Name:   Talullahhound - Subject:   Dems think they've hit the jackpot...not! Date:   10/29/2019 10:26:30 PM

Vindman was not advising the Ukraine's behind anyone's back.  He was the NSC desk officer for Ukraine and Russia, so he was likely on the phone call.  He would be working with his counterparts at State and Defense.  So all this "deep state" crap is just that  - crap.  As a desk officer, if he was concerned about what was going down, it doesn't surprise me that he would discuss it with the NSC lawyer.  This wasn't a formal process - he stopped down the hall and talked to the lawyer.  He didn't ask for an investigation.  

What you are summarily dismissing is people that actually care what happens, not some deep dark political conspiracy.  Now this LTC may had more concerns about Ukraine, given it is the country of his birth.  I know a lot of Ukrainians who are naturalized citizens and also serve in the military and it seems natural to me that he would be a soldier-stateman for that region, given that he is a native speaker and clearly understands the history.  There is a program in the active duty Army to become a soldier -statesman, and when they graduate from the program all of their future assignments will revolve around their specialty.  Don't forget that the military wanted to have a lot of Russian speakers, because of the cold war and also as the Soviet Union was broken apart.  

Vindman was not trying to make foreign policy - the money had already been allocated to the Ukraine for security assistance.  And yes, sometimes it is held up for one reason or another - but people were concerned because the SA money would expire at the end of the fiscal year (September) and it doesn't appear that Trump enlightened the staff.  This is why there is a problem with Rudy over there making demands on the Ukranian that they had to investigate the Bidens.  You know, MM, I've seen money held up for democratic goals to be met, I've seen programs suspended for corruption, but it is very much out of the norm for the President to lean on a country to achieve his own goal.  That is not the normal way our government conducts businesses.  We might pull assistance or greatly reduce assistance as we did in Central America once the war in El Salvador was resolved.  

At the end of the day, I don't think Trump will be kicked out of office via this impeachment, but what he did is irregular and I can understand why people would believe that it could harm national security with regard to our relationship with Ukraine and Ultimately Russia.  The fact that he released the funds tells me that he realized that he had stepped in it, and the feedback he was getting from his "shadow diplomacy" said the Ukraines were confused about exactly what he wanted.  Just because a quid pro quo didn't take place doesn't mean that it wasn't intended.  

I support a lot of objectives that Trump has, but in this case, he was wrong.  He stepped on it, and this is just what the Democrats were waiting for.  The Democrats don't want to resolve this, this year.  They will try to carry this into next year to make up for the fact that they don't have an electable candidate.