Whistle-blower and Democratic Freshmen are rare profiles in Courage

[Schlank]

It’s easy to be cynical about Washington, especially in the age of Trump. The president lies with abandon and flouts the law with impunity. Republicans, terrified of offending a president who controls their political destiny, pretend not to notice. Nothing changes.

This week reminds us that there are some people in Washington who are not motivated solely by self-interest — that there are actually a few people in positions of public responsibility who care about the Constitution and are willing to run considerable risks to protect it.

President Trump calls the intelligence community whistleblower’s source “close to a spy” and suggests that this person should be executed for “treason.” That merely shows how worried Trump is about the disclosures about Ukraine, and with good cause. The whistleblower risked a career to tell a shocking and disturbing truth that has now been amply confirmed by the rough transcript of Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — namely that, as the whistleblower wrote, “the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”

Presumably lots of other officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General William P. Barr, were aware of the same thing, but they kept silent. Thus, they became accomplices — and not for the first time — to the betrayal of the American people. But career civil servants were deeply disturbed by what they were seeing, and they shared their information with this whistleblower (who has now been identified by the New York Times as a CIA officer).

Trump loyalists call these people part of the “deep state”; they are so desperate to find political motivation that they are claiming that the whistleblower’s attorney is a Democratic partisan because 18 years ago he interned for Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer. In truth, the whistleblower and his or her colleagues are selfless patriots who are doing something that few bureaucrats would dare to do to protect us from a president who threatens the rule of law — and the integrity of our elections.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...emocratic-freshmen-are-rare-profiles-courage/

 

[Peterdraggon]

Not a wbistleblower

As the description of the whistleblow goes this guy or girl doesnt fit it. He got his information 2nd hand and it stay the whistleblower shall have seen it himself or heard it himself. Can't be handed down to.him. therefore in a come days it fake shit will be over to

 

[Peterdraggon]

Not a wbistleblower

As the description of the whistleblow goes this guy or girl doesnt fit it. He got his information 2nd hand and it stay the whistleblower shall have seen it himself or heard it himself. Can't be handed down to.him. therefor e in a come days it fake shit will be over to. Oh and. Courage?? No. Idiots

 

[Leather_Lesbian]

I find Trump’s reaction to be very revealing. An innocent person would have reacted with something along the lines of, “Let them investigate me! I’ve got nothing to hide!”

But Trump’s reaction was something along the lines of, “Who snitched? Who ratted me out? When I find out who the snitch is, they’re gonna die!”

 

[DawnODay]

Now, let's see where this is all heading...

C. Sabia, Whistleblower Did Not Want Trump Reelected, Never Heard Ukraine Phone Call, Federalist Papers (Sep. 25, 2019).

Meanwhile...

Democrats wrote to the Ukrainian government in May 2018 urging it to continue investigations into President Donald Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia in the 2016 presidential campaign — collusion later found not to exist.

The demand, which came from U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), resurfaced Wednesday in an opinion piece written by conservative Marc Thiessen in the Washington Post.

Ironically, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) declared Tuesday that the mere possibility that President Trump had asked Ukraine to continue an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden — even without a quid pro quo — was enough to trigger an impeachment inquiry. (Biden boasted in 2018 that he had forced Ukraine to remove its prosecutor by threatening to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid; he did not tell his audience at the Council on Foreign Relations that the prosecutor was looking into a firm on whose board his son, Hunter Biden, was serving.)​

K. Nelson, Turns Out Dems Wrote to Ukraine Last Year, Demanding They Investigate Trump, Conservative Opinion (Sep 25, 2019), accord J. Moseley, Joe Biden Confesses to Bribery, C-Span (Sep. 21, 2019).

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

Listen - how many times, are you going to walk into this trap?

 

[KeithD]

I find Trump’s reaction to be very revealing. An innocent person would have reacted with something along the lines of, “Let them investigate me! I’ve got nothing to hide!”

But Trump’s reaction was something along the lines of, “Who snitched? Who ratted me out? When I find out who the snitch is, they’re gonna die!”

Well, Trump is playing the movie role of a mobster patriarch.

 

[phrodeau]

Russia Hoax 2.0.

The democratic base is pissed. Nancy is trying to placate them. Nadler has been running an impeachment inquiry for months, so Nancy's declaration and this whistleblower change precisely nothing.

There is no evidence of anything at this point. Just allegations. Sound like the Russia Hoax? It should.

I mean..and this is freakin' hilarious...Adam Schiff had to lie (sorry parody) material that was entirely fabricated in his opening statement.

Schiff could do a note-perfect, verbatim impression of Trump, and you’d still say that Schiff made it up.

 

[magicalmoments]

Again, lots of contributors who can't distinguish between fact and opinion. Appalling!

The mueller report found evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 USA elections and there is no doubt there will continue to be such interference in 2020. Hell, it's so easy that this time around probably North Korea and China will have a go as well. God knows it's in their interests to keep trump in power.
The mueller report also found evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and the Russians. However it was unable to find any evidence that, at least from the trump campaign side, that this was done with criminal intent. Just the trump boys being dumb, not bright enough to realise what they were doing was criminal, so consequently, and quite properly, did not pursue prosecution.
However coming back to the current debacle that trump finds himself in. Totally different situation. He knows the law, or at least he should, and he knowingly, as president, put the hard word on Ukraine.
What Biden may or may not have done is a seperate issue. Whether it is addressed in law is irrelevant to the allegations against trump.
I doubt a bank robber who is caught and prosecuted would succeed with the defence "hey... Other people have robbed banks and got away with it, so I should be left alone because I didn't actually succeed in stealing anything".
Just MHO.

 

[jaF0]

Wow, quibbling about the label of wistleblower is all you got? Pathetic.

Nawwhhhh, he got hisse'f two posts in a year (neither of which would pass a third grade spelling class.)

 

[allison22]

I find Trump’s reaction to be very revealing. An innocent person would have reacted with something along the lines of, “Let them investigate me! I’ve got nothing to hide!”

But Trump’s reaction was something along the lines of, “Who snitched? Who ratted me out? When I find out who the snitch is, they’re gonna die!”

Donald Trump is an intellectually-lazy thug who seems to think the federal government should be run like a mafia crime family.

Thus, when the Democrats push American ideals like transparency or accountability in government, Trump gets outraged and throws childish temper tantrums.

 

[allison22]

Well, Trump is playing the movie role of a mobster patriarch.

When you read the transcript of the Trump/Zelensky call, it’s hard not to notice the similarities between that phone call and two gangsters talking shop. The whole thing reads like a mob wiretap transcript.

The subtext is clear: “We want to be your friends, but we can only help you if you work with us. Could you do us a favor and look into this Biden thing? Our guys are ready to help.”

Could it be any more obvious? The whole thing is sordid, and we haven’t even gotten to the question of the withheld money.

 

[DawnODay]

“Mr. Atkinson also found reason to believe that the whistle-blower may not support the re-election of Mr. Trump and made clear that the complainant was not in a position to directly listen to the call or see the memo that reconstructed it before it was made public, according to the Justice Department memo, which referred only to a single phone call between Mr. Trump and an unnamed foreign leader,” it said.

This means, if correct, that the Democrats are basing impeachment of The President of the United States on hearsay from someone who wants President Donald Trump to not be reelected.​

C. Sabia, Whistleblower Did Not Want Trump Reelected, Never Heard Ukraine Phone Call, Federalist Papers (Sep. 25, 2019) (citing C. Savage, M.S. Schmidt & J.E. Barnes, Whistle-Blower Is Said to Allege Concerns About White House Handling of Ukraine Call, New York Times (Sep. 25, 2019)).

Meanwhile, who's threatening Ukraine and talking like gangsters?

Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Thursday that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky “did not make any connection” between the then-cut off U.S. military aid and investigative requests he was receiving from Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Murphy visited Zelensky earlier this month, reportedly telling the Ukrainian president that complying with requests to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden could result in dwindling Democratic support for his country....

“What I told Zelensky was pretty simple,” he said. “It was common sense. I said, ‘listen, don’t get involved in the 2020 election. When you’re dealing with the United States of America, deal with the State Department. Talk to our ambassador. Don’t talk to the president’s personal political representatives.'”

...

On Saturday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said that his boss did not feel any pressure from President Trump resulting from their telephone call. Zelensky himself acknowledged as much on Thursday.​

S. Morefield, Chris Murphy On Ukraine Visit: ‘Zelensky Did Not Make Any Connection’ Between Aid And Investigation Requests Daily Caller (Sep 26, 2019) (emphasis added).

 

[DawnODay]

You know there's a transcript of that phone call, right? Could the impeachment have something to do with trump and the things he said?

Is that all you can do, focus on the whistle-blower, instead of on the things that have been uncovered?

Oh, please, let's focus on just the transcript. I suggested that two days ago.

It's Pelosi who, now that the transcript shows no wrongdoing, who wants to get the whistleblower to testify.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

BLatantly incorrect. By the time Nancy announced impeachment, she had Trump's verbal admission/brag that the call took place and that yes he had asked Ukraine to look into Biden. The release of the transcript the next day proved it.

Nancy's not dumb--though Trump is. I doubt she would have gone forward if she hadn't had it confirmed from the Idiot's own mouth. And then exact words.

“Mr. Atkinson also found reason to believe that the whistle-blower may not support the re-election of Mr. Trump and made clear that the complainant was not in a position to directly listen to the call or see the memo that reconstructed it before it was made public, according to the Justice Department memo, which referred only to a single phone call between Mr. Trump and an unnamed foreign leader,” it said.

This means, if correct, that the Democrats are basing impeachment of The President of the United States on hearsay from someone who wants President Donald Trump to not be reelected.​

C. Sabia, Whistleblower Did Not Want Trump Reelected, Never Heard Ukraine Phone Call, Federalist Papers (Sep. 25, 2019) (citing C. Savage, M.S. Schmidt & J.E. Barnes, Whistle-Blower Is Said to Allege Concerns About White House Handling of Ukraine Call, New York Times (Sep. 25, 2019)).

Meanwhile, who's threatening Ukraine and talking like gangsters?

Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Thursday that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky “did not make any connection” between the then-cut off U.S. military aid and investigative requests he was receiving from Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Murphy visited Zelensky earlier this month, reportedly telling the Ukrainian president that complying with requests to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden could result in dwindling Democratic support for his country....

“What I told Zelensky was pretty simple,” he said. “It was common sense. I said, ‘listen, don’t get involved in the 2020 election. When you’re dealing with the United States of America, deal with the State Department. Talk to our ambassador. Don’t talk to the president’s personal political representatives.'”

...

On Saturday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said that his boss did not feel any pressure from President Trump resulting from their telephone call. Zelensky himself acknowledged as much on Thursday.​

S. Morefield, Chris Murphy On Ukraine Visit: ‘Zelensky Did Not Make Any Connection’ Between Aid And Investigation Requests Daily Caller (Sep 26, 2019) (emphasis added).

 

[Stephen_Coyle]

Trump has been acting as if her were invincible, as if he were above the law. I am relieved to see that members of Congress have remembered their patriotic duty and that our Founding Fathers believed that NO ONE (not even the president of the United States) is above the law.

Even the president of the United States must be held accountable if he breaks the law. America is not a monarchy, and Trump is not a king. Trump (and all of his accomplices) must be held accountable.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

Hear, hear!

Trump has been acting as if her were invincible, as if he were above the law. I am relieved to see that members of Congress have remembered their patriotic duty and that our Founding Fathers believed that NO ONE (not even the president of the United States) is above the law.

Even the president of the United States must be held accountable if he breaks the law. America is not a monarchy, and Trump is not a king. Trump (and all of his accomplices) must be held accountable.

 

[KeithD]

And who still believes that the content of these calls is not solely either to put money in Trump's pocket or to serve the interests of his spy master, Vladimir Putin?

 

[DawnODay]

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday said that “leftist” Democrats pressured House Speaker Nancy Pelosi into launching the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, and warned that the inquiry will ultimately go "nowhere."

"I think we now go to a very long and unproductive road," he said during a chat on political civility at Seton Hall Law School with former N.J. Gov Chris Christie, according to The New York Daily News.

“Speaker Pelosi was dealing with pressure from her caucus and...there is a heightened leftist component to the Democratic Party that she was feeling pressure for,” Cuomo said. “She is a deliberate, responsible person. She is not a knee-jerk person and I think she even resisted the pressure in her caucus admirably for a long period of time.”

...

"So my guess is that this continues and blends into the presidential campaign. The problem with that is that nothing else is going to get done between now and then," he said....

The Daily News reported that it was a shift for Cuomo after he said Wednesday that “you’re darn right there should be an inquiry.”

But a spokeswoman for Cuomo told the Daily News that the governor on Thursday was describing the divide before Trump’s Ukraine call was revealed.

“Early calls for impeachment from the far left flank members of the caucus were more aggressive, and Nancy Pelosi was taking a deliberative path which the governor agreed with,” the spokeswoman said. “However, that all changed once the Ukraine revelations came to light.”​

A. Shaw, Andrew Cuomo says ‘leftist’ Dems pressured Pelosi on impeachment, warns it will go 'nowhere', Fox News (Sep. 28, 2019) (citing D. Goldiner, Gov. Cuomo blames angry ‘leftists’ for impeachment of Trump, appearing to contradict previous stance, NY Daily News (Sep. 27, 2019)).

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

Keith, I apologize. For all this time I thought that people were making up stuff against Trump and just had this blatantly blind prejudice against him which was supported by no facts...

...but just this week something happened to me, a major incident that switched a lot of lights on in my head and now I think just like you and a few others here.

 

[magicalmoments]

As the description of the whistleblow goes this guy or girl doesnt fit it. He got his information 2nd hand and it stay the whistleblower shall have seen it himself or heard it himself. Can't be handed down to.him. therefor e in a come days it fake shit will be over to. Oh and. Courage?? No. Idiots

Read this out loud using your best Russian accent.
Read this way it makes sense.
Revealing?!

 

[magicalmoments]

Keith, I apologize. For all this time I thought that people were making up stuff against Trump and just had this blatantly blind prejudice against him which was supported by no facts...

...but just this week something happened to me, a major incident that switched a lot of lights on in my head and now I think just like you and a few others here.

This is an interesting statement.
Conversion to the light from the darkness is not essential, just the ability to have an open mind and apply some form of logical analysis against core values
But, congrats on your epiphany.

 

[DawnODay]

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