Thank You Senator Toomey

Wednesday January 27th, 2021

My Dear America:

I have been hearing and seeing a lot recently concerning Pennsylvania Politicians.  Quite frankly I think that over the long haul Pennsylvania Politicians have mainly been pretty good Politicians.  At least the Democrats have been, for the most part.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe has been someone who I have a great deal of Respect and Admiration for.  He has held out during the Covid Outbreak insisting on Pennsylvanians wearing masks, socially distancing and staying away from each other as much as possible.

Very smart on his part, I think.  I certainly have appreciated his concern for Pennsylvanians health.  Unfortunately, however, Many Republican Legislators have fought Wolfe's efforts to keep PA residents safe and have even gone to court to fight against Wolfe's policies of Covid Safety.  As a result, the state has opened up against Wolfe's objections and Surprise, Surprise, Covid infections and deaths have risen sharply.

Two former Pennsylvania Republican Politicians who really get on my nerves are Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and Former Pennsylvania Congressman Charlie Dent.  Both Santorum and Dent have eased into spots on CNN as the supposed voices of Republican Reason.  Santorum was soundly defeated by Senator Bob Casey a long time ago and was and still is less than a voice of reason and more of a voice of continued apology for everything that Donald Trump and his Republican Supplicants have done.  

At least Charlie Dent left his office under his own steam, not as a loser like Santorum.  But Charlie only left because he saw the handwriting on the wall that Trump didn't like him and that if he stayed in Congress his life was going to be a living hell, courtesy of Donald Trump.  Leaving, therefore, was a wise move for Charlie.

Both Dent and Santorum continue to be CNN Commentators and although Charlie does a tolerably good job, Santorum's weak and disgusting Republican apologist commentary on everything Trump and his minions have done genuinely rubs me the wrong way.    

The Pennsylvania Legislature does contain some very fine people on both sides of the aisle.  Two of the best (Democrats) from my area are Pete Schweyer and Mike Schlossberg, two guys that I have known for a long time and continue to be proud to know.

But in addition to Pete and Mike our Pennsylvania Legislature also contains some other people who have proved to be very disappointing in their actions recently, particularly with regard to Donald Trump and his efforts to screw with the Election Results in Pennsylvania.  In an obvious attempt to curry favor with Trump several Pennsylvania Republicans did what they could to try to throw the legitimate 2020 Election vote count out and replace it with a count that would throw the PA Election to Trump.  

When this occurred I fully expected that United States Senator from  Pennsylvania, Pat Toomey, might just go along with this brazen act of vote hijacking.  I was wrong, however.  Pat Toomey did not go along with the attempts by Donald Trump and some Pennsylvania Republicans to steal the Pennsylvania Presidential Election.  In fact Toomey was quite vocal in his condemnation of  Republican efforts to mess with legitimate Pennsylvania votes.  In an era when most Republicans have been very timid in their criticism of Donald Trump, Pat Toomey showed a genuine Profile in Courage when it came to the sanctity of protecting Votes and Voters in Pennsylvania.

Pat Toomey has, over the long haul, showed himself to be a rather Right Wing Republican.  He was my Congressman for several years and he, like Charlie Dent, chose to leave the House of Representatives.  He was the head of the Right Wing Group, Club For Growth for a time before running for the Senate and winning.  Before now, I would never have expected Toomey to be bucking Trump or his party but I  have to say that I am pleasantly surprised to see Pat Toomey turn out to be a genuine Patriot and a Defender of Democracy at a time when we need that most vanishing of species - An Honest To God Moderate Republican.   

I am still disappointed that Toomey voted to acquit Donald Trump during his first Impeachment in 2020.  I communicated with Toomey's office prior to his vote recommending that Toomey vote to convict Trump.  Toomey sent me a one and a half page letter giving me reasons why he did not vote to convict Trump.  The reasons were Bullshit but I did appreciate the fact that Toomey did put into writing why he had let Trump off the hook.

Now in 2021 Trump has once again been Impeached by the House of Representatives for Inciting an Insurrection on January 6th that resulted in Trump Supporters breaking into the United States Capitol and his Impeachment Trial is now headed for the Senate.  By a vote of 45 to 5, Republicans in the Senate voted for a proposal from Senator Rand Paul stating that there should not be a Trial in the Senate because Trump is now out of office.  One of the five Republican Senators who voted against that proposal was Pat Toomey.  Once again, Pat Toomey has shown some degree of courage in a Republican Group of Senators that overall seem to be severely lacking in the courage department.

Word is that Toomey is leaving the Senate after his present term is over.  There is some speculation that he might run for Governor.  If he does run for Governor I do not expect that I will be voting for him but I will give credit where credit is due and right now at least some degree of credit for courage under fire is due to Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher