Thank You Mike Pence For Saving Our Democracy At Least For Now

Friday, December 17th, 2021 

My Dear America:

My Wife said something the other day that really struck me. 

I can't recall exactly what she said but what it amounted to was that we should really give credit where credit is due to Former Vice President, Mike Pence for being a Decent Man who literally Saved Our Democracy from the corrupt intent of Donald Trump and his Dark and Dangerous Cronies who were insisting that Pence cooperate with their plan to initiate a Coup to end Democracy in our country and install Donald Trump as the First Unelected Dictator in United States History.

Certainly anyone watching the News Coverage of January 6th could see with their own eyes that Good and Decent Government in the United States of America was collapsing right before their eyes.  My wife and I certainly saw it.  It was Frightening and Disgusting and it was Certainly Approved of and Authorized by the man who was still the President of the United States on that day: Donald Trump. 

What was clear on that day was that Something Was Radically Wrong in America on January Sixth of 2021.  

What is becoming increasingly clear in December of 2021 is that what was wrong on January Sixth was the fact that Donald Trump, after exhausting all possible Semi - Legitimate attempts to lawfully steal the November 2020 Election from its Rightful Winner, Joe Biden, felt that he had one more Desperate Card To Play.  That Wild Card was Mike Pence.

What is clear to me after reading Bob Woodward and Bob Costa's Book, "Peril" and other sources, as well, is that there was a Soul Crushing Assault on Mike Pence's Decency in an attempt to bring him over to the dark side of the White House where Trump and those Diabolical Zombies who were still supporting him were waiting to stomp out what was left of Mike Pence's Decency.

Woodward and Costa point out that Mike Pence was at least thinking about succumbing to Trump and his Allies Pressure and might well have done so were it not for the Good and Decent Advice given to Pence by former Vice President, Dan Quayle.  Quayle did his best to keep his Indiana Friend on the right and Decent Democratic Path.  

Could Pence legally stand in the way of counting electors as Trump Insisted, Pence asked his Predecessor, Quayle.

"Absolutely Not", Quayle insisted.  All Pence could do legally, according to Quayle, was to supervise the counting of Electors from all the states.

What Trump was insisting that Pence do was not legal and was not democratic.

What was not really evident to those of us watching on January 6th was just how much incredible pressure that Trump and Company were putting on Pence during the time just before January 6th.  Even on January Sixth while Pence and Congress were being shuttled out of the House and Senate to Safety , John Eastman, clearly one of the Most Important Trump Conspirators, was sending messages out blaming Pence for the Riots because, according to Eastman, Pence had not done the right thing.  

I guess that Trump and company were really OK with the Gallows set up in front of the Capitol and the Blood Curdling Cries of "Hang Mike Pence."

Certainly in his Role as Vice President of one of the most legally and morally corrupt Presidential Administrations in the history of the United States in many ways Mike Pence still has much to account for.  In many ways Mike Pence brought an air of decency to the Trump Administration.  A lot of Christians who trusted and admired Mike Pence found it easier to admire Trump despite the moral chasm that existed between Pence and Trump.

To be honest, I never really cared too much for Mike Pence.  I have always seen him as pretty much a Phony but I do admire some things about him.  I think that he does try to be a Genuine Christian and I am sure that it was difficult to do so while being a charter member of the Trump Administration.  

On January Sixth Mike Pence could have very easily bowed out of the process of counting Electors and stated that he was going home and the process could have been totally screwed.  Pence did not do that, however, and with the cooperation of the Senate and House Leadership Pence returned in the evening of January Sixth and led the process to certify the Electors and Certify the Election of Joe Biden despite the disturbing and unnecessary delays in counting electors led by some of Trump's Congressional supporters.

When it comes to Covid Donald Trump does not get much credit in my book.  Trump tried to downplay the disastrous infection and convince his followers that they didn't need masks leading to countless deaths of Trump lovers.

One thing that Trump did right with regard to Covid was to put Mike Pence in charge of it for a time.  During that time Pence recognized the seriousness of the Pandemic and in many ways took serious and important actions to help our country deal with Covid.  Pence was the one who did what was needed to encourage drug companies to shorten the process of coming up with needed vaccines to prevent Covid infections.  When Pence began to get high marks for his Covid Fighting actions Trump Jealously came back to daily reporting sessions on the Pandemic that Pence had been successfully leading.  Although Trump likes to take credit for the speedy development of the Covid Vaccines, Pence deserves far more credit than Trump.

One more reason that Mike Pence should get some credit is that when Donald Trump left town rather than do the right thing and show up for Joe Biden's Inauguration, Mike Pence did show up to Biden's Inauguration.

My wife was right.  In a Presidential Administration that, for the most part was rotten to the core,  Mike Pence might not have escaped with entirely clean hands but we who are Citizens of the United States owe a debt of gratitude to Mike Pence for his part in saving our Democracy from Destruction on January Sixth.

Thank You, Mike Pence, for doing the right thing on that day when many Republicans did not do the right thing and continue to fail to do the right thing.  Unfortunately, Mike Pence seems to feel that his best bet these days is to once again prostrate himself at the feet of Donald Trump.  That is a shame.  But Pence is certainly not the only Republican to fail to remember what their party used to stand for.  

Only time will tell if Americans will be able to continue to live in a free and democratic country.  

If Democrats have their way we can continue to do it.

If Republicans continue to follow down their increasingly Power Mad Path, God Help Us. 

The next time we may not have a Mike Pence to stand in the way of those who would not preserve our Democracy.

Thank You Mike Pence.  You may be back on the Dark Side with Trump Again but you were there when we needed you on January 6th and we are truly grateful to you for keeping our Democracy Alive at least for a few more years.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher 

   

Doctor OZ - The Quack Running For The United States Senate from Pennsylvania

 December 4th, 2021

My Dear America:

Just when I thought it was once again safe to go into the voting booth or mail in my ballot in Pennsylvania, the Republicans have once again pulled a Fast One in the early days of an important Pennsylvania U.S. Senate Race to replace retiring Senator Pat Toomey.  Things were already royally screwed up in my state by Republicans engaged in any number of dastardly deeds concerning Voting: including the following:

During the November 2020 Elections the Pennsylvania Republican Legislature had a Fit when The Monster From Mara Lago legitimately lost the Presidential Election and Pennsylvania State Electors to Joe Biden (who, of course was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania) and tried through various means to Kow Tow to Donald Trump's ridiculous efforts to overturn the election results.  

More recently we have had Pennsylvania State Republican Legislative Figures travel to Arizona to study the mechanics of the Notorious Cyber Ninja conducted  Arizona Voters So Called "Audit" and despite the results of the "Arizona Audit" (Which was to show that Joe Biden had won in Arizona by more votes than was previously indicated) The PA State Legislators still have tried to come back to Pennsylvania and recklessly try to institute procedures in which they are trying to seize not only voting machines but an incredible amount of private information about Pennsylvania voters. The Voters information demanded by the Legislators included the following: 

Voter ID Numbers

Dates of Birth

Partial Social Security Numbers

A Local Pennsylvania Democratic Member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives named Peter Schweyer pointed out in an article he wrote in "The Morning Call" Newspaper in Allentown on September 23rd, 2021 that the information being demanded by the Republican Legislators would be dangerous for PA voters.  The following is a quote from Representative Schweyer's article in which he warns Pennsylvania voters of the dangers presented by what Republican Legislators are demanding. 

"Everything a scammer needs to open a credit card in your name will soon be in the hands of some third-party company, hand picked by the same GOP lawmakers who associate with those who massed in Washington D.C., and attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6."

Thank God that there are Lawmakers like Mr. Schweyer to sound the alarm to unsuspecting Pennsylvanian's about what Republicans are trying to pull off right under our noses.  We also need to be thankful that although Republicans control the PA. Legislature, Pennsylvania's Governor, Tom Wolf and the State's Attorney General, Josh Shapiro are not having any of this bullshit.  Wolf will not sign the Republican backed legislation and Attorney General Shapiro has vowed to do all he can to scuttle the Republican effort to confiscate private voter information. Unfortunately, Republicans are doing all they can at this point to oust Governor Wolf and Attorney General Shapiro in the next election.  Josh Shapiro is running for Governor in 2022 and hopefully he will win the states highest office.  Hopefully we will also be able to keep a Democrat in the Attorney General's Office.

In addition to these continuing outrageous voter suppression efforts by Republicans we are also experiencing in Pennsylvania efforts by Qanon members and other Loose Cannon Conspiracy Theorists to not only disrupt legitimate School Board Meetings with their hate filled messages but are also demanding and in some cases getting their way in having longtime Classic Books Banned in certain cases in Pennsylvania Schools.

Now into this disturbing Shitstorm comes Dr. Mehmet OZ, a Heart Surgeon who gained enough fame by being Oprah Winfrey's Go To Doctor on her longtime Television Program to get his own TV Show.  

I have to be honest at this point and admit that before he announced his run for Senate on the Republican ticket I had been a fan of Dr. Oz for a long time.  Some of his shows were boring but some were terrific.  Clearly Dr. Oz is an intelligent man with a lot to offer Television fans.  I particularly found his True Crime Tuesdays and Thursdays rather interesting.  To be honest, I would never have thought that Dr. Oz was a Republican.  He never struck me as blatantly political in one direction or another.  But Dr. Oz Clearly was not what he appeared to be on Television.

There were clues, of course.  

He had Donald Trump on his program and gave him a phony physical and pronounced him healthy.  That certainly should have been a clue, of course.

Then, of course Dr. Oz seemed to be obsessed with "Dog, the Bounty Hunter", Certainly that oddity should also have been a clue.

There are many reasons that I will not be voting for Dr. Oz in the coming year.

The number one reason is that Oz is running as a Republican and I will not be voting for a Republican for Senate.  Apparently Republicans are jumping on the Oz bandwagon because Scott Parnell, Donald Trump's originally chosen primary Candidate for Senate from Pennsylvania just dropped out of the race because due to allegations of spousal abuse he lost custody of his children.  Yes Sir, Another Fine Trump backed Candidate for office bites the dust.  

Another reason that I am not voting for Dr. Oz for Senate is that he has not lived in the State of Pennsylvania for many years.  Oz is a long Time Resident of New Jersey.  Apparently he is using his In Law's Pennsylvania Address to run for Senate.  Certainly he is rich enough to buy a home in Pennsylvania but he should have been a Pennsylvania resident before he ran for Senate.

I don't really know much about Dr. Oz's political connections but I doubt whether he would have run for Senate in Pennsylvania without running it by Donald Trump.  

Another Reason that I will not vote for Dr. Oz is that he is a complete Phony.  He has appeared to me over the years to be a responsible person who cared about truth and people.

Now, all of a sudden Dr. Oz is spouting the same lies and garbage that other Republican Trump Syncophants spout.

All of a sudden this TV Doctor who has long appeared to support masking and Vaccinations is singing a Different Tune.  

Joe Biden is all of a sudden a Freedom Killer because he is mandating the wearing of masks so that Americans don't kill each other by passing along killer virus's.

It sounds like the same old Republican Bullshit to me.

The Democratic Party in Pennsylvania has a number of Outstanding Senate Primary Candidates.  

John Fetterman looks like a tattooed lumberjack but he is a man of integrity. He is also the Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania and is largely responsible for the introduction of a Medical Marijuana Program in Pennsylvania.

Conor Lamb is presently an impressive young Democratic Member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Malcom Kenyatta is another impressive young man who is black, gay and from Philadelphia.  He is a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 

Another reason that I will not be voting for Doctor Oz for Senator is that it is going to be very important in 2022 to keep Pat Toomey's seat from falling back into Republican hands.  The Democratic Margin in the Senate is hanging by a thread and it is important to avoid turning over the leadership of the Senate to Mitch McConnell, whose main stated agenda in the Senate has been the obstruction of progress by the Democrats.

In short, We don't need you or want you, Doctor Oz.  You are a phony of epic proportions and that is the last thing we need in the Senate of the United States.  I know that the ratings for your show have been steadily going down in recent years but please don't use Pennsylvanians as your resource for staying relevant. I'm sure you're not a bad guy but you have made some very serious mistakes over the years.  Hydroxycloroquine was not a cure or a valid treatment for Covid.

You talk about the Covid Vaccine as though Donald Trump is the Covid Hero and Joe Biden is the Villain when the opposite is true.  

How can you as a Doctor look at what Donald Trump and his Republican Cohorts did in 2020 concealing Covid and dismissing legitimate Covid Treatments and responses.  How can you, at this point, as a medical professional try to dismiss  everything positive that Joe Biden did to help get Covid under control and jump on the Trump Team when you know the truth about Covid.

Sorry, Dr. Oz.  Find some other way to deal with your sagging popularity.  You should put yourself and your buddy, Donald Trump on one of your 'True Crime" shows. 

You two would fit right in.

Suffice it to say, Dr. Oz that you do not have my vote and furthermore I will be doing everything I can in the coming next year to make sure that we in Pennsylvania,  I mean the True Pennsylvania Residents, will not be voting to send you to the United States Senate.

 Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher