I had these thoughts during a walk by a lake, whilst listening on my headphones to the Impeachment Trial in the House, on NPR…

…and I am realizing that I am very tired of all the whining of the Republican Representatives!

Republicans only know how to blame, lie, spread rumors, fear monger or defame. They are such hypocrites, complaining about normal investigative procedures that they themselves have used in the past (closed door hearings to find truth, something that is a standard procedure in our justice system where we have grand jury investigations).

Most dangerous about their behaviors is that they now almost constantly demonize a free press, one of the pillars in our constitution to preserve democracy by checking up and reporting on the dealings of our government.

The Republicans are ignoring our laws by demonizing the whistleblower and trying to out him/her for reporting on possible wrongdoing, despite whistleblowers being protected by law.

Republicans are also ignoring our laws by claiming that the whistleblower and other witnesses are partisan (Democrats) and therefore are politically motivated, without having any proof of that. So, am I understanding this the right way, the Republicans are saying that it is o.k. to break the law and one should keep silent about it if the law breaker is in your political party/team? It sure sounds that way to me.

The Republicans accuse the Democrats to stall on cooperation, I only want to point out that the Republicans did not allow a hearing on President Obama’s Supreme Court nomination to take place, as well as Mitch McConnell’s nickname of Grim Reaper, for killing any bill by the Democrats that comes before him in the Senate. how is that for cooperation?

Finally, when it comes to spreading rumors and innuendo, may I just mention the word “Birther,” having to do with President Obama’s birth certificate being put into question by the Republicans.

Everything that is happening now to the President and his Republican enablers has been sown, nurtured and grown on their fetid soil of hate, division, lies, corruption and more. If what they harvest tastes of a bitter bile then they have no one to blame but themselves!

The Republicans, lead by Donald “the Troll” Trump and Mitch “the Grim Reaper” McConnell in the Senate, have not been good stewards of our nation. They have either directly aided in hollowing out, undermined and corrupted large parts of our government and democracy, or at least stood idly by while it was happening.

They have allowed hate and division, xenophobia, racism and pretty much any other “ism” to grow. They have weakened our country’s standing in the international community by condoning the withdrawal from treaties and agreements, while Trump has legitimized dictators and strongmen by meeting with them, even inviting them into the White House. Trump and his Republican sycophants have emboldened racists, right wing fascists and other haters in foreign nations because the USA no longer stands for truth, justice and decency.

The Republicans are afraid to lose power and they are afraid to admit that hey have made and supported a terrible choice in leadership. They have been following a corrupt business man with many failing endeavors, who is accused of numerous wrong doings in business and on the personal level, with many pending lawsuits, who has not been willing, nay, has been fighting tooth and nail to keep his tax records hidden. That is why they are willing to stand by and keep silent while injustice is being done to individuals, the nation and the world. This behavior is nothing less than shameful!

spiegelonline cartoon, Undated

Since 2016, many of us are better off under Trump than we were during the Obama administration…

…as long as we are: old, white, very rich, Republican lawmakers, religious hardliners, NRA supporters, climate change deniers, racists, sexists, xenophobes or homophobes.

My simple question to the Republicans with regards to the impeachment inquiries is this, if there has been no wrong doing, then why not cooperate, answer all questions, release the hidden away phone records and thereby end this drama. I am thinking that this is not possible because there HAS been wrong doing, and they know it.

Going back a little further, the Russia investigation by Robert Muller generated a huge report of over a thousand pages, which (Trump stooge) Richard Barr, summarized in four pages, saying there has been no wrong doing on part of the President.

I just want to point out that if Trump were as innocent as a new born baby, Robert Muller would have probably come straight out and said so. Instead, he wrote a huge report, with many details, that Richard Barr (the President’s stooge), did not release and instead, just claimed in a four page statement that there was no wrong doing. Any high school or college student who summarized a volume of literature of similar size to four pages, would probably receive an F- for incomplete and sloppy work.

Let’s Make America Great…Again, by voting out all politicians who are putting power over acting for the good of the country, who look the other way on wrong doings done by their party or anyone for that matter. Let’s also go back to using simple language: falsehoods, creative interpretations of the facts, alternative facts and any other deviations from the truth are called lies.

If we need to start now by impeaching and removing the President and any of his cabinet members who have been in collusion with his misdeeds, then so be it, before more damage is done to our country, the nation and the world.

Here is a bit of thinking out loud, what if it turns out that Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman are Russian spies? Will they suddenly vanish or turn up dead? They got close to Trump via Rudy Giuliani.

What if the Russians have some incriminating evidence to blackmail/pressure Trump? This would explain a lot of Trump’s pro Russia decisions, his private meeting with Putin and his reluctance to admit that the Russians interfered with our 2016 election. Trump being a Russian stooge also explains his demonization of our free press and our intelligence services. It would explain his silence on the subject of the Russians paying a bounty to the Taliban on US soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

It also explains his embrace of Kim Jong Un and Erdogan and his support for other strongmen populists around the world, who are diametrically opposed to our traditional views and values.

I am tired of politicians repeating lies, shouting them louder and louder to drown out the truth that they have no arguments against, until the lies are repeated on Fox, Breitbart and other questionable “news outlets,” giving them legitimacy in the eyes of the uninformed.

Can we please return to a time where we can disagree without disrespecting and vilifying the other side, a time where civility an courtesy are important aspects of a dialogue!