U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher had a long-winded excuse, err, argument presented in the Wall Street Journal last week about his odd vote against impeaching Mayorkas. I say odd because it seems out of character with Gallagher, who other than that vote is a good conservative.
After the vote, I texted Mike asking what the hell he was thinking, err, I mean, I politely inquired as to his vote and its reasoning. As they love to say in the media, he didn’t immediately respond, which is also unusual since over the last eight years, he has always texted me back.
I suspect that conservative supporters and donors like me lit up his email and text boxes, and I bet a lot more were not as polite or inquisitive as I was. I suspect that no matter what he claims, that his decision to retire from Congress had a lot to do with donors like me putting our support on hold over that vote. It can’t be coincidence, especially since the timing of his decision was within his own control. He could have waited a few weeks.
Here’s my rebuttal to Mike’s misplaced vote.
Like all true politicians, Mike starts his op-ed with saying the opposite of how he voted, talking about the awful job Biden and Mayorkas are doing on the border, and like all such politicians, he eventually gets to the ‘but’ clause. (He got there pretty quickly – his second paragraph.)
His first argument is that impeachment would set a dangerous new precedent. Really? What planet is he living on? Trump got impeached twice for doing nothing wrong, and in both cases the evidence against him was completely made up as we now know. Besides, does he really think the Democrats will not use impeachment to further their own agenda when it favors them to do so? They already did twice!
His second argument is that the ‘crimes’ of Mayorkas listed in the impeachment docs don’t arise to a high crime or misdemeanor, saying it’s a policy dispute. Really? Mike – what do you call the invasion of our nation by an estimated 15 million illegal aliens? (So if real aliens invaded the Earth, would that be enough for him to vote ‘yes’?) Sorry buddy, but (there’s that but), when Mayorkas doesn’t enforce the laws on the books that prohibit aliens from entering illegally, that is a crime – by Mayorkas and Biden.
They are breaking numerous laws on the books, not to mention they are also conspiring to break laws by aiding and abetting illegals to enter the country, to stay here, and to break the laws while they are here. Just look at the illegal drugs coming in that have killed over 100,000 Americans. Look at the crime in our cities. If you’re the guy in charge, and you are not doing anything to prevent it, and in fact, you’re encouraging it and aiding it, that’s a crime.
And by the way, Mike’s argument that Biden is responsible for the border chaos and that Mayorkas is just a loyal soldier carrying out his orders is also b.s. That’s like giving a pass to the murderers who conspired with Hitler to kill millions of people. If you are part of the conspiracy and you are carrying out orders that are in and of themselves illegal orders that run contrary to the laws of the land or humanity, you Mayorkas are committing a crime.
Mike wants Republicans to exhaust all other options first. Hmm, excuse me, what would be those options? As long as the Dems control the Senate, there are no other options. But the beauty of impeaching Mayorkas even without the Senate voting to remove him from office would be that he technically, I believe, cannot perform the duties of his office once he is impeached until there is a Senate vote. He’d be in limbo land, which would be better than having him continue to aid and abet the illegal border policies that he is now engaged in.
What Mike is saying is that if your daughter is playing in your backyard which backs up to a woods and a wolf comes out of the woods to grab her, Mike wants you the parent to ‘exhaust all options’ before shooting the wolf because technically killing a wolf is illegal. Meanwhile you kid is being dragged off to be eaten because you are calling the police (and being put on hold) instead of grabbing your gun and protecting your daughter. Which way would you go? (I can tell you what I would do. When a burglar tried to enter my home from the back door a few years ago, do you think I stopped to call the police first? Hell no, if I had, he would have been inside my house and I would have had a bigger problem. Instead, I grabbed my gun and went outside the back door to kick him off my property. The police later told me they had been looking for this guy for months.)
Mike’s last argument, I think, is the most stunning. He says that Mayorkas’s failure to comply with Congressional subpoenas and his obstruction of oversight efforts is “shameful, but not outside the norm for cabinet secretaries.” What?! You’re telling me that just because other cabinet secretaries have also broken the law by not complying with Congressional oversight and coming before Congress to answer questions is an excuse for every cabinet secretary to behave the same way? Holy crap Batman, they’ll be chaos in Washington. If Congress can’t enforce it’s own laws, then we’ll have anarchy. The White House has pretty much been getting away with whatever the heck they want, blowing off Congress, an co-equal branch of government. If Congress can’t make cabinet secretaries respond to Congress, we’re all in big trouble, because it means that we have a dictatorship and that Congress is nullified.
My biggest argument for impeachment is this – the crisis at the border is the key driving force behind all the problems in America today. 15 million more illegals have overwhelmed our system, our laws, our traditions and our patience. They are committing crimes, they are expanding the homeless, they are bringing in drugs, and worse, no one seems to get this – they are the franchises of the Mexican drug cartels into America. The Mex-tels are franchising – using the illegals to steal for them, sell drugs, and disrupt American civil society. Then there is the burden on the taxpayers who have to foot the bill, next there will be the burden on the lowest wage earners in America when they wake up one day and find out that Biden has waived the laws again and given the illegals work permits, and since there are so many of them, they will drive down wages for our lowest wage earners – ironically a lot of minorities and people of color who happen to have voted for Joe Biden!
How’s that for payback for your support of grandpa Joe?
I’m sorry Mike, I like you, I supported you, but just as when Sensenbrenner criticized Trump, I wrote Sensenbrenner a letter saying it was time to retire (and he promptly did so) and like Rep. Paul Ryan who also criticized Trump right before the election, and I sent him a letter saying I would do everything I could to defeat him and asked that he also resign, which he promptly did, so too I agree with Gallagher’s difficult decision. But, when you get to this point, where you miss the big picture because you are parsing words on technicalities, while you let our great nation go to rot, then it’s time to retire. The difference is Gallagher had the sense to do it on his terms.
Thank you Mike for your service. I totally understand his frustration with Washington DC and politics. His resignation at the end of his term only demonstrates that he is sane and normal and doesn’t covet a career in politics like so many others, which is why I’m kind of pissed – he’s exactly the type of guy Wisconsin should have serving the state!
But, now let’s get on with the race. Roger Roth has already thrown his hat in the ring, and he appears to be a strong candidate given his previous experience in the Wisconsin state senate. He has the energy and the willingness to fight the good fight – well, at least for a few years! Haha.
I think that’s why, in the end, people like Trump, because he fights for us. He never gives up. He doesn’t get all hung up on the niceties or politics. He delivers on what the American public want, well, except the far left. And you know why he’s like that? Because he’s a developer. He’s dealt with these kinds of crazies before – NIMBYS and do-nothings and Monday morning quarterbacks. He’s seen it all during his lifetime. He had to fight against them all in order to get projects approved. And he never let them stop him.
On October 18 and November 23, 2023 Donald Trump tweeted out on Trump’s Truth Social account T. Wall’s October 6th column on Trump’s property valuations. T. Wall holds a degree from the UW in economics and an M.S. in real estate analysis and valuation and is a real estate developer. Disclaimer: The opinions of the writer are not necessarily those of this publication or the left!
