Sunday, December 15th, 2019
My Dear America:
I know this has been an exceedingly difficult week for you, America. In fact it has been several exceedingly difficult weeks for all of us observing the one sided view of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
I found myself glued to the television for large segments of time especially during the testimony of so many witnesses in the hearings guided by Representative Adam Schiff during the Intelligence Committee Hearings. During these hearings many witnesses showed up and testified honestly despite the President's warnings to them not to testify.
Certainly without the bravery of the witnesses to Donald Trump's brazen Shakedown of Ukrainian President Zelinsky and the bravery of the Whistleblower, as well, nothing of Trump's political treachery would have seen the light of day.
Although clearly Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi wanted to avoid the subject of Impeachment like the Plague throughout Trump's controversial presidency, Trump's arrogant and recklessly political actions and behavior toward Ukraine made it impossible for the Speaker to avoid supporting impeachment any longer. It had to be done. It was a matter of Right and Wrong and the Speaker finally knew it. So after the hearings in the House Intelligence Committee it was clear to the Democratic members of that Committee that Donald Trump's behavior with regard to Ukraine had gone way out of bounds and was clearly something that could more than reasonably be described as "High Crimes and Misdemeanors."
The behavior of the Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee was truly shameful throughout the hearings on Trump and Ukraine. Republicans on the Committee often acted rudely and intimidatingly toward nearly all the brave witnesses exposing Trump's treachery. The Republican Committee members disrupted the proceedings at almost every turn and when they weren't disrupting the proceedings they were attempting to distract the proceedings in some form or other. They were, almost all of them, dismissive of the Committee Hearings.
Although other Republicans on the Committee were also guilty of harassment of Committee Chairman Schiff, as well as Committee Witnesses, certainly Intelligence Committee Ranking Member, Devin Nunes and "Jacketless" Jim Jordan were in almost all cases acting as though the facts weren't the facts and the Committee Chairman and witnesses were undeserving of civility. The most egregious conduct of Nunes, who when he was Committee Chairman prior to the Democratic House landslide victory in 2018, it was well known, had made many late night trips to the White House to alert the President of what was going on in the House Intelligence Committee, which at that time he controlled. Now that Nunes has been relegated to second fiddle on the Committee his behavior and attitude was constantly rude and dismissive to Schiff and the Democrats, as well as to the Committee witnesses. Although it did not come out to the public during the Intelligence Committee hearings on Ukraine, it was revealed shortly afterward that certain phone logs showed Nunes communicating with Rudy Giuliani and Rudy's recently arrested allies in the Ukraine/Biden Investigation conspiracy by phone and in personal contacts with Rudy overseas. Certainly the Nunes connection to Rudy & Company would have been helpful to know during the Intelligence Committee Hearings but certainly Devin Nunes never revealed those contacts during the Committee Hearings. Nunes has yet to comment on his curious and certainly questionable contacts with Giuliani and Company at the same time that he was supposedly investigating those contacts. Something smells fishy here.
Eventually, however, the matter of Trump's inappropriate contacts with Zelinsky after being voted out of the Intelligence Committee on a purely partisan Committee vote moved on to the House Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee turned out to be no less partisan than the Intelligence Committee had been. Maybe even more outrageously partisan than the Intelligence Committee had been. Once again "Jacketless" Jim Jordan and Judiciary Committee Ranking Member, Doug Collins led the charge to defend the President, as well as distract and disrupt Judiciary Committee Proceedings as much as possible. Despite the Republican's efforts to distract and disrupt the proceedings, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler did an admirable job of keeping the proceedings on Track during the Hearings. After seemingly endless and pointless Republican efforts to delay and disrupt the hearings eventually Nadler was able to bring the Hearings to a halt with, once again, a completely partisan vote of 23 Democrats and 17 Republicans voting on whether to prepare Articles of Impeachment. The Democrats voted to prepare 2 Articles of Impeachment and have them voted on in the Full House of Representatives.
Article Number One that was approved by the Majority Democrats on the Judiciary Committee is Abuse of Power.
Article Number Two that was approved by the Majority Democrats on the Judiciary Committee is Obstruction of Congress.
It is certainly gratifying that these Two Articles of Impeachment will be presented to the full House this coming week and will undoubtedly result in a Purely Partisan Vote in which the Articles of Impeachment will be approved by the Democratic members of the House of Representatives.
Fortunately it appears as though, based on the behavior and votes in the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees thus far, this coming week's vote will pass the Articles of Impeachment in the House. Unfortunately, though, although the Articles of Impeachment will pass in the House of Representatives and be sent to the Senate for Trial it is clear that at least some of the Republican Leaders in the Senate already have their minds made up and despite the facts proving Trump's "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" that will mean little or nothing to the Republicans in the Senate.
Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell has not only advertised his "No" Vote for Impeachment prior to the Senate Trial, he has announced that he will be coordinating Impeachment Proceedings with the White House. In other words the Defendant, Donald J. Trump, will be involved in calling the shots in his Impeachment Trial in The Senate. That does not sound like McConnell will be an impartial juror in the Senate.
Also South Carolina Republican Senator, Lindsey Graham has also arrogantly announced that he will also support the President in the upcoming Impeachment. Indeed, it certainly appears as though despite the fact that Trump will be Impeached by the House, Republicans will not agree to convict the President in the Senate.
The Republican Congressional Solidarity against The Impeachment of Donald Trump is something that needs to be admired.
The fact that Republicans seem to have lost all perspective regarding the Reign of Terror that Donald Trump has put you through, America, is not something to be admired.
Surely every American, Republican or Democrat, by this time needs to be aware that Donald Trump is not just a bad President. He is, by far, the worst President that I have seen in my lifetime and I would not be surprised if he turns out to be the worst President that you have ever seen.
At every turn he has colluded with Russia. He is so disliked and disrespected by our allies that World leaders laugh at him at world meetings. He has pulled us out of the Paris Accord on Climate Change, He has pulled us out of a treaty with Iraq that was working and Iraq was not developing nuclear weapons. Now they are doing so freely with no controls. He has made a fool of himself with his "Love" for North Korea Dictator, Kim Jong Un, who continues to develop Nuclear capability to hit the United States. He has started a trade war with China. He has unexpectedly pulled our troops out of Syria and allowed Russia and Turkey to turn Syria into a slaughterhouse with our allies in fighting and controlling ISIS, the Kurds, being those people being slaughtered.
What Donald Trump is being Impeached for is trying to get negative information on Democratic Candidate, Joe Biden, from Ukraine's newly elected President and holding up much needed aid that was voted by the House and Senate on an almost landslide bipartisan vote to provide the aid to Ukraine in order to be able to defend itself from Russia.
I fully suspect that one of the reasons that Donald Trump held up the money for weapons that Ukraine badly needed was that once again he was helping his Russian buddy, Vladimir Putin, continue to make progress in his war against Ukraine. I have not heard anyone, Republican or Democrat, voice the concern that my suspicion might be true. I hope that my suspicion is not true but Trump's actions in Ukraine to hold up the money fits in with his pattern of being a Russian Stooge throughout his Presidency.
As I sit here tonight worrying about what this week will bring I think of the fact that those Republicans that trashed him during his Campaign in 2016 don't have the balls to stand up to him now.
What we are going to see in the coming days and weeks and possibly months are Republicans voicing their support for a man who only supports himself. He cares nothing for what he can do for you, America. He only cares for what you can do for him.
I am thinking tonight of the passage from the bible that says something like What does it matter if you gain the whole world and suffer the loss of your soul.
Many Republicans during the past few weeks have shown themselves to be rather soulless individuals with only a dedication to Trump and almost no dedication to you, America. But then you had the Democrats on your side caring what happened to you. You had Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler standing up to incredible unwarranted and unfair criticism because they were standing with you, America, and not bowing down to Donald Trump.
As we march toward Impeachment, tonight, America, I am reminded of a Mississippi Legend concerning Blues Singer Robert Johnson.
Legend has it that Robert Johnson was a man that endured some very tough times in his life. One thing that seemed to keep him focused and moving ahead was his music. According to Blues players and others that knew him through his life, Johnson was mostly a below average guitar player and hanger on to better known and better playing musicians. Those better players said that for about a year none of them heard from Robert Johnson and then suddenly he was back. When Robert Johnson reappeared on the scene he was a different man. He sang differently. He wrote very good songs and he had gone from being a below average guitar player to a masterful guitar player. His friends and comrades couldn't believe his remarkable progress and he continued to be a successful blues player until he was poisoned by the husband of a woman he had been seeing. When asked by some of his comrades what happened to allow him to become such a great blues player Robert Johnson told his friends that he had gone down to a well known crossroads near where he lived and made a deal with the Devil that the Devil would give him his Highly Improved Blues ability if Johnson pledged to give his soul to the devil when he died.
We will never know for sure whether or not Robert Johnson truly sold his soul to the Devil in those bygone days in Mississippi. What we do know, America, is that those Republican Senators and Congress House Members who pledge their support to Donald Trump and not to you in the coming days, weeks and months will be at some point be called to account for their actions.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
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