Off with his head.” There is no lesser penalty.

“Didn’t I tell you it is complicated? On the one hand, he used the power of the presidency to ask a foreign leader to dig up dirt on his political rival. On the other hand, he did not do anything worse. Look, old Newsie,” she said with a snort from her snout, “didn’t you tell me you once asked a wise old federal district court judge why he didn’t give the maximum sentence to a defendant who was obviously guilty and a nasty guy to boot?”

“Look at it from my position,” said the crusty old jurist. “The legislature sets the penalty for a crime. They give me a range of options. The longest term is for the worst offenders. So, if I give the max for the guy who robs one bank, what do I do when I am faced with a worse offender, like Willie Sutton, the guy who robbed dozens of them? Shouldn’t the punishment fit the crime?”

That is just my point, said the lonely wooden porker standing in the ice and mud. That is what many senators were thinking.

“And besides, a vote to impeach the president would put the GOP senators in political peril, and they surely don’t want to do that,” she said.

Back home in Boothbay

While the senators wrestled with their complex task, back home, we were faced with a tragedy as, once again, the sea took another Boothbay Harbor fisherman, leaving behind his widow, Jessica, and their daughters, Cedelia, 2, and Dorothy, 6.

The sea robbed all of us of a good man who worked long hours at a dangerous job. We are gratified that our community has rallied around the family. It is only right that we do so.

Correction: Last week, I said Donald Trump won Lincoln County in 2016. Hillary Clinton won with 47.8% to Trump’s 45.4%.