Sharing my letter to Grassley
Below is the text of the letter that I sent to Sen. Grassley. I know it is spitting into the wind to try to reason with a partisan moinster like him. I will also send a copy to Joni Ernst for what little good it will do. I can at least say that I did my civic duty even when the two clown senators from my state shirk theirs.
Once again, Senator, you sit with the eyes of history on you. You can do the right thing, the honorable thing, the constitutional thing…or you can do the partisan thing and apply the IOKIYAR standard: It’s OK If You are a Republican.
We saw the footage from the trial yesterday. Although I wonder if you saw it while you were allegedly breaking the rules and playing or reading on a tablet during the trial. But maybe you were listening – the angry mob that was incited to stage a murderous coup by then President Trump was less than 60 steps away from the Senate chamber while you were still inside. Some of that mob that was less than 60 steps away was chanting “KILL MIKE PENCE”. Some of your colleagues were removing their pins so that the crowd might think that they were staffers and not murder them. Your life was in grave danger.
The CPD formed a human barricade to protect you from that mob that was carrying Trump flags, chanting his slogans (stop the steal), and carrying a variety of weapons that they used to bludgeon those police officers. Some have been blinded, maimed, suffered debilitating brain injuries, and died from their injuries. Two have already taken their own lives. Most of them will likely suffet from PTSD as will your staffers, the cleaning staff, and the many other people who make what you do possible as a government official. All those officers who risked their lives to protect you are watching. All the others who work hard every day to keep the Senate and House running safely will be watching.
Can you look them in the eye – if you won’t even look at the evidence – and not ban the man who incited this riot. More than a dozen of the people who have been charged in the insurrection have filed in their court documents that they were acting on orders from then President Trump.
You may try to hide behind the argument that the whole trial is unconstitutional. That claim is baseless, as you well know former Cabinet officials and judges have been tried after impeachment to ban them from future offices. Others who have resigned have not been tried and then allowed to hold office. The legal precedent is there. However, after the vote that rejected Sen. Paul’s baseless claim was voted down it was decided that the trial was constitutional. That is now a matter of settled law. You swore an oath to defend the Constitution as a Senator and a separate oath for this trial. To vote not guilty based on that argument would be a violation of both of those oaths as you would be engaging in jury nullification which is a violation of those oaths.
If you try to make a specious first amendment argument, you know that is not correct either. Freedom of speech is not absolute. You know that both “fighting words” (Chaplinsky v New Hampshire) and the “clear and present danger” (Schenck v US) exceptions both apply here. Trump’s words claiming that the election were stolen and that his followers must fight for him began long before the election. They were intended to incite a breach of the peace which is the legal criterion from the Chaplinsky case. It was obvious that Trump’s rhetoric both on social media and in the real world presented a clear and present danger. Five people are dead. They were erecting gallows for the express purpose to hang Mike Pence. People who were inspired by Trump’s rhetoric had already planned to kidnap and assassinate at least one Governor.
A legislator from Iowa once said: “The true tragedy in this case is the collapse of the president’s moral authority. “ “…I took an a special oath along with 99 other United State senators to ‘do impartial justice.’ In the spirit of the that oath, I have worked to achieve an impeachment court that emulates the courtroom as much as possible. And that means leaving Republican and Democratic labels at the door of the Senate as we seek the truth and make sure the President gets a fair trial.”
What will it be Senator from Iowa – will you leave your party affiliation at the door and seek the truth in a court room about President Trump?
I hope that you do, because if you apply the IOKIYAR adage, then I leave you with another quote from a young Senator from Iowa just over 20 years ago.
“…There is the issue of the poor example the president’s actions serve for the Nation, especially for our youth. Is it now OK to lie because the president does it?”
Except the new question will be “is it OK to attempt a coup to overturn a free and fair election, assassinate the Vice President, threaten to murder Congresspeople because you voted that it was not a high crime that would prevent that person from future office?”
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