Imagine the following situation. You have been held hostage for over three years. Your captors become increasingly unhinged by the day. As crazy as the situation may have been for this long, you wonder if the insanity is trending toward a new level. You decide to take what appears to be an irrational risk to extricate yourself from your captors hold. Aware of their sadism, you propose a game of Russian Roulette. You put three bullets in a six-shooter, spin the wheel and place the barrel up against your temple.
If you survive, your captors let you go. If the cylinder lands on a loaded chamber, your fate is sealed. Some would describe the 50/50 odds of freedom an act of desperation. Yet, immediate resolution of the situation, either way, might be perceived as better than a drawn out affair in which you slowly go crazy or you are subject to a fate worse than death.
For the last three and a half years, America has been held hostage by Donald Trump and his cadre of syncopaths (pathological yes-men or apologists). And, much like the hypothetical circumstances described above, the hovering prospect of impeachment has driven Trump to say things and make policy decisions that are either naive, ignorant, cruel, self-serving or all of the above. As someone who wavered on the wisdom of initiating an impeachment inquiry, I now side with those who believe we do not have the luxury of waiting out the remainder of Trump’s term for 16 more months.
But there are two other people who do not want the house investigation to drag out. Moscow Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Why? Because the more voters are reminded of Trump corruption and the failure of sitting Republican members of Congress to hold Trump accountable, the greater the odds it will be a factor in the 2020 elections. The question is, “Should Democratic representatives and especially House Speaker Nancy Pelosi use the GOP leadership’s fear of going down with Trump as an ‘all or nothing’ opportunity to bring a swift end to the Trump era?”
No, I’m not suggesting Pelosi offer to play an actual game of Russian Roulette to decide Trump’s fate, just the metaphorical equivalent. Consider the following letter from Pelosi to the GOP congressional leadership with a copy to the American people.
To the Honorable Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy:
This week we are in basic agreement that Donald Trump has made a disastrous mistake by green-lighting Turkey’s incursion into Syria, leading to ethnic cleansing of Kurdish members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who led the battle to destroy the ISIS caliphate. However, as outrageous as the decision to abandon these allies may be, I want to assure you and the American people, Democrats understand the difference between bad policy and impeachable offenses. We believe the Syrian situation adds to the argument President Trump does not deserve a second term, but it is not grounds for immediate impeachment and potential removal from office.
That Constitutional remedy is reserved for betrayal of one’s oath of office which we believe is the case when any president is willing to extort the leader of a sovereign foreign nation for personal gain, political or financial. A plurality of the nation now believes President Trump did exactly that based on the version of his phone conversation with Ukraine President Zelensky released by the White House. You both have argued that it is not a “quid pro quo” and therefore not grounds for an impeachment inquiry.
What if the full transcript suggests otherwise? Are you willing to bet your support for Trump on the assumption the released version accurately reflects a verbatim account of the call? If so, we hope you will accept the following offer. Join with us in demanding a verified copy of the complete and unredacted transcript which is now under “lock-down” on a code-word protected server. If there is no difference between this version and the one released last week, we will immediately drop the impeachment inquiry and take our chances in the 2020 election knowing full well you will argue as vociferously as you can that Trump has been exonerated.
However, if the White House refuses to turn over the full transcript or it includes additional evidence of Trump’s extortion of President Zelensky, you will do the following. Assemble a delegation of Republican senators to go to the White House and tell President Trump the evidence shows he has violated his oath of office, he is also guilty of obstructing Congress, you have asked House Republicans to support articles of impeachment, and you have enough Senate votes to convict him . If he does not immediately resign, you will direct House Republicans to support articles of impeachment and expedite the Senate trial.
I am willing to bet my political future and reputation on the proposition there is a reason Mr. Trump has done everything in his power to prevent Congress and the American people from seeing exactly what took place on the July 25, 2019 phone call. Are you?
Sincerely,
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
Does this game of “Ukraine Roulette” represent a major risk? Absolutely. Is it worth it? You decide. As in the hostage situation, is it time to take action that would end this latest “national nightmare” sooner rather than later?
For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP
As usual Dr. ESP, you are “right on the money.”
One request: Please never again use the term “ethnic cleansing.” It’s like “executive action” it doesn’t say what it really means.
What you should say is MURDER or MASSACRE or something that indicates that the hounds of hell have been unleashed and among the victims (as always) will be children and women and others who did not cause the atrocity but were in the wrong place at the wrong time!
Good point. Well made and well taken.