Republican Party Calls For Rep. Newhouse’s Resignation

The pushback continues against 4th District Congressman Dan Newhouse and his decision to vote to impeach President Trump following the January 6th break in at the Capitol building.

As a reminder, here is a portion of his remarks at the time.

"Last week, hateful and un-American extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol, attacking both the structural embodiment of our Republic and the values we promote as citizens of this great nation.....The mob was inflamed by the language and misinformation of the President of the United States. Turning a blind eye to this brutal assault on our Republic is not an option"

I would like to talk to the Congressman about his calculations but his office has not responded to our repeated attempts to contact him.  It seems however he has found time to speak to a couple of other news outlets.  (What does that say about his feeling for you, the KIT audience?)  So without his participation I will present a different path that leads to the opposite conclusion.

Congressman Newhouse called the rioters "hateful and un-American extremists"  and he said they were "inflamed by the language and misinformation of the President ".

I would agree that those who fought with police - while the President was still speaking-were indeed "extreme" and I can't nor do I want to defend their actions in anyway.

So let's look at this another way.  Imagine the collective conservative mindset as a giant thermometer, kind of like a doomsday clock that can speed up or slow down.  And let's say at 72 degrees, only the most extreme at both ends of the political spectrum  find that temperature to be problematic.  So then what creates 72 degrees from a conservative perspective?   Truth, honesty, mutual respect and cooperation in government.  Judges not legislating from the bench but deciding cases and ruling based on constitutional principles.  The media presenting fair, honest and balanced coverage of all parties and issues.  Hollywood showing more focus on entertaining than lecturing and virtue signaling.  Those on the left being allowed to live their lives as they wish and those on the right being allowed to do the same.  That's a lovely 72 degree picture.  To the extent this all happens, the temperature remains comfortable and consistent.

Now, to quote our new president, "here's the deal."  Most of us (but not all) can endure more heat. Sure, we a little agitated when any one of those institutions gets out of whack and we get hotter under the collar when several of them are off track but the fire boils over when all of them are trashed at the same time...like now.   When that happens, and the temperature hits around 120 degrees, hundreds of thousands of calmer, cooler non-protesting-type Americans are heat-motivated to gather in the capital to show support for their President.  At the same time, the far right, with a shorter fuse, and less tolerance for heat, has been pushed past boiling and they rushed the Capitol building..

In truth, they chattered about it on-line for days and the FBI was well aware of the threat and possibility before the President's speech on the 6th.

So was it the President's comments and tweets that turned up the heat and released the alt right or was it, as I contend, the actual activities and events that the President was reacting to that generated the heat.

For example -  Take Pelosi and the Democrats holding up Covid relief money for months so as not to give the President some kind of Covid victory before the election, and then jamming through (because time is now so critical) a 900-billion dollar bill full of pork for pet projects and for causes and countries around the world while carving out just 600 bucks for desperate Americans.  That kind of blatant political gamesmanship and disregard for real Americans certainly raised the temperature significantly.

If you want to know what pushed the extremists to act, perhaps look closely at 12 years of lies, insults, attacks, weaponizing agencies for partisan purposes, bogus impeachments, phony Russian investigations and so much more --with the temperature creeping up a little bit each time..  Trump called out the hypocrisy and dishonesty and Trump fought them as best he could-- but we all saw what was happening,  Americans didn't Mr. Trump to call out what was going on.  No, it was the actual actions and behaviors from the left that poured gas on the fire, not Trumps words about them.

I wonder if Mr. Newhouse has considered that instead of laying the blame at the feet of the President?

Republicans rolled over for decades until finally, pushed too far, the TEA Party was born, made up of average Americans who had reached their boiling point.  Today the heat continues unrelenting, and when the alt-right reacted it only helped to turn the heat up even more. Where does the talk of a breaking point or even a civil war come from?  Unthinkable ideas for most...but the heat just keeps coming.  Cancel culture, social media bans, the extreme progressive agenda, dismantling immigration reform efforts and so much more.  The temperature continues to climb.  And if or when it boils over for the rest of us, if 75-million Americans decide to do something(?), the only thing it will have to do with Trump is that showed that pushing back was something we could do.  I don't mean to threaten as much as to plead and warn.  We all have a boiling point, there comes a time, different for each of us, when we have to say enough.  A call for unity that is really a demand for capitulation will generate a few more degrees.

Newhouse also said, "A vote against this impeachment is a vote to validate the unacceptable violence we witnessed in our nation’s capital."   Try this on for size as an alternative point of view, Congressman.  You say you voted your conscience. Right?  There was nothing your constituents, your bosses, could do or say to convince you to do otherwise.  I know you heard from many of them...but you are your own man and answered to what you felt you needed to do.  Why isn't is possible the extremists felt the same way.  Why are they thought to be just puppets with Trump pulling the strings and no will of their own?  Why couldn't they have the courage of their own convictions, like you, based on 12 years of rising temperatures, to take the extreme actions they did to make their point and be heard?  Remember MLK said the riot is the language of the unheard.

Yes, they were wrong to do what they did in the way they did it and they should not get away with it. This is not a validation of unacceptable violence, but why aren't they responsible for their own preplanned actions.  Why is it Trump's fault? I can understand it without condoning it.  Can't you?

Finally you said, "It is also a vote to condone President Trump’s inaction. He did not strongly condemn the attack nor did he call in reinforcements when our officers were overwhelmed. Our country needed a leader, and President Trump failed to fulfill his oath of office. "

What does the time line show?  By 1 pm rioters were fighting with police trying to breech the perimeter.  Trump was still speaking until 1:10 pm.  His words didn't incite those individuals.  The President's statements didn't light the match, it was long since lit and you and the left need to understand that.  Trumps most powerful weapon of influence and control is supposed to be his Twitter account.  At about 2:10 pm the break-in at the Capitol is underway.  At 2:38 Trump Tweeted to support the police and "stay peaceful."  At 3:13 Trump Tweeted he was asking everyone to remain peaceful adding "we are the party of law and order".

Trump used his main megaphone to ask the invaders to remain peaceful...what else would you have him do?  Was he supposed to go there and create a security nightmare?  At 4:05 Biden calls on Trump to speak again and 12 minutes later he does, tweeting out his video request for all to go home.   Again I ask, what course of action should he have taken to have avoided your demanding he be impeached, despite the faulty procedure?

Four hours later Vice President Mike Pence announces "Let's go back to work", and they did.  It was a sad day, a terrible day, and the result of years of increasing heat and not a flash point from a Presidential rally where he told the crowd  “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”  Yes, he also said to "fight like hell" but so has virtually every other politician in Washington...it's a figure of speech, not a call to physical action!  When I got Covid I said I would fight like hell to recover. When you support the idea that saying "fight like hell" rises to the level of incitement, then the collected conservative temperature rises too.

The letters to the editor in the Yakima Herald Republic have been mixed pro and con. The  Editorial Board Yakima County wrote this, "Dan Newhouse deserves the thanks of every Central Washingtonian who appreciates and understands that the 244-year-old American experiment in government is under direct threat from the White House and that our president, no matter how popular among his constituents here, is a danger to our country and somehow must be stopped." Demonstrating just how in touch they are with the views and feelings of the majority of voters in the District.

I read elsewhere you expected to "take some heat" back home.  I submit your vote raised the heat and now the Republican party is acting to lower the temperature by opening the door...and encouraging you to walk through it.  The Yakima County Republican Women spoke critically last week and now the Associated Press is reporting that most of the Republican county leaders in Newhouse’s district have called for the lawmaker to resign. In a letter Newhouse was told that many constituents feel "betrayed” by Newhouse’s Jan. 13 vote. .

Today the Senate received the single Article of Impeachment...inciting insurrection....  High Crimes and Misdemeanors?  C'mon Dan!.