Congressman Fitzpatrick:
Congratulations! You experienced yet another Congressional recess in your district and managed yet again not to have a real live town hall with your constituents. You once again have not performed a basic element of your job. To make up for your fear of or disinterest in what your constituents have in mind, I have provided a service to you free of charge! I have randomly selected some writings from the Courier Times published during your Congressional recess (when you should have been interacting with your constituents) from passionate constituents who, as you can tell, are not too happy with the decisions you and your Republican colleagues are making in, as you say in a recent CNN interview with Michael Smerconish, “the circus that is Washington.”
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2019/10/19/ex-fbi-agent-turned-congressman-on-ukraine--impeachment.cnn?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_freevideo+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Video%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
(I am a little mystified by a Congressman calling the seat of our democracy a “circus”, especially since, as an elected member of the democratic institution of the people, the House of Representatives, wouldn’t that make you, extending your metaphor, a “circus entertainer” or a “clown.” If you denigrate the institution you should be serving with dignity, solemnity, and reverence, maybe it’s time for you to move on to another line of work? Do you think that little of our democratic institutions in Washington to malign them publicly? And even admitting that there are challenges in these Washington “clown” institutions, are you admitting you are impotent and powerless to change them? Then why are you continuing to be a Congressman?)
Now you and your well-indoctrinated staff will respond by saying you do indeed conduct your “telephony” town halls, but my guess is that none of the people who wrote below have ever been selected to participate in those Kabuki theater events which always seem to gush with praise for the fine work you are doing in the non-circus that is Washington. For if you read the writings below, you will see that perhaps you and your colleagues are not doing such a fine job in being the ringmasters of the “circus” that is supposed to be helping the American people and not wallowing in indecision, self-pity, and inaction.
One more thing about your Hamlet-like indecisiveness. You continue to waffle on even the impeachment inquiry issue where you cannot even agree to the gathering of facts about the outrageous behavior of this lawless president. And yet we constantly hear from the rabid delusional defenders of the president that “do-nothing Democrats” are wasting time with the “impeachment hoax” and not doing the business of the people. Well, many of your constituents called your office during your recess, myself included, concerning H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, one of many great bills constructed under House Speaker Pelosi’s wise leadership to serve the public good. This bill would allow Medicare to negotiate with prescription drug companies for lower prices and those negotiated prices would be available to other coverage plans as well. It is an amazing plan that would help thousands of senior citizens here in PA-01 and across the country. But sadly, as you waffle in indecision about an impeachment inquiry, your staff said you were as well waffling in indecision about this bill that would help senior citizens. While Democrats are indeed walking (impeachment inquiry) and chewing gum (passing bills to benefit the American people) at the same time, you are sadly doing neither.
So I ask you again, why do you still want to be a member of your psychological construct you perceive as the “Washington circus” if you are afraid to do the most fundamental aspect of your job and meet your constituents in a town hall so you can learn how better to represent them? And why do you refuse to lead decisively about critical issues facing our country today and instead offer vacuous reasons that lead you cowering to inaction? Perhaps you would be more satisfied working in a real circus and leave the real work of leadership in the great halls of our democracy in Washington to someone who courageously both listens to and leads his constituents to a better public good?
From the pages of the Courier Times:
October 14, 2019
Trump expects loyalty but returns none. Over a phone call with Erdogan, Trump seals the Kurds’ fate who were the ones who beat ISIS and did the most dying. Turkey is attacking, people are dying and blood is on Trump’s hands.
Hank Schrandt, Newtown
https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/opinion/20191014/vents-and-views-for-oct-14/1
October 13, 2019
LTE: Will the real Brian Fitzpatrick please stand up?
Posted Oct 13, 2019 at 5:40 AM
Will the gentleman who spent a career in intelligence, knowing the selflessness and patriotism of those who serve in that capacity and protect their name, please stand up?
Will the man who knows the glory that was the Republican Party, before it slid into toxic silence amidst scandal and corruption please stand up?
Will the congressman who values democracy far greater than he fears the loss of a job and its prestige please stand up?
Will the man who knows that his party needs the courage to break from the reigns of a self-interested liar and authoritarian be among the first to please stand up?
Will the man who loves his family and his community, concern himself a little less with bipartisan efforts when this country desperately needs a nonpartisan statesman please stand up?
Will the real Brian Fitzpatrick please stand up?
Jahn S. Chesnov
Holland
https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/opinion/20191013/lte-will-real-brian-fitzpatrick-please-stand-up
October 11, 2019
The U.S. has abandoned its Kurdish allies. Thus action is justified in part because the Kurds were not with us at Normandy. To Trump supporters I say, “My god, haven’t you seen enough?”
Richard M. Hepburn, Newtown
The president, trading our national security for private political gain, openly invites Ukraine and China to influence the 2020 election in his favor. And yet our complicit Republican leaders stick their heads in the sand, allowing our democracy and our Constitution to be defiled.
Steve Cickay, Newtown
Shame on Sen. Toomey and Rep. Fitzpatrick. When Trump lied about the FBI, diplomatic corps and intelligence community, they went dormant. Those can defend themselves. The Constitution and our laws can’t. When Trump trashes them, leaders have to defend them. Shame of them for failing even that.
Larry Haft, Langhorne
https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/opinion/20191011/vents-and-views-for-oct-11
October 10, 2019
Instead of abandoning a sinking ship, many sycophants of the Republican Party are putting on little sailor hats and convincing themselves that their mentally unstable captain can keep it afloat. It’s time to change crews and captain in 2020 in the voting booth!
Barry Lynn, Newtown
Thank you Joshua Friedman for expressing how I have reacted to Rep. Fitzpatrick’s head-in-the-sand refusal to support an impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump. Many 1st District citizens see through his bogus reasons.
Glenn Beasley, Newtown
https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/opinion/20191010/vents-and-views-for-oct-10/1
October 9, 2019
Guest Opinion: Brian Fitzpatrick bobs and weaves on impeachment
By Scott Wallace
Posted Oct 9, 2019 at 5:12 AM
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick’s dodge on impeachment is ludicrous. The Bucks County Courier Times reports that he told Truman high school students that he would rather see “an impartial investigation by law enforcement.”
But “impartial” is not possible. Trump is the boss of all federal law enforcement. And Attorney General Barr, the boss of the FBI, has proven himself a total Trump partisan, completely mischaracterizing and manipulating the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who contradicted Barr and Trump by telling Congress under oath that his report definitely did not exonerate Trump.
And “law enforcement” is not possible. Longstanding Justice Department policy prohibits any criminal law enforcement action against a sitting President — the core reason that the Mueller report declined to reach any conclusions about the criminality of the president’s obstructions of justice.
Impeachment is the only process available to hold a president accountable. And critically importantly, as the Framers of the Constitution made clear, not all impeachable offense are crimes subject to regular law enforcement. Most troubling to Alexander Hamilton was what he called “an abuse or violation of some public trust.” Certain powers are constitutionally entrusted to the president, such as dispensing foreign aid or granting pardons, but if he uses them for personal benefit or self-protection and against the public interest, that is an anti-constitutional abuse of power.
Withholding $400 million in military aid for Ukraine to repel invasion by Russia, in order to coerce Ukraine to find dirt on Trump’s personal political rival, is profoundly dangerous to America’s national security. And nobody in Congress should know this better than Fitzpatrick, an FBI anti-corruption specialist who was actually stationed in Ukraine until just before running for Congress.
Fitzpatrick is a lawyer, and not an idiot. He knows the Constitution, and he knows the DOJ policy prohibiting law enforcement action against a sitting president. His “law enforcement” dodge is disingenuous and untenable. There’s only one possible explanation: Republican party loyalty and fear of Trump’s base. The high school students who applauded the question about impeachment are a microcosm of the entire district — which Fitzpatrick assiduously ignores with his two-year-long refusal to hold an open town hall. The people of PA-01 deserve a representative who will actually listen, and represent their will.
Scott Wallace, an attorney and foundation executive from Doylestown, was the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District in 2018.
https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/opinion/20191009/guest-opinion-brian-fitzpatrick-bobs-and-weaves-on-impeachment/1
October 8,2019
Guest Opinion: US is at a crossroads, where’s Fitzpatrick?
By Joshua Friedman
Posted Oct 8, 2019 at 5:30 AM
Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick’s office recently issued a statement that said, “The congressman disfavors the mechanism of impeachment except in the most extreme of circumstances.” Additionally, in a recent interview on 1210 AM radio station WPHT, he stated about the impeachment inquiry, “I can give you my 100% guarantee on this, it’s purely political. Purely political.”
The congressman said that, at a recent appearance, he was, “being bombarded about impeachment.” I consider it “purely political” when Congressman Fitzpatrick — a former FBI agent — downplays a whistleblower complaint deemed “credible” and of “urgent concern” by the inspector general of the intelligence community.
I consider it “purely political” when my congressman turns his back on his colleagues in the intelligence community and regurgitates Republican talking points rather than protecting our democracy.
The reason that he has been “bombarded about impeachment” is that I and many other of Mr. Fitzpatrick’s constituents consider it an “extreme circumstance” when an autocratic president repeatedly threatens the integrity of our government and our Constitution.
I consider it an “extreme circumstance” with these seven points:
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A whistleblower makes a complaint to the inspector general’s office that he has “received information from multiple U.S. government officials that the president of the U.S. is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”
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The inspector general of the intelligence community, who had been appointed by President Trump, deems the complaint to be both “credible” and of “urgent concern.”
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The complaint implicates the attorney general of the U.S. as well as the president’s personal attorney.
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The Trump administration allegedly made attempts to cover up the details of the July 25 phone conversation by removing the electronic records of the phone conversation from an internal computer system.
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The president makes thinly veiled threats against the whistleblower, and called him a “spy.”
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The president states that Rep. Adam Schiff, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, should be arrested for “treason.”
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The president’s administration stonewalls congressionally issued subpoenas, thus interfering with congressional oversight.
I ask Congressman Fitzpatrick: What could possibly be a more “extreme circumstance” than the integrity of our elections and repeated corruption by our president?
This is a test of our democracy. As his constituent, I expect Mr. Fitzpatrick to protect our country and our Constitution by supporting the impeachment inquiry.
If the congressman is unsure how his constituents feel about the matter, then why doesn’t he hold a live townhall meeting rather than one of his telephone infomercials? Our country is at a crossroads and Mr. Fitzpatrick is clearly positioning himself on the wrong side of history.
Joshua Friedman lives in Yardley.
https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/opinion/20191008/guest-opinion-us-is-at-crossroads-wheres-fitzpatrick
October 5, 2019
LTE: Republicans’ transparent hypocrisy on Trump
Posted Oct 5, 2019 at 5:16 AM
If Barack Obama had done half the things this wannabe dictator has done, every Republican in the country, led by Sean Hannity and the entire propaganda network, would be storming the White House carrying torches and pitchforks.
When in the world are the Senate Republicans going to speak up and do what is right for this country? What are they afraid of?
Bruce Albertson
Bristol
https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/opinion/20191005/lte-republicans-transparent-hypocrisy-on-trump