Joe Biden And Barack Obama: Brothers In Democracy

Monday, September 12th, 2022

Thursday, September 1st of 2022 President Joe Biden gave the Speech Of A Lifetime in Front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This important speech should have been broadcast on every station but incredibly it was only broadcast on MSNBC and CNN.  

Gentleman Joe did what he had to do as a responsible person and as well as a responsible President. He called out in no uncertain terms the seriously indecent and undemocratic conduct displayed over the course of the past several years by Donald Trump and his Maga Rpublican Fanatics.

Good for you, Joe.

Good for you

It had to be done and you did it.

It had to be difficult for Joe Biden to give that speech in Philadelphia calling out Maga Republicans.  Joe Biden has always been a man who not only talks Bipartisanship.  He has always practiced Bipartisanship every day of his political life.  Indeed, some of his best friends have been Republicans.  In an earlier Bipartisan time His Republican Friends have included people like Lindsey Graham, John McCain and Mitch McConnell, among many other Republican colleagues.

Unfortunately, that Bipartisan era seems to be long gone now.  

Maga Republicans, (Namely Donald Trump Loving Republicans) used to be outsiders who "Normal" Republicans seemed to take pains to try to keep in line.

No More

These days it is the Maga Republicans who are in charge of what used to be a Political Party but seems to have turned into a Jonestown Type of Cult which has turned its Ugly Qanon Conspiracy Loving Members Attention into destroying Democracy in America and turning Donald Trump or someone like him into a Dictator in the mold of Trump's Dictator Buddies like Vladimir Putin.

Something else that happened recently was the unveiling at the White House of the Official White House Portraits of Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama. For this occasion not only were President Obama and Michelle invited to the White House but also invited were many members of both the Obama Team and the Biden Team.  Quite a few individuals invited were members in good standing of both teams.

Although I was not aware beforehand that this event was occurring, I just happened to luck into watching the ceremony on MSNBC.  What a thrill it was to see and hear the former President and the current President and their wives together showing each other and those watching on TV what it looks like when people genuinely love and respect each other as Barack and Joe and their spouses obviously do.  

In this rather strange and in many ways terrible "Maga" World we live in we sometimes get buried in negativity and tend to forget that there are people in the world like the Obamas and the Bidens who genuinely love and respect each other and if we let them, can show us just how to treat each other with love and respect.

Unfortunately, for many Americans, especially Republicans, their frame of reference for how to treat other people seems to be the awful example that was demonstrated by Donald Trump over the past several years.  That example was, to put it simply, to crush and disrespect those who do not do everything you say and do not agree with everything you do.  Why shouldn't Republicans follow Trump's lead?  After all, it was a successful strategy that worked well for Trump and up to this point, still seems to be working for him.

Although the Judicial noose seems to be tightening somewhat recently, overall, there seems to me to be little hope that Donald Trump will ever become someone that we can all love and trust and look up to as a decent and worthwhile person.  Although, you never know.  a couple of years in prison certainly woke Michael Cohen up.  I suppose that the same thing could happen with Donald Trump.

At the present time, however, there does not seem to be very much credible evidence that Donald Trump is turning into a nice guy.  

He has stolen state secrets and does not seem to be inclined to give them all back.  Yet, despite this incredibly serious breach of Presidential Protocol, as well as his serious efforts to promote the successful campaigns of Election Deniers who seem hell bent on not only denying the 2020 election but seem to be, if elected, ready to say 'Screw You" to the legitimate voters of America.

But lets get back to discussing those two real Americans who have been willing to put themselves before the voters as legitimate candidates and who are unwilling to shaft the voters in order to win their elections.

I found myself tearing up listening to the Biden's and the Obama's at this past week's portrait unveilings.  The contrast between Donald Trump and either Barack Obama or Joe Biden is like night and day.

I found myself this year and last year reading two excellent books. One Written by Barack Obama and one Written by Joe Biden.   I would highly recommend to anyone interested in politics to read these books.

Now I tend to be a slow reader to begin with.  If I really enjoy reading a book I tend to slow down even more so that I can savor the pleasure I get out of the book. I read very slowly through both of the following books:

"A Promised Land" by Barack Obama is published by Crown Publishing, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House Publishing.  I read the Hardback edition which was listed at 45 dollars regular price although I'm sure that some slightly used discount editions might be available on Amazon or Barnes and Noble by now.  It is a long book (701 Pages) but it is a fascinating and uplifting read.  Barack Obama was, of course, a best selling Author before he ran for President and this excellent memoir will only solidify his reputation as one of the Best Writers of our time.

"Promises To Keep" by Joe Biden is also a Random House book.  The Copy I got was a Random House Trade Publication that I bought at a discount through Amazon.com.  It is a memoir that tells Joe's story from his life in Scranton, Pennsylvania and Delaware through his successful campaigns for the Senate up to just before his successful run with Barack Obama for Vice President.

I truly loved both of these books.  I was not really surprised by how articulate Barack Obama was.  He was, we all know an incredible speechmaker and writer.

What surprised me most about these two books was the fact that I think Joe Biden turned out to be just as good a writer as Barack.  And that I believe is saying something.

We are presently at a crossroads whereby the next election once again will turn out to be the most important election of our time.  

I would suggest to anyone who does not believe that Joe Biden should run for President again that they should read "Promises to Keep."  Biden is the kind of Decent, Caring and Trustworthy person we need in the White House at this important time and in my opinion if he runs again I will gladly vote for him.  I think that he has shown himself to be not only up to the job as President but has been an outstanding President even though Republicans have gone out of their way to make him unsuccessful.  I wake up every day thankful that it was Joe Biden that won the Presidency in 2020 and not Donald Trump.

I hope Biden runs again and will give me a chance to vote for him again in 2024.  "Promises to keep" is evidence, as is the accomplishments of the early parts of his first term, that he is not only a Political Master but that he is a man who cares deeply about people.  He always has and I predict he always will.  We need him in the White House and we need to back him up with plenty of Democrats in the House of Representatives.

So in 2022 Vote Democrat

And in 2024 Vote Democrat again.

Our Democracy Depends on it.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher 

God Saved The Queen

 September 8th, 2022

Queen Elizabeth is Dead.

Long Live The Queen

Certainly Queen Elizabeth II has lived a long and eventful life.  She was 96 Years old when she passed away today and she had been the Queen of England for 70 years of her life.  She was only 25 years old when she inherited the throne from her Father, King George VI . Indeed, neither King George nor Queen Elizabeth had been expected to be British Monarchs but George's Brother, Edward VIII Abdicated his throne so that he could marry a twice divorced American woman named Wallis Simpson.  And after Elizabeth's Father died while in office Elizabeth was next in line for the throne.

Queen Elizabeth was not someone who seemed to love the glamour and the spotlight that went along with being queen.  Indeed, those who knew her best seemed to recognize that she was a rather shy person, overall.

Yet, when those moments came when she needed to step up to her responsibilities she always seemed capable of doing that and, despite the desires of many Britons to do away with the Monarchy, Queen Elizabeth seemed to understand what her duties were to her United Kingdom Subjects and she carried them out gracefully and responsibly.  Over he long reign Elizabeth was loved and admired by almost everyone in her kingdom.

At certain times in her life, although she never seemed to attract much negative attention herself, a great deal of controversy seemed to swirl around other members of the Royal Family.  Her Sister, Princess Margaret's love life, Her son Charles and his wife Diana and his mistress and later wife, Camilla, Her son Andrew's accusations of his association with Jeffrey Epstein and escapades with underage girls must have been extremely distressing to the queen. 

Yet Queen Elizabeth seemed to soldier on throughout her life with dignity and respect received from most of her subjects.  While Elizabeth accomplished much throughout her life her accomplishments were, for the most part, under the radar and out of the limelight.  She was a private person who was not only well loved by her British subjects but she seemed to be well loved by people, including Presidents and leaders from all over the world, who admired and respected her.

Although she tried her best to be a private person her story has been told in many ways over the years in newspapers, books, magazines, in movies and on television.  Indeed, The Royal Family of Elizabeth and Phillip and their family were probably one of the first families who starred in a Television "Reality Show" in Great Britain featuring their own family.  The Crown is a very popular Netflix show that tells her story in great detail and now finally has an ending, or does it.  

Certainly the story of King Charles has already proven to be an interesting one.  Charles has not been as popular as his mother with the British people but we will see in the coming days, weeks and years how things work out for Charles and his wife and sons, as well as other members of the Royal Family.  

But for now I will join into the British Hope for their King and say the following:

                                       GOD SAVE THE KING

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

   

LOCK HIM UP : Lingering Questions Surrounding Donald Trump's Mysterious Theft Of Top Secret American Government Documents And His Unwillingness to Return Them

Monday August 29th, 2022

Oh, Those were the days, My Friend

I can recall them so well.  Those days suddenly seem so long ago but they really weren't that long ago, actually.

Back in those bygone days when a Presidential Election was over, after the ballots were counted, even in a sometimes extremely close election The Candidate with the most votes won the election and shortly after that the Candidate who lost the election went home and except for brief periods every once in awhile were hardly ever heard from again.

Yes, there were sometimes ugly campaigns and occasionally ugly candidates but come January and February after the Inauguration of the new President the old President.  The one who had been beaten or was simply retiring as his own choice.  He (It was always a "HE") hit the road or flew away almost never to be heard from again.  

That Tradition of the old President getting out of town, or at least getting out of the spotlight had lasted for as long as the Republic, For as long as Democracy in America had lasted.

But apparently that longstanding Tradition of Peaceful Transition of Power in a Democracy is no longer in operation in the Republican Party.  The well known norms of Politics that lasted as long as Democracy has lasted in America are no longer in operation.

Under Donald Trump's Leadership the MAGA Republicans seem to have decided that we don't need Democracy anymore.  Apparently they think that it is an outdated principle that has kept Donald Trump from his rightful place which is at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

What the Hell is wrong with you Republicans?

For God's sake, you people have up to now always been the backbone of Democracy in America.  You were often willing to go to war to protect your Democracy and you worried and acted forcefully when you witnessed our country beginning to go off the rails.  Where the hell have you Truly Super Patriots Gone to.

In your place we now certainly have people calling themselves Republicans and Patriots but the flags they are waving are on Flagpoles they have turned into spears.

Jesus, all of you Congressional Republicans were running just as fast, Maybe even faster than Democrats, on January Sixth after Trump sent his Lynch Mob to Capitol Hill to "Hang Mike Pence" and to stop the certification of the 2020 Election.

It's not like you people are blind to what is going on with Trump.  Maybe some of you like Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert really are dumb enough to actually believe their own and Trump's Bullshit.  But educated people like Josh Hawley and Lindsey Graham, you people should know better and I'm sure that you do.

Back during the 2016 Election none of you who were running against Trump, except for Chris Christie, had a good word to say about Donald Trump.  Now all of you Republican Senators and Congressmen and Women, with the exceptions of Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger and sometimes Mitt Romney, have anything but praise for the Disgraced Ex President.

You despicable bastards even sign on to Trump's Insane Claim that HE won the 2020 Election.  You can't all be that stupid.

I find it hard to be reasonable with people who seem to be OK with turning the United States into a Fascist Country.

It is time that you Republicans who claim to be such Patriots recognize that what you are doing is following a Madman, a Charlatan, a man who seriously doesn't give a shit about you people other than how much money and praise he can squeeze from you.

Some of you are going to jail for what you did on January Sixth, while some like Doug Mastriano run for high office like Governor in places like Pennsylvania.

Jesus, this can't be happening.  But it is.  

Wake up Republicans and smell the Treason in the air.  I don't really think that most of you following Trump really know the full extent of what is on the horizon for America if Trump is not stopped.

Are Republicans really OK with living in a Fascist Nation in which voting is a thing of the past.

I think the answer is "NO".

Before you start talking about starting a "Civil War" please think about what you are doing and what Donald Trump is doing.

And think about the fact that Trump has no proof whatever that he won the 2020 Election.  

Instead of doing what candidates have done for centuries which was to congratulate your opponent for a difficult race and concede that you lost, Trump instead put into motion bullshit claims of fraud and committed real fraud by trying to get fake electors into the mix, He tried unsuccessfully to get Mike Pence to throw the election and when all else failed he instigated a coup at the Capitol which he wanted to lead but was not allowed to by members of the Secret Service.

Now we have found that on his way out for the White House he stole Top secret files and refused to give them back until the FBI retrieved those he had not given back.

Why did Donald Trump take these classified files in the first place and more importantly what did he do with them. 

I ask myself the question would a desperate man on his way out of the Presidency take classified files to sell to the highest bidder.

He had those files for over a Year and a half. It would have been easy in that extensive length of time for someone with a cell phone to copy all of those files

What did Trump do with them?

Who did he allow to have access to them?

The answers to these questions is extremely frightening to me.

In my opinion Donald Trump is either a Lunatic or a Criminal, or is possibly both.

In any case Donald Trump should never again be allowed to be anywhere near classified United States Files ever again.

Whether or not he did or did not sell or give files to one or more of his Dictator Friends he should still never again be in a position in which he could possibly do such things.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

  

 

Bye Bye Miss American Pie - They Drove You From Your Party Cause You Wouldn't Back The Lie

 August 22nd, 2022

My Dear America:

Well, it took a few more decades than George Orwell Predicted but 1984 has finally arrived in The United States in 2022.

2022 is the year that Black became White, Good became Bad and Truth became Fiction in the Republican Political Party in the United States of America.

And in Donald Trump's mind and the minds of many of his followers, the fact that Democrat Joe Biden was actually elected President of the United States by a wide margin with actual vote talleys in every state in the union suddenly didn't matter anymore.  Democracy didn't matter anymore.  American voters didn't matter anymore. Some Trump Supporters even felt compelled (With Their Leader's Encouragement) to storm the United States Capitol building while the Capitol was in session to certify the legitimate election vote totals of 2020.  

Although some members of The Capitol Police Force and the D.C. Police force died and countless others were seriously injured by Donald Trump's Goon Squad, many Republican Legislators who were visibly Shaken and Outraged at the time of the Capitol Attack now continue to bow to the Oathkeepers, Proud Boys ( Who have nothing to be proud of as far as I can see) and Three Percenters, as well as other Trump supporters who seem to be those who make up the Republican Party in America at this strange point in time.

Like the Taliban in Afghanistan the Republican Party seems to have completely become a Right Wing Supposedly Religious Movement anxious to enslave their Countrymen and Women in their Authoritarian Spirit of "We're right and everybody else is wrong".  Put succinctly The Republican Party has lost its collective mind and seems truly hell bent on destroying the Concept of Democracy in America and replacing it with something similar to what we find in Dictatorships in Authoritarian led countries.

Although Donald Trump certainly made a complete mockery of our Democracy during the Four Godawful Years that he was President, he has really gone and done it now in 2022.  Trump and what is left of his "Conservative Republican Party" seems to be simply focused on getting Trump  back into the Presidency so that he and his henchmen and women can keep him from being prosecuted by a United States Justice Department that, unlike it was when he had complete control of DOJ, is now rightly pursuing the Ex President who has always been in his mind above the law.

Into this land of lunacy  where the Republican Party seems to have completely gone off the rails and evidently are staying off the rails, has come Liz Cheney.  Liz has been in the past a Republican Party Leader but because she just couldn't put her principles aside and do the Wrong Thing like so many other Republicans and spread the "Big Lie" that "Donald Trump had actually won the Presidential Election in 2020" she just lost her Congressional Primary in Wyoming to Harriet Hageman, who had been a Liz Cheney Supporter and a Donald Trump critic until she found her Republican Spiritual Awakening in a Trump Endorsement for her Congressional Campaign.  Suddenly, although Ms. Hageman had no use for Trump Two years ago, she has been saved and has suddenly found God in Mara Lago.

Hageman was certainly not the only Republican Trump Critic who who found New Election Spirit in the 2022 Election.  JD Vance in Ohio had made a lot of noise and became a best selling author by criticizing Donald Trump back in the day.  But this year he made it clear that he had also found Jesus in Mara Lago and after getting Trump's endorsement JD also found himself caring more about Being Elected than doing the Right Thing.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that Republicans are so hell bent on Winning Elections that Principles and Truth in the Trump Republican Party are quickly becoming a thing of the past.

After Trump and his minions drive those who insist on continuing to maintain Genuine Conservative Republican Principles out of the party it is frightening to realize what we will be left with in what used to be a strongly principled two party system.

The Truth is that we just barely missed having our government being taken over by the Trump Goon Squad in January of 2021.

Although Donald Trump pressured Mike Pence unmercifully to torpedo the January Sixth Certification Pence turned out to have just enough Decency and Backbone to instead torpedo Donald Trump's plan to illegally reinstall himself into the Presidency.

Trump had other irons in the fire though.  

He thought that he could strongarm the Georgia Secretary of State and Governor to magically come up with the thousands of votes Trump needed for him to win the Electoral votes in that state.

It turned out that although Brad Rafensperger and Brian Kemp were Staunch Republicans who had voted for Donald Trump themselves in the 2020 Election that they were unwilling to bow to Trump's Unspeakable Requests to "Come Up with" enough magical votes to swing the election to Trump. 

Trump did find some Republicans willing to sign on as "Fake Electors" in several states but in the end the Fake Electors Scheme didn't work out and only made Law Enforcement Targets of those individuals foolish enough to sign on to that incredibly indecent scheme.

So now in addition to illegally taking Top Secret documents with him to Mara Lago and apparently refusing to give the documents back to the U.S. Archives where they belong, he is also trying his best to install people like himself to positions of responsibility in every state in the union who will, when the time comes, not be guided by principles like Pence, Raffensperger and Kemp were.

Donald Trump should never again be allowed anywhere near the White House ever again and if the January Sixth Committee and the United States Justice Department are successful in their endeavors he never will be.

But clearly Donald Trump has power aplenty in the Republican Party and he is already using it to eliminate and punish those individuals on his enemies list.

Apparently number one on that list was Liz Cheney, who did her best to alert the world and most assuredly her Republican Party to the dangers of continuing to follow the lead of Donald Trump.  While Liz was successful in her role as Vice Chair of the January Sixth Committtee in the end Liz was unsuccessful in her Wyoming Primary vote to keep her seat in Congress.  She was beaten by Trump Turncoat Harriet Hageman in a landslide.  Liz will continue to be in Congress for the rest of 2022 and possibly beyond if she manages to run a successful Independent Campaign to retain her seat.  

Although in normal times I would probably have little sympathy for Liz Cheney losing her seat in congress These are not normal times.  These are in many ways Strange and Terrible Times.  Liz Cheney lost badly in the Wyoming Primary Election and she pointed out that she could have easily won her election if she was willing to do what so many of her colleagues in Congress and the Republican Party chose to do, which was to Bow to King Donald and kiss up to someone who she recognized was not a King but a Criminal with no conscience whatsoever.

Liz Cheney may soon be gone from Congress and the January Sixth Committee and in fact the January Sixth Committee may itself be gone if enough Republicans are elected to the U.S. House and Senate in November of 2022.

Clearly Liz Cheney is presently giving thought to what her next move will be.  She admits to thinking about a Presidential run.  

At the moment, however, I think that those of us who are interested in preserving Democracy in the United States of America will be thinking hard about what Liz Cheney is going to do in the future and how her choices will affect us and will affect our Democracy.

I am sure, though, that Liz Cheney will be on the Frontlines of Preserving Democracy for the rest of her life.

Thank you, Liz for being there when we needed you and when our country needed you very badly. 

I sincerely hope that the sacrifice you have made for Truth and Democracy will somehow wake up those members of the Republican Party who have become willing members of the Trump Cult.

But to tell you the truth I am not counting on that miracle happening.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

 

 

Welcome To The Odd And Slightly Unhappy Celebration Of The Second Anniversary Of Podcast For A Lost Nation

 August 8th, 2022

My Dear America:

I feel that I have a lot to explain here.

Let me start with the oddly named title to this present Podcast Episode.  

Yes, I used the word "Unhappy" because of the fact that when I started this Podcast Two years ago this past July 12th I had one purpose in mind.  That purpose was to see a Democrat (Namely Joe Biden) Elected President and following that to see the Previous President, Donald Trump, move out of the White House and down to Florida and never to be heard from again.

Clearly one of my Podcast Purposes has happened.  Joe Biden was elected President in November of 2020.

Unfortunately, my other purpose which was to see the last of Donald Trump did not occur.  Trump, unfortunately tried every way he could to keep himself in the White House including instigating an attempted Coup.  I would have bet a lot of money, if I had it, that once Donald Trump left Washington for Mara Lago that we would have heard the last of Trump.  

I would have lost  a lot of money because the man from Mara Lago has shown and is continuing to show that even though he tried to do what we might have expected a Dictator to do (Namely To Keep Himself In Power Illegally) he still seems to be continuing to maintain a stranglehold on the Republican Party.

Trump Endorsed Election Deniers are presently on the ballot in important Positions in several major state races including Governors Senators and Secretary's of State in Pennsylvania and Arizona.

Donald Trump, who never showed much decency or self restraint before continues to wander around the country whining about how he is the most persecuted Ex President ever and apparently his lies have not caught up with him in the Republican Party.  just this past weekend C-PAC's Straw Poll showed him winning the Presidential Preference Poll by 69 Percent, while his closest challenger. Ron Desantis percentage was in the 20 Percent Range.

Anyway, before I get too far along on this rant I do want to say that I thought that once Joe Biden clearly won the Presidency ( And He Certainly Did) that I could relax and forget about Donald Trump and enjoy the fact that my Scranton Political Brother was in the White House and the Good Life could begin again.

I foolishly thought that Joe Biden's old Friend and Comrade in the Senate, Mitch McConnell would begin to cooperate with his old Democratic buddy and bring his Republican Friends with him.

Well that didn't happen and a lot of other unforeseen things did happen.

Who would have expected Russia to have the gall to invade Ukraine in the horrible and devastating breach of International Respect for Law and Borders that occurred.  

I am still convinced that Putin waited to invade Ukraine because he expected his buddy, Trump to win the election in 2020 and knew that if Trump won that he would have solidly supported Putin in the War with Ukraine.

I sincerely thought that after the Presidential Election in 2020 when Joe Biden won that I would quickly run out of Political Topics to discuss and could move on to other topics that I was interested in like Television, Movies and Books.

But of course that didn't happen.  Donald Trump did not go gently into that South Florida Night and as long as Republicans hang on to him like the Anchor that he is it seems as though we are all engaged in a downward spiral to God Knows What.

So, of course, I see no path at the present time to writing about those lighter and more fun topics that I would really prefer to write about.  Not as long as Donald Trump continues to rampage through Our Democracy like a dangerous Bull in a China Shop.

Unfortunately, the future of the United States looks very dim at the moment and everything the Republican Party does seems to make it look dimmer.

I want to end this rant on a high note.  

I know that most of the people who listen to this Podcast and read my "Letters To A Lost Nation"  Blog Posts are either Relatives or Friends.  To all of you I thank you for sticking with me over the past two years.  

For those other people who have listened in over the past couple of years I genuinely hope that it has been worth your while and that you will stick it out with me for as many years as I can stick it out.  

I appreciate all of you who listen and I promise that I will do my best to keep telling the truth to all of you who will listen in the future.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

  

The Donald Trump Stain On American History - The January Sixth Committee Wraps Up The First Phase Of Hearings

 Friday, July 29th 2022

My Dear America:

Well, the Eighth and what had been originally scheduled to be the Final Wrap Up Session of the United States House of Representatives January Sixth Committee Hearing is over.  What has happened, however, is that a great deal of new evidence has been shared with the Committee and as of now it looks as though new Committee Hearings will be scheduled, possibly as soon as September.

This does not mean that the Committee has failed in presenting their evidence so far.  Quite the opposite is true.  The January Sixth Committee has shown itself to be quite adept in their presentation of evidence, which to my mind proves, among other things, that Donald Trump is Guilty as Hell of High Crimes and should never again be permitted to darken any doorway in the White House.

The January Sixth Committee Hearings have been Interesting, Sensational and Successful, to my mind.  They have been presented almost like Regular Broadcast Television Episodes which were complete stories, in themselves but when you put them all together they present a stunning narrative of truly spectacular Political Intrigue emanating directly from the White House Oval Office.

Unfortunately, however, the people who need to watch these tales of political treachery the most will likely never watch any, never mind All of the January Sixth Hearings.  

Every phase of the hearings was powerful to me.  The fact that almost all of the witnesses were Republicans was stunning and made it difficult, if not impossible for critics to claim that the hearings were simply a Democratic Hatchet Job.  

The January Sixth Committee Witnesses were not, for the most part, enemies of the Former President, looking to extract revenge for some political reason.  They were almost all Republicans who had pledged their support to Donald Trump and many had testified under oath that they had voted for Donald Trump in the Election of November 2020.

One reason that I think the Hearings were presented so powerfully was that the Committee had wisely hired a Veteran ABC Television Executive to guide the Television Production of the Hearings.  Granted that there might have been some hitches along the way but for the most part the January Sixth Hearings were pretty smooth and power packed Television Productions.

The January Sixth Committee Members seemed to give a demonstration of how individuals from two political parties can and should be able to get along with one another and work together for the benefit of the American People.  

Clearly Nancy Pelosi put a good deal of thought into who would be effective and would work well together when she set up the January Sixth Committee.  Jamie Raskin is a Constitutional Scholar and Adam Schiff is a former Prosecutor.  Clearly Kevin McCarthy was played for a fool by Pelosi when after his attempt to put election deniers on the panel and Pelosi refused he decided to refuse to cooperate further with the January Sixth Committee.  Even Donald Trump thought that McCarthy was stupid in that situation.

Unfortunately for Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger they have probably laid down their Political Lives for their insistence on Truth being told in the Republican Party about Donald Trump.  Liz appears to be on her way to being driven out of Politics by her Wyoming Republican Party because she continues to reject "The Big Lie" that Donald Trump is a victim of Voter Fraud.  She realizes that losing her House seat is probably in her future but she is unwilling to lie in order to keep it.

Adam Kinzinger has chosen to leave his House seat on his own rather than be tossed out by his party chiefs.  

Unfortunately for Cheney and Kinzinger their integrity is out of step with their Republican Party which these days seems to be made up of only individuals who are willing to sacrifice their integrity to keep their Congressional Seats and are even willing to give up Democracy so that their party remains politically successful.  It is truly a shameful state of affairs and one that should give every Republican pause before they ever cast another vote for another Republican for any office.

The issue of Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney gives me pause because for the most part I disagree with both of them regarding most issues.  They truly are Conservatives on most issues and have voted with Donald Trump during his Presidential Tenure most of the time.  Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for us, they, unlike most of their party, were unwilling to lie on the issue of whether or not Donald Trump was a "Loser" in the 2020 Election.  Cheney and Kinzinger were not OK with having people killed and injured at the Capitol just to soothe Donald Trump's Oversized Ego.

What is clear to me now and I think should be clear to any correct thinking American at this point is that Donald Trump was front and center in this plot to destroy the rule of law in the 2020 Election.  I believe that the January Sixth Committee has shown that.  Indeed, a tape exists in which Steve Bannon in a presentation prior to the 2020 Election announced that regardless of the outcome of the Election Donald Trump was going to claim that he won, whether or not he did or didn't legitimately win the Presidency.  Certainly Bannon's prediction came true and even now Trump is still refusing to admit that he lost the 2020 Election.

Trump was no innocent Doofus who didn't know what he was doing when it came to attempting to steal the election from Joe Biden.  Although clearly Trump was stupid in what he did and how he did it, correct thinking Americans should recognize that he was desperate to stay in office not because he wanted to work hard for the people of the United States but simply because he wanted to save his sorry ass from prosecution for God Knows how many numerous crimes that he committed during the four years he was in the Oval Office.  He was certainly not known to be a workaholic while he was in the White House and was not destined to be one if he managed to pull off his desperate scheme and remained in power.  He knows full well that while he is loose on the streets of Mara Lago, rather than Washington he is vulnerable to all measures of Legal Consequences including prosecution and will probably (Like his former Right Hand Man and present day Podcaster, Michael Cohen) eventually do some hard time for his crimes.

Although The January Sixth Committee is not a Court of Law they certainly have made their case, as far as I am concerned.  In a brilliant and measured manner the Committee has shown remarkable responsibility and restraint in their various presentations over the course of their Eight Hearings.

What appears to be occurring presently is that the United States Justice Department seems to have paid close attention to the January Sixth Committee Hearings and some of the same individuals who have given bombshell testimony to that group are now presently giving bombshell testimony to Grand Juries in Washington D.C. and Atlanta.  Although the New York City DA seems to have given up on prosecuting Donald Trump, the New York State Attorney General continues to investigate Donald Trump's Dirty Deeds.

The January Sixth Committee Hearings have laid out a case that should be easy for the Justice Department to follow through with.  It is ugly and distasteful to witness an Ex President of the United States being pursued legally for what he has done in office but Donald Trump has so desecrated the Office of the United States Presidency that Attorney General Merrick Garland truly has no choice other than to put Justice back into the Justice Department.

Donald Trump needs to pay for all he has done to all of us.  He has committed  countless crimes right out in the open for all to see almost daring us to hold him to account for his actions.  Representative Kinzinger has spoken eloquently about Donald Trump's "Stain on American History."  Indeed, some of that Stain is blood spilled on January 6th for no good reason.  Americans are dead and permanently injured as a result of the fact that Donald Trump couldn't handle the truth and admit that the was a Loser.

Our country has many more problems in addition to Donald Trump.  Our Congress was Somewhat Dysfuntional prior to Trump's Election to the Presidency.  

Now it is simply Disastrously Dysfuntional to the point where it is anybody's guess as to whether or not we will once again get to the point where we can function properly as a Democratic Nation ever again.

I hope that by making Donald Trump pay for his crimes we might actually "Make America Great Again"   

And by some miracle I hope that by flushing Donald Trump out of our system like flushing a turd down a toilet that we can somehow make Republicans see how out of step with Democracy they truly are before we actually lose our Democratic system for good.

I urge my Republican Friends, Neighbors and Relatives to Wake Up  and Save Democracy Now, Today, Before its too late to do it. 

In the upcoming elections vote for people who genuinely care about Freedom in the United States of America before we lose what we have learned to love about our country over the past few centuries.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

   

The January Sixth Committee Hearings Continue In High Gear For The Latest Three Hearings

Monday, July 11th, 2022

 My Dear America:

To say that the last couple of weeks of Testimony at the January Sixth Committee Hearings have been Astonishing is putting it mildly.  

The Fourth Committee Hearing, like the first three, consisted of a good deal of  video taped testimony by a number of individuals who had already testified to the Committee and to their staff.  The Fourth Committee Hearing also featured Testimony under oath by four Individuals who were testifying live and in person in the committee Hearing Room.

Those Fourth Committee Hearing In Person Witnesses were Rusty Bowers, who is the current Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, Brad Raffensperger, Who is currently the Secretary of State in Georgia and his Deputy, Gabriel Sterling, the Chief Operating Officer in the Georgia Secretary Of State's Office.  The last but certainly not least in terms of Testimony Impact during the Fourth Committee Hearing was Shaye Moss, a former Election Worker who was employed by the Fulton County Elections Department before she was unfairly targeted by Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump and their dangerous disciples in the state of Georgia.

The first person heard from at the Fourth Committee Hearing was Rusty Bowers.  Prior to this Hearing this was a name that I had never heard of and I don't think many other people had heard of.  Rusty was an older gentleman and it was evident through his testimony that he clearly took his role as an Arizona public servant seriously.  He had been contacted by Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani, among others in an effort to possibly change legal Electors for Biden, who had won the state in the 2020 election.  Trump claimed that many dead people and illegal immigrants had voted in November of 2020 for Biden.  Rusty Bowers asked Trump and Giuliani if they had names of these illegal voters.  Rudy said they did.  Bowers asked to be given the names.  Trump told Rudy to do it and Rudy promised to get them to Bowers ASAP.  Bowers testified that he never received the names or any information that he could use to verify Trump and Giuliani's claims so that he could not legitimately cooperate with Trump in changing the Electors from Biden to Trump. Naturally, Bowers refused to cooperate with the Trump Electors scheme.  Trump followers harassed not only Rusty Bowers at his home where his daughter was living with him in her last days.  She was dying and did die in January of 2021.  While she was alive she and the family were constantly subjected to threats and harassment by Trump supporters.

Brad Raffensperger, whose disturbing phone call with Trump demanding that Raffensperger find over 11 thousand votes to tip the election in Trump's favor also refused to relent to Trump's harassment.  Raffensperger and his family were also subject to harassing phone calls at home and individuals trying to gain entry into his daughter in laws home.  She was a widow.  Raffensperger's son had passed away.

Gabriel Sterling told a similar tale of harassment by Trump's supporters and supported Secretary Raffensperger's explanation of what had been done by the Georgia officials to carefully count the ballots in their state as accurately as possible.  According to these two representatives from Georgia there was no way that Trump's claims of massive voter fraud was true.  

Indeed, the three officials that testified at the Fourth January Sixth Committee Hearing, two from Georgia and one from Arizona were dyed in the wool Republicans who had voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 Election.  

In Fact, Rusty Bowers, following his explosive testimony inexplicably claimed that if, in fact Donald Trump was the 2024 Presidential Candidate that he would vote for Trump again, as he had voted for Trump in 2020.

Shaye Moss ended the fourth Hearing of the January Sixth Committee with her heartbreaking tale of being a long time Georgia Election worker who was a sympathetic victim of Donald Trump's selfish obsession with denying that he was a Loser in the 2020 Election, which, of course he was.

This young lady's life and that of her Mother and Grandmother were shaken to the core by Trump's and Giuliani's lies due to Giuliani and Trump identifying them as being guilty of not only messing with the ballots (Which investigations proved was not the case) to passing drugs between each other ( Which turned out to be candies).  

These people had to go into hiding as a result of these desperate and despicable election lies which led to dangerous threats by Trump supporters.

Following Shaye Moss's testimony to the committee the Committee members lined up to shake Shaye's hand and hug her as well as Shaye's mother, "Lady Ruby"

The Fifth Session of the January Sixth Committee was primarily led by Republican Committee Member, Adam Kinzinger and concentrated on testimony with regard to Donald Trump's effort to bully leaders of the United States Department of Justice to participate in his desperate attempt to remain in the White House despite the fact that he lost the election in 2020.

Although a good deal of videotaped testimony was also included during this fifth hearing, most of this hearing's testimony featured three individuals who were, in fact, the leaders of the Department of Justice during the last days of the Trump Administration following the resignation of Attorney General, William Barr, following his advice to President Trump that the investigation by the Justice Department had not uncovered any indication of fraud that would have affected the fact that Joe Biden had won the November 2020 election.

The individuals from the Justice Department who testified at the fifth January Sixth Committee Hearing were the following:

Jeff Rosen:  Acting Attorney General

Richard Donaghue: Acting Assistant Attorney General

Steven Engel:  U.S. Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel

All three Justice Department Officials testified to the fact that in the final days of the Trump Administration Donald Trump, despite all evidence to the contrary,  continued to claim that he, and not Joe Biden had won the November 2020 Election.  

The Three men testifying at the Fifth January Sixth Hearing described a meeting they had with President Trump in which he expressed an interest in firing Mr. Rosen and replacing him with a Justice Department Environmental Lawyer named Jeff Clark, who agreed to send a letter to many states announcing that Election Fraud had been found, which was not true.  In the end Clark was not appointed Attorney General because all of the Justice Department Officials in the meeting stated that they would resign if Clark was appointed Acting Attorney General. 

Following the testimony of the Justice Department Officials announcements were made that indicated that Public Televised January Sixth Committee Hearings would be on hold for awhile and would resume some time later in July.    

And Then Suddenly at the end of June came the announcement that an Urgent Emergency Hearing of the January Sixth Committee was scheduled for June 28th, 2022.  

Who was going to be testifying America wanted to know.  But no one except members of the Committee and their staff knew who the mystery witness was going to be until shortly before  the hearing began.

The Mystery Witness who was going to be testifying on June 28th was Cassidy Hutchinson.

Who was Cassidy Hutchinson and what was she going to say that was deserving of such Secrecy regarding her "Urgent" Testimony?

On June 28th, 2022 Cassidy Hutchinson was sworn in as the next witness to testify in front of the January Sixth Committee.

Cassidy Hutchinson was young and attractive.  She looked good in front of the Cameras.  

Cassidy Hutchinson was a former White House Aide.  She was introduced as an Assistant to Former Trump Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows.

We had already seen some of Cassidy Hutchinson previously when her videotaped testimony had been played showing her indicate that she was aware of the fact that several people had requested pardons in the final days of the Trump Administration including Rudy Giulani, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, as well as Congresspeople including Matt Gaetz, Mo Brooks, Andy Biggs, Louie Gohmert, Scott Perry and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

During much of Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony questions were asked by Committee Co Chair, Liz Cheney.

Although Ms. Hutchinson generally avoided saying the full curse word in her testimony when I quote her I will use the curse word that Ms. Hutchinson reported that President Trump used in his angry rants.

Cassidy Hutchinson was asked by Congresswoman Cheney about what she had observed backstage at the Ellipse before President Trump gave his speech.  

Ms. Hutchinson stated that President Trump was angry because a magnatometer had been set up by the Secret Service to prevent a number of people coming into the area who were observed to have guns.  According to Ms. Hutchinson President Trump became upset that the gun toting individuals were not allowed to join the Ellipse crowd and stated that he wanted the magnatometers to be removed and the gun toters to be allowed to join the crowd and also march to the Capitol with the crowd. Trump was angry that the Secret service would not allow the gunmen to join the crowd on the Ellipse.

After the speeches at the Ellipse according to what Ms. Hutchinson had been told by Secret Service Agents, Donald Trump demanded that the Secret Service agent driving the President's vehicle take him to the Capitol.  When the agent refused Trump tried to grab the steering wheel and stated "I'm the Fucking President.  Take me to the Capitol Now".  The agent told him "Sir, take your hand off the steering wheel.  We're going back to the West Wing."

Hutchinson stated that on the day that Trump found out that Attorney General, William Barr gave an interview to the Associated Press stating that the Justice Department had determined that there was no Election Fraud that Trump reacted to that by Throwing food at the Wall in the Oval Office Dining room.  

As the Rioters were storming the Capitol Pat Cippolone, the President's Counsel and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows went to talk to the President and came back to the office where Ms. Hutchinson was working and she heard them talking.

Cassidy Hutchinson testified to the fact that she heard the following Conversation between Cippolone and Meadows discussing the Rioter's chants that they were going to "Hang Mike Pence."

Pat Cippolone - Mark, we need to do something.  They're literally calling for the Vice President to be fucking hung.

Mark Meadows - You heard him, Pat.  He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn't think they're doing anything wrong.

Pat Cippolone - This is fucking crazy.  We need to be doing something more.

Shortly after this discussion between Cippolone and Meadows while the Trump Supporters at the Capitol were continuing to threaten to "Hang MIke Pence" and had set up a scaffold outside the Capitol with which to do it, President Trump sent out the following Tweet.

"Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving states a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify.  USA demands the truth."

When Cassidy Hutchinson was asked about how she felt about what she heard and saw on January 6th, 2021 she stated:

"As an American I was disgusted, Frustrated, disappointed."

She stated that the Capitol Building was being defaced for a lie.

To say that Cassidy Hutchinson gave bombshell testimony is putting it mildly.

She is a brave young lady who, unlike many other possible January Sixth Witnesses, has come forward and laid out some facts that she can attest to and which make what was already a deeply disturbing picture of what happened on January Sixth even more disturbing.  

To be honest, I thought that January Sixth was bad enough when I watched what happened on television and thought that Trump was simply too frightened to go to the Capitol on January Sixth.

I can only imagine the bloodbath that could have and certainly would have taken place if he had joined the mob at the Capitol on that day.  

Thank God for the fact that the Secret Service did him the favor of keeping him from the Capitol on that dark day in January of 2021.

Clearly, as of this time the January Sixth Committee has shown that without a doubt Donald Trump should not be allowed to run for office ever again and is certainly guilty of "High Crimes" which certainly should disqualify him from ever seeking the Presidency again. 

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher