No Quid Pro Quo !

Well, that settles it. There was no “Quid pro Quo”. Lucky for us President Trump took notes on his phone call with Sondland. Otherwise we would have thought he was involved in some illegal, nefarious plot to dirty the name of Joe Biden. But the evidence is clear. For all to see.

Now, based on this I did a little research into other famous political leaders. What I found surprised me. We need to rewrite our history textbooks based on my extensive research. Here are just a few of the notes I found, hidden by those “elite intellectuals” in academia. Finally, exposed!

A note in the Berlin archives, handwritten by Adolph Hitler.

” To my generals: Do not invade Poland! Do not put Jews in concentration camps. I want nothing but peace and democracy. Do not invade Poland! This is the final word from your fuhrer.”

A old, yellowed piece if paper tucked away at Angkor Wat in Cambodia (Kampuchea).

“To my followers. This is your god and leader, Pol Pot. Do not murder intellectuals. Do not murder anyone wearing glasses. Do not massacre civilians. Communism is wrong. This is the final word from your god and master”

From the South Carolina archives, an official document signed by Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy.

“To my white brothers and sisters. It is time to free the slaves. They are human beings just like me and you. Given the chance, a black man may someday discover blood plasma and even become president of these United States. So. Put down your arms and rejoin the union. Freedom for all. This is the final word of your president.”

From deep in the museum at Mexico City, a note from Hernan Cortez, conqueror of the Aztecs. (translated from the Spanish).

“To mis amigos. Don’t kill the Aztecs. Don’t destroy their literature, their art. Don’t melt down the gold artwork and send it back to Spain. Don’t burn their priests. That would be wrong. This is the final word from your commanding officer”,

From the dusty archives in the city of Jerusalem.

“To my Jewish friends. I oppose crucifixion as barbaric and wrong. I will never authorize anyone to nail anyone to a cross. Disgusting. Horrible. Not on my watch. You people have gone through enough, already, without me crucifying you. Take care. No crucifixion. No crucifixion. Your BFF (Best friend forever). Pontius the Pilot.”

So, let us rewrite the history books based on “original sources”,  not hearsay . After all, no one living today ever heard Cortez or saw Pontius or met Jeff Davis. Their own words must be accepted as historic fact.

Now, where did I misplace my notes on Jack the Ripper?

 

No Quid Pro Quo

No quid pro quo. So goes the latest talking point in the pretzel logic of the GOP. Let’s start at the beginning.

First, Trump did nothing wrong. Some crazy whistleblower without any first hand knowledge of the phone call to Zelensky reported it.

Hearsay. The whistleblower never heard the call, so he or she could not know what was on the call. So, nothing to see here.

Then we learned that the Inspector General looked at the case. He did some investigating, as he is supposed to. And he found that there was some substance to the whistleblower complaint.

But Mr Trump did nothing wrong, so he released the perfect transcript of the call. Well, not exactly the transcript, but a partial transcript with some parts missing. But it was perfect. See. Just another plot by the Dems to get Trump.

Then we read the partial transcript and OOPS. In it Mr Trump is clearly asking for a “favor” from Zelensky. The “favor”, it turns out , is to investigate “corruption” And he specifically mentions the Bidens.

No problem, says the Trump supporters. He never specifically tied any conditions to this request. Just asking and not getting what you want is not a crime. Trump never did anything to coerce the Ukraine.

Next, we learn that there was a months long attempt by Giuliani to get Zelensky to investigate the Bidens. And Sondland was involved. And Pence was involved. And Pompeo was involved. And Perry. And Volker.  And Lev. And Igor. An entire parallel universe trying their hardest to get the Ukrainians to make up stuff about the Bidens. IF they wanted the military aid they deserved.

But then… it is learned that the military aid to the Ukraine was put on hold. Ukraine, in the middle of a border war with Putin. Ukraine, which badly needs military help and Congress voted to help. And the Pentagon is ready to deliver. Then a hold is placed on the aid. By the White House. No one knows why. But, no problem. As Kelly Anne Conway says: Just a coincidence!

So, no quid pro quo.

Now quid pro quo usually means that I will give you something and then you give me something. These “somethings” have value. And they are “somethings” I would not normally get. “Somethings” I may not even deserve.

So, does Ukraine get “something” they did not deserve? Nope. Eventually, after the whistleblower complaint became public, Mr Trump released the military aid. But this was aid they DESERVED. It was not a “quid pro quo” because it already supposed to go to the Ukraine.

Trump did not offer the Ukraine anything new of value. They already had a right, under the law, to the military aid.  Did I mention they were fighting Putin? So any weapons Trump sent to the Ukraine might be used to kill Russian soldiers or  lackeys. Putin was not happy.

So, there was no quid pro quo. The GOP is correct.

What we are seeing is a perfect phone call and a perfect set up. For extortion. Trump tried to EXTORT the government of Ukraine by withholding much needed military aid. Aid they had a right to . To force them to publicly state they were investigating the Bidens. Now, Ukraine did not need to investigate the Bidens, which would be a waste of time. No. Just announce, on TV, that you are investigating the Bidens.

Just give Mr Trump a political TV ad so he can call the Bidens crooks. Don’t worry about finding anything, the announcement is enough.Then Fox “news” can spend every day talking about the criminal Bidens. Every hour. Every minute.

Do it OR ELSE. OR ELSE you don’t get your military aid. You don’t get the photo op with the US president. Do it OR ELSE you will lose even more countrymen to the Putin invasion. 13,000 casualties already.

That is not a quid pro quo. It is extortion.

Extortion: the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.

So we now have the entire Republican party standing behind a man who has used extortion on an ally who is trying to survive the attacks by Putin. The GOP saying it seems ok to them. Extort an ally? Is that wrong? Is that an impeachable offense? Undermining the 2020 election? Is that wrong?

The stench of the GOP grows daily. Extortion is not a problem. What next? Perhaps an open murder on 5th Avenue?