Our nation is being held hostage. Not by terrorists. Not by a foreign nation. No, it is being held hostage by the likes of Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi and their accomplices in the House of Representatives as they once again try to reset the narrative of the Trump presidency. For two days, we heard rumblings that Thursday would be the day the House finally voted to endorse impeachment proceedings against the president. Now, and it really shouldn’t surprise anyone, they’ve changed their tune. The vote isn’t going to be endorsing the proceedings. Oh no. All they’re going to do is decide how to hold the public hearings. The real question,–and one the mainstream media isn’t asking–is why the change?

There are any number of possible answers. The Dems want to keep the talk of impeachment front and center during the election season. They are so inept they can’t figure out how to hold the hearings. Or, my personal favorite, what the witnesses have been telling them is far from what has been leaked to the media. In other words, they know they don’t have enough evidence to impeach the president but they are so deep into their own fantasy world that they can’t admit they’ve failed, even to themselves.

This would certain explain why Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, “is reportedly telling witnesses testifying not to answer questions asked by Republican lawmakers.”

According to House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La.:

He’s directing witnesses not to answer questions that he doesn’t want the witness to answer if they’re asked by Republicans . . . He’s not cut off one Democrat. He’s not interrupted one Democrat and told a witness not to answer Democrat members’ questions but today he started telling witnesses not to answer questions by certain Republicans.”

The real question comes down to whether or not justice is being served by the charade being held in the House chamber. Schiff, Pelosi and company have been up in arms since the election, doing everything they can to discredit Trump (often with help from him and his Twitter account). They’ve bitched to high heaven when folks they’ve wanted to question have refused to cooperate. But now the shoe is on the other foot and it is just fine with them. It seems they have no problem at all with keeping the proceedings hidden from the public, doling out information they want through convenient “leaks” and denying their Republican counterparts the chance to question witnesses. Hell, let’s be honest about it. Schiff is preventing the Republicans from calling witnesses. It’s his show and the little dictator is going to run it his way.

The farce has extended to yesterday’s evidence gathering. Scalise and other Republicans held a press conference yesterday to describe Schiff’s latest round of grandstanding. According to Scalise and Congressman Jim Jordan, R-OH, Schiff prevented them from asking Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman some follow-up questions.

When we asked [Vindman] who he spoke to after important events in July — Adam Schiff says, ‘no, no, no, we’re not going to let him answer that question,”‘ Jordan said.

Hmmm, I don’t know about you, but I have a real problem with Schiff not allowing the question to be asked. After all, part of the build-up to Lt. Col. Vendman’s testimony was the assertion he reported his concerns on more than one occasion. So wouldn’t it be important to find out who, besides his supervisor, he might have said something to? Apparently Schiff didn’t think so. Either that or he is worried that the knowledge of who Vendman spoke to might cast doubt on his allegations.

What other steps have the Dems taken to hamstring the Republicans? A reading of the resolution Pelosi is presenting for a vote Thursday speaks volumes. Here are a few of the ways the Dems are trying to stack the deck and prevent the president from getting a fair and impartial hearing (not that I ever expected them to try to be impartial).

According to Pelosi:, the resolution:

affirms the ongoing, existing investigation” and “establishes the procedure for hearings that are open to the American people, authorizes the disclosure of deposition transcripts, outlines procedures to transfer evidence to the Judiciary Committee as it considers potential articles of impeachment, and sets forth due process rights for the president and his Counsel.”

Wait, why do they need to “affirm” the ongoing investigation? Shouldn’t that have been done before our tax dollars were spent? Also, why were the procedures addressed before now? Oh, wait, I know the answer. The Dems haven’t wanted the hearings to be public. By keeping them behind closed doors, Schiff and company could control the flow of information, especially since the media has acted as their accomplice in the attempt to bring down the Trump Administration since before Trump took office.

The very first paragraph of the resolution shows what a one-sided fishing expedition it will be. The House committees already looking into the president are to:

continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes.”

So they can continue digging, despite being unable to find sufficient evidence in approximately three years of trying. Worse, they can do so for “other purposes” beyond determining if there’s sufficient grounds to impeach him.

“We are taking this step to eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump Administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives,” Pelosi said Monday.

Hypocrite, thy name is Nancy Pelosi. She has no problem with Schiff telling witnesses not to answer questions from Republicans, but heaven forbid Republicans act as her own party does.

And what about Schiff?

Oh, the little dictator is loving his time in the limelight. He has no problem telling the media that Trump and members of his administration want nothing more than to “punish” the so-called whistleblowers.

We will make every effort to make sure that notwithstanding the president or his allies’ desire to out and exact political revenge on this whistleblower, that our committee is never used for that purpose,” he said.

No, they’ll just use Schiff’s committee and the others to exact their political revenge on Trump for daring upset their plans for 2016.

How long do they plan to keep this up? Until he either throws his hands up and resigns or he is defeated or he reaches his term limit. To hell with the cost to the nation. None of that matters as long as they can continue to scream about how he should never have been sworn in. After all, that honor should have gone to Hillary Clinton.

Read the resolution for yourselves. When you cut through all the jargon, it comes down to Schiff being in control and basically being able to do whatever he wants.

How many weeks and months have we listened to Pelosi and Schiff and their cohorts in the House telling us there is more than enough evidence to not only impeach the president but to bring him up on criminal charges? How many weeks and months have they promised to move forward, to bring the case before the American people and yet there’s been nothing but strategic leaks and innuendo? It is past time for them to either show their hand or move on–preferably to move out of their roles in government.

When our politicians are more concerned with punishing fellow politicians because they dared get elected than they are in serving their constituents, our nation is in trouble. When we continue electing those same politicians, we need to step back and take a hard look at ourselves. We have that chance coming up in the next election. I know what I’m going to do. What about you?

If that isn’t enough to get you thinking, perhaps this will be. What will the history books say about the antics of the House of Representatives over the last three years? Will they talk about all the legislation that was passed and how it helped move the country to a stronger position internationally? Not a chance. Will the books tell future students how the House reached across the aisle to work with the Republican held Senate? Nope. Instead, those books will, or at least should, talk about how Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi and others in House leadership roles tried to hold the nation hostage because they couldn’t get over the fact Donald Trump won the 2016 election.

Don’t let this be the death knell of the American dream. It is time to reclaim our country from politicians who are more worried about their own personal agendas than they are about the safety and welfare of the nation.

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Featured Image: Adam Schiff caricature by DonkeyHotey. Creative Commons 2.0 license.