Wednesday, October 30, 2019
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Gary Bauer
The Left's New Hero
The left has found a new hero -- Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman. He's considered a top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, and as such was among the many individuals who listened in on President Trump's July call with the Ukrainian president.
Vindman testified before Adam Schiff's kangaroo court yesterday, saying that he was concerned about the conversation. According to the New York Times, he told members of the House Intelligence Committee:
"I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the U.S. government's support of Ukraine. I realized that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Bidens and Burisma it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play which would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan support it has thus far maintained."
First, the president did not demand anything as the transcript of the call, which the White House released weeks ago, clearly shows. As for corruption and foreign aid coming up in the same conversation, so what?
Vindman is a NSC staffer. No one voted for him. He does not set policy for the country. That is the president's job. Second, he's making a political decision and he admits it. He was concerned about partisan perceptions.
Well, where were Col. Vindman's concerns when three liberal senators threatened Ukraine's "bipartisan support" if Ukrainian officials didn't cooperate with the Mueller investigation?
How can senators demand foreign leaders investigate Trump but Trump can't demand investigations from foreign leaders? Why aren't these senators being impeached?
And where were Col. Vindman's concerns when Ukrainian officials were scrambling to cover-up their support for Hillary Clinton? Why is it okay for the left to exploit Ukraine, but it's an impeachable offense for Trump to ask questions?
Some conservatives have raised their concerns about Vindman because, according to the New York Times, Vindman is a Ukrainian immigrant and "Ukrainian officials sought advice from him about how to deal with Mr. Giuliani."
What does that mean exactly? Was Col. Vindman authorized to negotiate with foreign officials? Or was he doing freelance foreign policy?
Apparently you're not allowed to ask those kinds of questions. The left and its media allies viciously attacked conservatives like Laura Ingraham and John Yoo.
"How dare you question this decorated military hero," they exclaimed. Predictably, some Republicans immediately ran for the tall grass.
Silencing Debate
The left's attack demonstrated yet again how determined it is to shut down debate. Let me remind you of another decorated military hero -- Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.
Flynn served in the military for 33 years. That did not stop the left from trying to completely destroy him and his family.
It now appears that the Deep State may have altered government forms to manufacture a perjury charge. Why? Because he crossed Barack Obama, and the Deep State thought they could use Flynn to bring down Trump.
The left also used Robert Mueller's military service as a shield from criticism. It said, "You can't question this former combat Marine who served in Vietnam." God bless him. I respect Mueller's service. But as James Comey's friend and mentor, he had no business leading the Russia investigation.
Remember how the left reacted when President Trump named Gen. Mattis and Gen. Kelly to his Cabinet? One left-wing publication declared, "Trump's Cabinet Is A Coup Waiting To Happen." It fretted that the "clique of warrior-generals" would "spell the end of the democratic experiment."
The left's defense of Vindman is a charade, just like this entire impeachment effort. If he wasn't telling progressives exactly what they wanted to hear, they would be savaging him today.
Impeachment Insanity
Yesterday afternoon, Speaker Pelosi released the text of her impeachment resolution. It resolves nothing. House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy insists that it actually makes the process worse by empowering Rep. Adam Schiff.
But there is something much more important than the process. There is no evidence that the president did anything that would justify impeachment.
Sen. Lindsey Graham said last night that there isn't one vote among Republicans to impeach Trump "because he did nothing wrong."
By the way, Graham isn't the only one saying that. A new USA Today poll finds that most voters reject impeachment and do not believe the president's phone call constitutes an impeachable offense. They are absolutely right.
Here are the key facts to keep in mind:
- President Trump placed a call to the newly elected president of Ukraine.
- In the call he raised the issue of corruption.
- We have a treaty with Ukraine to fight corruption. Bill Clinton signed it.
- In the call, Trump mentioned that more aid was coming to Ukraine.
- During the call, Trump never demanded an investigation in exchange for the aid.
- Even if he generally linked the two, it is standard operating procedure to use foreign aid as leverage.
For example, presidents will remind foreign leaders about upcoming U.N. votes and the amount of money we give them. Trump has publicly called on our European allies to spend more on their own defense or we might reduce our NATO spending. No one suggested that was an impeachable offense.
And it's ludicrous that Trump is being accused of manipulating Ukraine when it was his administration that gave Ukraine the lethal military aid Obama refused to send!
From the very beginning of his presidency, the left has subjected Trump and the entire country to a two-year sham investigation over collusion with Russia. It hobbled the administration and divided the country. They came up with nothing. No one on the left or in the media ever apologized.
The Ukraine hoax is a redo. The only thing that's different is that instead of hyperventilating about Russia, the left is obsessing over Ukraine now.
Shame on the left!
Shame on the media!
And shame on the small cadre of NeverTrumpers in the Republican Party!
They are empowering the radical left in this smear campaign with no regard for how much damage it is doing to the country.
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