As a parade of self-centered, self-important, pompous asses
from the State Department trooped forward in the impeachment hearings, I was
struck by one thing.
It was all about their hurt feelings.
Not that Trump did anything illegal, but he ignored
them. One after another testified that
they were upset – I believe the most often used word was “disturbed” – that he
was circumventing them. They were the experts. They, not him, were in charge of
policy on Ukraine.
One arrogant, puffed up witness – Vindman – showed up in his
military dress uniform to prove his gravitas, even though he had to concede
under questioning he normally wore a suit to work. When one Republican
addressed him as Mr. Vindman, he quickly demanded that he properly be addressed
as Lt. Col. Vindman because he was in fact in uniform that day.
Vindman had earlier stated in written remarks that he was
essentially THE most important person on Ukraine policy. Everything concerning
Ukraine had to go through him, according to his testimony. Naturally then he was deeply disturbed to be
left out of Trump’s call with Zelensky. After reading the transcript he
scurried off to report his feelings to a variety of people, including, it
seems, the mysterious whistleblower who, like Vindman didn’t hear the call
firsthand.
In short, Vindman was probably the original leaker to the whistleblower. Some of his peers and bosses long suspected he was the source of a variety of leaks to the media since Trump took office. Which may explain why he was also intentionally left out
of other meetings between Trump’s people and Ukrainian officials.
In one instance he was told he wasn’t on the
approved list of attendees. To Vindman this was unacceptable because he was so
important. Leaving him out of the loop was clearly a sign to him that Trump and
Trump’s people were doing something they were trying to hide. Otherwise, they
would have included him on everything.
He wasn’t alone in feeling left out. Rudely tossed
aside. And bitter.
Just about every witness said Trump’s actions threatened long-standing
State Department protocols and processes. What was he thinking? He should have followed their rules. Instead he set up “irregular” back channels with Ukraine
officials, bypassing proper procedures. He ignored them all. Career diplomats felt blindsided,
embarrassed, and their authority undercut.
How dare he make decisions without involving these career
State Department employees. How dare he
ignore their carefully crafted talking points. How dare he have conversations
with foreign leaders without letting them listen in. How dare he keep them out of the loop.
More importantly, how dare he remove one of their own –
Voinovich – so cruelly and heartlessly; that was just mean-spirited and hurtful
to her. Democrats on the panel
constantly picked at that scab when questioning her and the other State
Department witnesses. How did it make her feel?
How did it make them feel? How did
others in the State Department feel?
The consensus: they all felt awful about it. Especially her. Surprised?
Democrats were clearly hoping she would break down and cry
for a Blasey-Ford made-for-TV moment; they kept pushing and pushing. They put up
disparaging e-mails and statements made by Giuliani and others about her,
including what Trump said in his call to Zelensky. Adam Schiff even interrupted her questioning
to read a new mean tweet about her from Trump and ask Voinovich how she felt
about Trump criticizing her and trying to intimidate her with false claims.
Throughout this circus, time and again Voinovich and her
State Department pals said Trump had no just cause to fire her. That recalling
her was the result of a smear campaign of false charges by Giuliani and other
Trump allies. That taking away her
ambassadorship so abruptly had a chilling effect on the entire State Department;
if Trump could take her out for no reason, no one was safe. Regardless of how many years they had
served. No matter what and how many
awards they’d won. No matter how well thought
of and respected by their peers.
You could just see what they were all thinking: Who the hell
does Trump think he is?
Well, he is the elected President of the United States. He
has sole authority via the Constitution to set foreign policy. He can also
remove and replace any ambassador at any time, for no reason at all – that,
too, is in the Constitution.
Ask Obama. He forced
the resignation of every Bush-era ambassador as soon as he took office so he
could put in his own people. Did anyone then bitch and whine? Nope.
So while a President has the Constitutional
authority to do whatever he wants on foreign policy and with ambassadors –
including asking foreign leaders to investigate potential corruption involving
U.S. citizens, there’s no authority granted on any of this to the State
Department.
In fact, there’s no mention of a State Department at all in
the Constitution.
What I saw in the last two weeks of impeachment hearings was
the equivalent of 70s-era encounter group where everyone shared their feelings,
usually with bad results. In this case it was a wall-to-wall bureaucrat bitch
fest.
Or, maybe it was like the Airing of Grievances per Festivus
on Seinfeld. At least everyone knew
Festivus was clearly a joke; Democrats and the media never saw how much of a joke
this was.
Even after not a single witness could come up with anything
Trump had done that was illegal. Not a
single witness could say they heard Trump himself say he was withholding aid to
Ukraine until they investigated the Bidens or the 2016 election. Every witness conceded Trump had the absolute
right to determine foreign policy. And to remove and replace ambassadors at
will.
All they had was hurt feelings. Boo hoo.
I did have one other takeaway from the hearings.
If anyone ever doubted there is an entrenched bureaucracy in
DC that feels they, not elected officials, are really in charge, the two weeks
of impeachment hearings we just endured should set that to rest once and for
all. Everyone saw that entrenched bureaucracy in
action.
Trump got elected in large part because of his promise to
drain the swamp and return power to the people from unelected bureaucrats. That’s
why career bureaucrats hate Trump. He
threatens their very existence. Their hold on power. Their belief they can get away with anything
they like.
And their blatant indifference to the will of the people who
pay their salaries.
If Trump gets re-elected, he needs to follow through on his
original pledge.
With a vengeance. The public will thank him. I know I will.
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