The following message circulated on social media last week following hearings by the House Intelligence Committee. My responses are in parentheses.
“Impeachment…each and every one of you should be ashamed and pray that this doesn’t happen…and, I’ll tell you why. For 8 years, we sat silent, while Obama divided our nation.”
(Obama didn’t divide the nation, rightwing racists did and you certainly weren’t silent. You called him names. You called his wife and children “apes.” You published and circulated racist cartoons. You questioned his citizenship. You attended rallies brandishing guns. You even attacked him for wearing a tan suit.)
“He used identity politics, race warfare, and class warfare to divide us all.”
(In reality, he saved us from a worldwide economic depression. And he had the audacity to argue for equality for all Americans, including the LGBTQ community.)
“Obama thrust universal healthcare upon us and we sat silent.”
(It wasn’t universal healthcare. It was the Affordable Care Act that gave 20 million Americans access to affordable health care. And, again, you were far from silent.)
“In the meantime, Hillary and Obama let 4 Americans die in Benghazi, while they watched on closed circuit tv.”
(They didn’t let 4 Americans die. As confirmed by our military, the 4 Americans died as a result of a surprise terrorist attack when no available US troops could arrive in time. Such attacks on US embassies and other foreign outposts have occurred in nearly every administration.)
“Again, we were silent.”
(Silent?!!! There were 21 congressional hearings and the subject was covered 24/7 for months by rightwing media! The endless investigations only confirmed that there was no wrong-doing. Moreover, unlike the Trump administration which has ignored subpoenas from congressional oversight committees, members of the Obama administration actually appeared to testify.)
“We watched Hillary Clinton and Donna Brazil [sic] rig a primary against Bernie Sanders.”
(The primary wasn’t rigged. Bernie was a Socialist. Not a Democrat. Many states limit primaries to the 2 parties. And you would have hated Bernie even more than Hillary.)
“We saw Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch (Attorney General at the time) sit on a flight line, only to find that Hilary [sic] was exonerated for any crime…”
(I’ll give you the fact that Bill’s ill-considered social visit to Lynch’s plane looked bad. But Lynch recused herself from the investigations of Hillary. The FBI conducted multiple investigations and found nothing that warranted charges.)
“…regarding her acid washed/bleach [sic] bit server and 33,000 deleted emails. Again, we were silent…”
(Silent? SILENT?!!! Except for the repeated chants of “lock her up!”)
“We have watched our duly elected president harassed each and every day, for 3 years…”
(First, he wasn’t exactly “duly elected,” He lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. Only because he welcomed Russian interference and used information stolen from the Democratic National Committee was he able to gain enough Electoral Votes to be named president. Second, unlike other presidents, he has made no attempt to reach out to those who opposed him. In fact, he threatened them, instead. Third, his administration has been uniquely corrupt. He has funneled millions of dollars into his resorts through his weekly golf trips. He has welcomed white nationalists into the White House and excused the violence of white supremacists. He was sued for illegally banning members of a religious group and ripping children away from refugee parents to place them in cages. And he has repeatedly refused congressional oversight as mandated by the Constitution.)
“…even though he has put millions back to work, brought jobs back to America…”
(Most economists have stated that the Trump economy is merely a continuation of the Obama economy, except for the fact that Trump has cost consumers millions and forced thousands of family farmers into bankruptcy with his ill-considered trade wars.
“…stood up to our adversaries…”
(More accurately, he has embraced our adversaries and stood up to our most loyal allies.)
“…and fought like hell to protect our borders.”
(He redirected funds from the military to build his wall. One assumes he still has a plan for Mexico to pay for it.)
“Now, we see Joe Biden leveraging $1 Billion American dollars for his son.”
(There is absolutely no evidence that Joe Biden did any such thing.)
“However, the Democrats and the media only care about impeaching Trump!”
(No, we care about the Constitution and the rule of law. If that leads to impeachment as a result of Trump’s unconstitutional and illegal actions, so be it.)
“So, I can tell you with the utmost certainty…if you are successful in your witch-hunt, we will NOT be silent!!!”
(It’s not a witch-hunt. It’s called congressional oversight. And, as noted previously, you have NEVER been silent.)
“You will see a revolution you cannot even fathom! Tread lightly…”
(Based on your threat, you have made it abundantly clear that you have no concept of patriotism or respect for our constitutional rule of law. And it’s obvious that you really aren’t concerned about political division. You merely want to get your way. And you’re willing to resort to threats of violence to get it.)