06/13/2019
Here's an email I just sent Rep. Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
Dear Chairman Schiff,
I have followed your work on the Intelligence Committee from Ranking Member to Chairman and have cheered you on in your work to uncover the truth about Russia and the rest of the sorry mess.
Last night, on Rachel Maddow, you said something that disturbed me greatly. You were talking about the difficulty to get information and witnesses, due to the stalling techniques by Trump and the GOP, when you said that you were "...loosing patience".
Sir, you should have lost patience some time ago, when it became clear that there would be no cooperation from Trump or his followers. I worked in psychiatric hospitals for 9 years and was a foster parent for troubled teenagers. The very first thing I learned was, don't argue with a crazy" and the second, "be consistent and don't imply consequences when you aren't going to carry them out promptly!"
I know that you wish to be methodical, transparent, and persuasive in showing that Trump and his organization are unfit and, I believe, traitors. However, every day that you allow them to drag their feet is another day for them to further undermine our Judiciary and public perceptions.
Sir, being about to loose your patience doesn't cut it. We are in a fight for the soul of our nation and our fundamental freedoms. It is time to get worked up!
Lastly, I am wondering if this is some part of a larger Democratic Leadership plan to side-step impeachment and the Rule of Law position, by allowing Trump, et al, to run out the clock, which is what they clearly want to do. The time for political swanning is long over. Even though there may not be enough time to complete an Impeachment Inquiry and the Hearing before Congress, there is time to demonstrate that the Rule of Law transcends political consideration. Sometimes, principle is the only thing that will work.
I understand that there is a political risk, but I think it is low or manageable. We know that Trump's base consists of about 80% of Republicans. This hasn't varied much since his election. The undecided, all six of them, will probably split 50%-50%. Democrats and other thoughtful Americans elected Hillary President by 3,000,000 votes. (There would have been more but old fashioned machine politics almost destroyed the Party.)
Mr. Chairman, you have the moral high ground. You have twice as many voters as the GOP. And you have, as the Founders made abundantly clear, the God given right to be free. Right now, it appears that the Democrats are being lead by General McClellan. What we need is a Grant or, perhaps, Sherman to confront rebels one more time.
The only thing that bullies respect is power greater than their own. Use the power we have and use it now.
