Whistleblowergate and write you Congressmen -- Part 2

AROUND THE BLOCK

Dear Congresswoman Frankel

  

After three letters, regarding Trump, impeachment and Congressional inaction, I received a (somewhat boilerplate) reply from my Congresswoman, Lois Frankel, on September 17th.

And then, along came Whistleblowergate.

So, I gathered my parchment and quill and wrote Ms. Frankel one more time.

September 21, 2019

Dear Representative Frankel,

Thank you for your September 17th response to my letters. I appreciate how busy you are and welcome the dialogue.

My letters did indeed comment on the conduct of President Trump although I did not mention the Mueller Report as your reply suggested. 

In your letter you urged me to have patience and allow the process to play out.

Sadly, only a few days after your reply, the President has acted malignantly once again, sending us into a full-blown Constitutional crisis.

I applaud your September 20 tweet on the latest presidential injustice, dare I say “crime,” in which you said, in part, "Congress MUST investigate these reports to get to the truth & protect our democracy."

I'm sure you've read George Conway and Neal Katyal's Op-Ed in today's Washington Post. If not, here's the link:

(https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-has-done-plenty-to-warrant-impeachment-but-the-ukraine-allegations-are-over-the-top/2019/09/20/51eff90c-dbf1-11e9-bfb1-849887369476_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1)

I, like Conway and Katyal, believe our patience has played out and it is time for serious action.

As they write, "The current whistleblowing allegations, however, are even worse. Unlike the allegations of conspiracy with Russia before the 2016 election, these concern Trump’s actions as president, not as a private citizen, and his exercise of presidential powers over foreign policy with Ukraine. Moreover, with Russia, at least there was an attempt to get the facts through the Mueller investigation; here the White House is trying to shut down the entire inquiry from the start — depriving not just the American people, but even congressional intelligence committees, of necessary information.

"It is high time for Congress to do its duty, in the manner the framers intended. Given how Trump seems ever bent on putting himself above the law, something like what might have happened between him and Ukraine — abusing presidential authority for personal benefit — was almost inevitable. Yet if that is what occurred, part of the responsibility lies with Congress, which has failed to act on the blatant obstruction that Mueller detailed months ago. 

"Congressional procrastination has probably emboldened Trump, and it risks emboldening future presidents who might turn out to be of his sorry ilk."

I understand Speaker Pelosi's concern about the political consequences of an impeachment process that might not lead to removal due to a shameless GOP majority Senate.

I understand that certain Democratic Congressmen in more purple/red districts believe a full impeachment process might (not "would," by the way, "might") endanger their reelection prospects.

But, as Conway and Katyal remind us, quoting John Dean, "there is a cancer on the presidency, and cancers, if not removed, only grow."

We cannot simply leave the fate of the Nation, the fate of the Democracy, in the hands of the people in the 2020 election. Not with this man and not with our processes.

We have a flawed election process, the result of voter suppression and gerrymandering, foreign interference and a sadly outdated Electoral Congress system that will, if Trump wins, undoubtably result in a minority president once again. 

We have a President who will stop at nothing to win reelection, remain in the White House (and out of prison, by the way) and a Congress which is the only entity able to stop him (short of the 25th Amendment -- did you hear that Mr. Pence?).

I urge you to work with the Speaker, your fellow Democrats and maybe even some shameless Republicans to do your sworn duty and remove this cancerous stain on our great country. 

Sincerely,

Theodore Block