We’re seeing the deep state at impeachment hearings | Letters

Every day the impeachment testimony by witnesses switches gears in an attempt to find something that will stick to the wall and damage President Donald Trump.

First it was a “quid pro quo” for military support in exchange for damaging information on an opponent. Then that was shot full of holes and it became a “quid pro quo” for a meeting between Ukraine and Trump in exchange for information on election interference. Then it became the attorney of the president carrying out requests to obtain damaging information on an opponent. Now it’s an ambassador of the president running political errands for the president. If this isn’t a fishing expedition or a witch hunt, supply a better metaphor.

We are witnessing the very existence of the deep state through the testimony of lifelong government bureaucrats who believe they, and not the president, should be dictating foreign policy and setting agendas.

You can dislike the president and his behavior, his lifestyle, his sinful ways, but there is no evidence that rises to the level of impeachment, high crimes and misdemeanors coming out of this charade.

The underlying principle of American justice is being turned on its head. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are telling the president to prove his innocence. The Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus is no longer traversing the country, it has found a new home in the halls of Congress. Political nonsense reigns while the business of the country feigns. God help us all.

Race issues in unusual places

Racism is more complex than the well-known concerns in education, jobs, pay, criminal justice, police actions and broad opportunity. There are other less known areas of racism that impact health, privacy, voting, elections, civil liberties and much more. Here are three that are essentially not known and impact minorities and the poor differentially.

Environmental (health): Throughout the country there exist manufacturers, pipelines and other facilities that produce massive pollutants and are usually located near minority and low-income communities, creating significant health issues for residents. Since these citizens are rarely listened to, their complaints receive little attention.

School internet/police surveillance (privacy/civil liberties): This is viewed by the broader (mostly white) population as a protector of our children. However, surveillance of youthful behaviors that are often just banter or harmless actions is differentially focused on minorities who may express things that are taken as serious by administrators or police and this often becomes part of the student’s record or a criminal record. White students’ behavior is far less often called into question.

Prison gerrymandering (disenfranchisement/elections): Census rules state that prisoners should be counted in their resident district prior to imprisonment, but many states count prisoners in the location of the prison. The largest population in prisons is black (given the built-in bias in arrests and sentencing). This removes voters from large cities (Democratic) and increases the populations in rural areas (Republican) to ensure the latter dominates the legislature and the Congress, reducing black voter representation.

This is our America and we can do better.

Headline subverts law

Under what system of government does your above-the-fold headline, “Testimony undercuts White House’s defense in inquiry” make sense?

As a primer to the system of justice, here in what remains of the good ol’ US of A: We hold that everyone is, in fact, innocent until proven guilty. Take a good, hard look at that headline. Does that look like American justice? (Answer: “ No!”)

I really didn’t care when or how this newspaper took a hard turn to the left. I’m smart enough to read what you’re writing and toss out your liberal bias. But the headline isn’t a “bias” — the headline is defacto treason. It’s subverting our rule of law, our system of justice and our government.

I would argue that it isn’t protected under the First Amendment for the same reason that yelling “fire” in a crowded theater exposes you to liability if/when someone gets hurt. Subverting our rule of law via your platform opens you up to the same liability. It’s criminal. It’s leftist. And it’s un-American. But I repeat myself.

U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham does represent SC

I am writing to give another viewpoint to the reader who said that U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham was not representing the people of South Carolina because of his “yea” vote on a bill establishing the procedures for an impeachment inquiry.

I live in South Carolina and he is representing me. I believe not only in impeachment but putting our president in handcuffs and behind bars.

I am an informed citizen. I watch all cable news, including PBS and BBC, and Fox News.

I had the good fortune to be born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. People from New York and New Jersey know the Trumps very well. He is a despicable human being. He was always in the news for his wrongdoings. There is a reason he did not win his borough, let alone the great state of New York. I had this knowledge when I voted and I know many were ignorant of his wrongdoings at that time. Now you have the facts and refuse to acknowledge it.

Every time that man opens his mouth, I cringe at the embarrassment he brings to this country. Donald Trump is exposing people for who they really are deep inside their souls.

Thank you, Joe Cunningham for representing me, a South Carolina resident for 28 years.

Who would you believe?

I have been impressed by the credentials of the initial witnesses in the impeachment inquiry: decades of government service under presidents of both parties, multiple recognitions and awards and unquestionable dedication to their job and belief in the United States.

While many of the House Republicans have been quick and sincere in recognizing and thanking them for their service, there has been an undercurrent that, somehow, their testimony is dishonest, and they are part of a conspiracy and guilty of conspiring against President Donald Trump. So be it.

By contrast, let’s take a moment to examine the documented character and integrity of the accused in this inquiry: multiple personal and business bankruptcies, over a thousand sub- contractors cheated out reimbursement for some or all their work, years of tax returns under audit, under investigation for questionable financial reporting both at home and abroad, over 12,000 documented lies in 2.5 years as president, and a charitable foundation shut down because he couldn’t keep his hand out of the cookie jar in spite of his self-proclaimed wealth.

Objectively, forgetting party politics, who do you believe?

GOP perverts word ‘lynched’

President Donal Trump was lynched. Our own U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said so and he ought to know.

Without a trial, the president was grabbed by force, dragged by the heels through the streets, beaten, and hung from a tree. Graham is sure of it.

But wait. You mean Congress is only trying to find out what happened? They only invited Trump and a couple of his friends and colleagues to come in and talk, but he and they could all refuse and suffer no consequences?

Republicans sure know how to redefine a word. I bet the 3,600 Americans who were really lynched wish they could have been lynched the new Republican way.

Trump: We know you are innocent; act like it. Just testify under oath, give the lawyers all the non-redacted documents, and end this misery.

Does anyone still proofread?

I am one of those people who finds a typo in nearly everything I read: textbook, novelS, etc.

While I have been frustrated by newspaper typos over the years, I’ve chalked it up to small local staffs.

The Friday, Nov. 15, issue of The Beaufort Gazette had two blatant errors, one in the headline article, and both were from outside news sources.

The article from The State had “quid quo pro,” and an article from The Los Angeles Times had “students at the school at were scheduled.”

These are easily identifiable mistakes if one took time to proof an article before submitting it. Spell-check and grammar-check programs do not find all the errors.

This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 9:20 AM with the headline "We’re seeing the deep state at impeachment hearings | Letters."