Do Your Job, Mr. Speaker!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Thomas Massie, a Republican member of Congress from Kentucky, has submitted a "discharge petition" in the House to force a vote on a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all its files related to pedophile and sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.  A discharge petition allows a bill to bypass being heard in committee (where much legislation dies) and go directly to the House floor for a vote.  A discharge petition requires a majority of House members (218) to sign in order for it to go into effect.  Massie's discharge petition on the Epstein matter currently has 217 signatures (including some Republicans).  One more, and the bill to force the DOJ to release the Epstein files would automatically go before the House, forcing all House members to go on the record regarding the matter.

Donald Trump, for reasons known best to Donald Trump, does not want the Epstein files made public.  In fact, he seems to be obsessed with keeping them cloaked in secrecy.   Many Americans, however, including many MAGA types, have long clamored to have the files released so they can see for themselves which prominent individuals were involved in Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's sex parties with minors.  And many Republicans in Congress do not want to run afoul of Trump - so they are in a very tricky position.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, has kept the House out of sesssion for the past two weeks, and it now looks as though he may keep members out for another week.  His purpose for this extended vacation, not long after the House returned from taking the entire month of August off, seems to be to keep from swearing-in a new Democratic congresswoman from Arizona, Adelita Grijalva, who was duly eleted in a special election on September 23rd - 16 days ago!   

And why does the politician from the bayous of Louisiana not want to seat Ms. Grijalva?  Speaker Johnson is stalling because the congresswoman-elect has said that her first act in office will be to sign Thomas Massie's discharge petition (she will be the 218th signature) and force a vote in the House compelling the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files.

Speaker Mike Johnson does not appear to be a big fan of transparency in government or the basic tenants of democracy.

Do your job, Mr. Speaker.  America deserves a national legislature where the representatives actually go to work, the people in Arizona's 7th congressional district deserve to be represented in Congress, the victims of Epstein an Maxwell, many of whom were children, deserve justice, and the American people deserve to know which of their political and business leaders are child rapists.

Stop bending over to lick boots, Mike, and stand up for decency and American values.  It's the right thing to do, and it's the moral thing to do.