Where Were You, Mr. Schumer?

By Nancy Greegs


As an American citizen, as well as a New York voter, I read your statements today (re Mukasey) with great interest.

While I do not doubt the thoughtfulness and sincerity behind your reasoning as to why Mukasey should be confirmed, my problem with your decision lies not with what you, and your fellow elected Democrats, feel compelled to do today; it lies with how we got to where we are – a place where choosing the lesser of evils is consistently the only choice available.

“I deeply esteem those who believe the issue of torture is so paramount that Judge Mukasey’s views on it should be the sole determinant of our vote. But I must respectfully disagree.”

I must ask, sir, with all due respect: If the issue of torture should not be a determinant, what issue should be?

Over the last six-plus years, Democrats have seen issue after issue raised with respect to this administration and its policies; its flaunting of our nation’s laws, our Constitution, our rights and our freedoms. And time after time, we have watched in horror as our elected representatives have cowered in the corners declaring, through their inaction, that this was not the issue to finally take a stand on.

How did we get here, Mr. Schumer? How did we, as a nation, get to a place where a president commits crime after crime against our country and no one in a position to do so speaks out against him? How did we get to a place where blatant wrongdoing at the highest level of our government is simply dismissed as politics as usual? How did we get to a place where those elected to represent us trot out excuse after excuse as to why THIS is not the moment, THIS is not the issue, THIS is not the battle that needs to be fought?

Where were you, Mr. Schumer, when it was proven beyond all doubt that this administration fabricated “intelligence” that led us into the quagmire of Iraq? Did you stand up and yell “liars!”?

Where were you, Mr. Schumer, when billions of taxpayers’ dollars went missing in the alleged fog of war, or when our money was handed, no-questions-asked, to war-profiteers with White House ties? Did you stand up and yell “thieves!”?

Where were you, Mr. Schumer, when our troops were sent into combat under-equipped and over-extended, or when our wounded soldiers returned to face dismissal of their claims for pensions, for medical assistance, for rehabilitation? Did you stand up and yell “traitors!” at those who waved their Support the Troops banners while breaking our military, and the individuals who had sacrificed everything only to be ignored after they had done their service?

Where were you, Mr. Schumer, when the issue of torture was first raised by this administration? Were you on your feet, decrying the inhumanity of such action? Were you on the steps of the Capitol, calling for all righteous citizens to join you in denouncing the immoral, the reprehensible, the barbaric?

If you, or any of your Democratic colleagues, had done any of the above, sir, we might not be where we are today – listening to yet another litany of excuses as to why the devil cannot be ousted, but merely assuaged.

As Diane Feinstein said today: "I believe that Judge Mukasey is the best we will get …” And that, sir, is the problem. Thanks to the cowardice and silence of the Democrats, we cannot hope to have a man in place who is a law-abiding citizen beyond reproach, one whose actions will be based on the good of the nation as opposed to what is good for political advancement, one who will uphold the Constitution as well as the moral rectitude we, as citizens, once expected – not hoped for, but expected – of those in positions of power and influence.

What we are now left with is the best we can get in circumstances where the best is just another euphemism for the least of the evils we are forced to choose from.

What your present position comes down to, Mr. Schumer – a position unfortunately shared by too many elected Democrats – is a plea to be excused for your poor decisions in light of the circumstances in which you find yourselves. Perhaps that plea would not fall on such deliberately deaf ears, sir, if the circumstances in which you find yourselves were not so obviously of your own creation.

I am not naïve, sir, as to the compromises that politics demands, nor the careful tempering of one’s position on some matters when more important issues are considered to be the better battlefield in which to take up arms and fight.

However, if torture is, as you say, not to be held out as a defining issue at this moment in our nation’s history, what is the defining issue?

Throughout my piece, Mr. Schumer, I have repeatedly asked where were you? But the truth be told, I know where you were. You were sitting in a Berlin café saying, “So what if Jews aren’t allowed to come here anymore? Is that something to upset ourselves over? Where can something so trivial possibly lead?”

It led to six million dead, sir. Because people who should have known better, people in positions of power, people who could have influenced the course of their nation’s history, sat back and said, “This issue should not be so paramount …”

THIS is the issue, Mr. Schumer. There is no other issue, there is no other war to be readied for if this one is not fought and won. There is no compromise that can be excused, no alternative that can be deemed morally acceptable.

THIS was the ultimate battle, sir – and your cowardly retreat from the field of honor has been duly noted.

Yours Most Truly,
Nancy Greggs
U.S. Citizen
Registered to Vote in the State of New York

Former Charles Schumer supporter willing to acknowledge, and rectify, such a foolish mistake


(Edited to Add: Yes, you're damned real I sent this to Schumer!!!)


Posted in full with permission of author.

Originally posted on democraticunderground.com: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/NanceGreggs/295