Courage

“I was concerned by the call, what I heard was improper, and I reported my concerns to [WH lawyer] Mr. Eisenberg. It is improper for the President of the United States to demand a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen and political opponent.” - Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman

“Dad, my sitting here today in the U.S. Capitol, talking to our elected officials, is proof that you made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the Soviet Union and come here to the United States of America in search of a better life for our family. Do not worry, I’ll be fine for telling the truth.” -ibid

(By American Zen's Mike Flannigan, on loan from Ari)

As America is a largely civilized nation in which warriors like Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman ensure we don't have to make life-altering or -changing sacrifices, we need to be reminded of what that word truly means. It's becoming increasingly obvious that the definition changes depending on the political stripe of the person whom you ask. For instance, if you ask Donald Trump, Jr., one who immediately benefits from nepotism by his very name, courage and the sacrifice in which it often results is what he's put in mind of when he thinks of the graves of Arlington National Cemetery. No, not the 400,000 men and women interred there who'd made the supreme sacrifice for our flag and country. He was talking about the so-called monetary sacrifices of the Trump family.

     However, if you were to ask most Americans, even those who have never taken a stand more courageous than putting a certain supportive frame on their Facebook or Twitter avatars, you'd get answers that hew more closely to the actual definition of the word. Most of us, however, who shy from acts of courage for fear of losing a raise, promotion, job or face on social media, need a refresher course from time to time. And today Jennifer Williams and especially Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman, I'd like to think, reminded us of that.

     To take nothing away from Ms. Williams (an advisor to Mike Pence on Russian matters), whose own testimony put her job and career at risk and took a special kind of courage untried by the average American, today's show really was Colonel Vindman's. He got the lion's share of the coverage, praise and approbrium and he got the first two for good reason. He's a career officer in the United States Army and a Purple Heart recipient. He has that instant credibility that would've been completely lacking in any of the worthless witnesses the House Republicans wanted Intel Committee Chair Adam Schiff to summon.

     And, most importantly, Lt. Col. Vindman, as with Ms. Williams, was in the wrong place at the wrong time- They'd both heard in real time the now-infamous July 25th phone call between Trump and new Ukrainian President Zelensky.

     This far, the GOP's so-called defense of Donald Trump, a guy who couldn't tell the truth if he guzzled a gallon of sodium pentothal, amount to everything and anything short of an actual defense of his actions. One of them is that Trump can't be guilty of bribery because none of the fact witnesses actually used the word "bribery." (To his credit, Adam Schiff was quick to point out that it is not the job of fact witnesses to levy charges such as bribery. It is up to the three pertinent impeachment inquiry committees to determine whether crimes such as bribery had, in fact, been committed).

     Which is part and parcel to the kind of frog hair-splitting distinctions that characterize such defenses of Trump's actions, the kind of hair-splitting one would expect of a seven year-old explaining to a parent why he can't clean his room or take out the garbage. Jim Jordan went after Vindman because he supposedly didn't go through the proper chain of command or Devin Nunes and GOP counsel Steven Castor questioning Vindman's allegiances simply because he was born in the Ukraine. And then there was Donnie Dumbo Jr screaming repeatedly on Twitter that Vindman was no hero (Shades of Daddy saying the late John McCain was a war hero only because he got captured) had leaked classified information outside the chain of command. Despite a supposedly "perfect" and congratulatory call between one head of state to another is generally not a state secret.

      Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman earned his Purple Heart after sustaining injuries in an IED explosion in Fallujah. Fredo's draft-dodger father had his given to him by a very misguided, doddering veteran. Vindman survived a war. He couldn't survive past the first 20 minutes of a right wing book signing. Considering the quality of the defenses offered by the loudest bleacher bums, I like the Democrats' chances.

Another V For Vendetta

Considering that Kurt Volker, the special envoy who was fired by Mike Pompeo just before his closed door October 3rd testimony, was the one who'd given us the Taylor-Sondland text messages that clearly showed there was illegal quid pro quo that was made known to the diplomatic corps in Ukraine, it seems almost incredible that this was one of the witnesses that the GOP wanted to testify. By three o'clock this afternoon, the GOP, through its official Twitter account, began to crow and do a senseless victory dance as Vindman and Williams were busy hammering nails into the coffin of Trump's purloined presidency. Then they started licking their chops and rubbing their hands in anticipation of the Republicans' star witness Kurt Volker taking center stage later today.

     Then he began opening his mouth and pounded a couple of more nails into that coffin.

     In a stunning about face from his testimony last October 3rd, Volker ended up praising Joe Biden and painted Rudy Giuliani as he really is: A conspiracy theory loon. And even before that, in his opening statement, Volker said he was "surprised" to learn about additional attempts by the White House to pressure Zelensky to announce an investigation into Vice President Biden. He further stated that Ukraine became aware of the holdup of the US military aid on August 29th (Punching a big hole in Trump's story they were not aware of it) and was approached by the Ukrainians about it. Volker told them just to wait it out and that it was an internal US policy problem that would be worked out.

      So, please, Republican Party, continue calling witnesses. Between Volker's about face and Gordon Sondland's "amended" answers to his original testimony (He's due to testify again tomorrow), the people who were originally in the tank for Trump are climbing out as if it was infested with piranhas. It's obvious by now that none of them want to be the next John Dean, who served time in federal prison because of Richard Nixon.

    Well into their testimony, when Devin Nunes (R-Moo) was recognized to cross examine, he immediately and vengefully lit into them and channeled his inner Trump to say that (No, I'm not making this up) TV ratings for the impeachment inquiries were down. (Fact: They're actually sky high). He also called the proceedings, “A televised theatrical performance staged by the Democrats.”

     Which is quite an odd thing for even a clueless boob who's suing a fictional cow to say considering that Volker and Morrison are the GOP's own hand-picked witnesses.

      And the news isn't getting any better. The AP reported a little over an hour ago that the DOJ will be interviewing a Ukrainian gas company executive regarding the federal probe into Rudy Giuliani, who was the head jester in this right wing circus in Ukraine. Andrew Favorov of Ukraine's state-owned gas company Naftogaz will voluntarily be deposed before federal investigators  In other words, in a crowning irony, Republicans who wanted an investigation into one Ukrainian gas company (Burisma) will be the subjects of a real criminal probe into another Ukrainian gas company.

     If nothing else, the easiest and fastest way to ascertain the true definition of courage is to compare the GOP's actions, misactions and inactions to that of the witnesses who've testified today, especially Ms. Williams and Lt. Col. Vindman. The Republicans have obfuscated, accused, smeared, pissed and moaned about policies they'd set years ago and are now sniping at their own witnesses over ratings. It's risky at best that you'll even learn the correct spelling of the word "courage" from Don Jr or his father or anyone in the Republican Party. And perhaps we shouldn't look to mere words for that elusive definition but instead, like the saying wrongly attributed to Winston Churchill, to observe behavior.