We must ask more why questions

We have a national security issue which is right in front of us. I sent the following to my Congressman and select Senstors. Please feel free to use and adapt.

We are not asking enough why questions.
– why is the president running a shadow diplomacy with Rudy Guiliani, who has not been vetted by the Senate?
– why does the president ignore the seasoned diplomats and intelligence officials to chase conspiracy theories postulated by editorialists on Fox?
– why are diligent, experienced, courageous and honorable public servants focusing on helping Ukraine gain better footing, when the president is so focused on his campaign?
– why is there obstruction of documents and witnesses? The president cries foul, but he is blocking witnesses. He can’t have it both ways.

As an independent and former Republican voter, I am deeply concerned by what has transpired in the White House with Ukraine. I am also concerned by an over zealous protection of someone who needs greater scrutiny, not less. I fully support the impeachment hearings. What witnesses are testifying under oath at great risk is very troubling.

It is also troubling that Devin Nunes is leading the GOP efforts. He cited on Thursday a partisan report that GOP Senator Richard Burr asked Nunes and Speaker Paul Ryan not to release as his Senate committee did not agree with its conclusions. Plus, we cannot forget that he had to step down as Chair of this committee as he informed the White House what they were investigating. So, I must confess I feel he lacks credibility and that is unfortunate.

Help us Americans get to the bottom of this.

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When defenders are untruthful

As an Independent and former GOP voter, it concerns me when I see defenders of the president obviously lying in interviews. Today, Pam Bondi echoed an unchecked lie used by the president’s son last week on CBS Morning News. The lie is Republicans were not present for closed door committee testimony, when about half of committee is Republican. This is intentional disinformation and should be corrected by the interviewer.

What further troubles me is when Congresspeople say obvious untruths, either in interviews or in opening testimony. I left a message with Devin Nunes asking him to be more truthful. And, yet again last night, I saw a ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee be loose with the truth.

It concerns me that resorting to untruthful statements is a line of defense. Organizations take on the personality of their leader. So, when your leader is untruthful, the sycophants must fall in line or be bullied. But, it is equally concerning when these speakers feel they can get away with misinformation and disinformation. A key clue to dig further is the speaker’s smugness and history with the truth.

I have many concerns about the president’s modus operandi of untruthfulness, bullying and obstruction. We are also dealing with alleged abuse of power. Two questions – if the president is so concerned about a fair hearing, why is he stopping key people on his staff from testifying? You can’t have it both ways.

The other is why is he running a shadow diplomacy through Rudy Guiliani, who has not been vetted by the Senate? This should get more airplay. Guiliani’s role is and has been a major concern of the diplomats who havr testified.

I have shared with lawmakers that I support the impeachment hearings. Regardless of party, we cannot have a president act the way the president acts and who appears to have abused his power on top of confirmed lying, bullying and obstruction. Our country deserves better than this.