I Don't Tear Up Easily But That Got To Me

One of the things I thought was most telling about the kinds of witnesses who appeared before the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees in regard to the Trump impeachment was that the bravest, most forthright, most principled and most idealistic of them were, by and large, those from the diplomatic side of things and decidedly not from the more well known and as-seen-on-TV lawyers and lawmen.  

I had an emotion that in these awful times I hardly ever do when a week or so ago, I was discussing the hearings with an old friend,  I got choked up as I talked about the testimony of Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, Lt. Col Alexander Vindman and  Dr. Fiona Hill* as great examples of new Americans who have far more of a devotion to the ideals that the United States are asserted to be of by and for than a number of those whose old family connections and wealth get them jobs of higher rank.  

I would include in that category of honorable public servants other witnesses, Ambassador William Taylor,  David Holmes and Jennifer Williams.  But the testimony of the three immigrants who have devoted themselves to the ideals that are the only real reason to feel anything like patriotism for any country but which is the abiding mythos of the United States, they really got to me. 

The contrast between them and the lawmen of far greater TV-radio fame and repute, Robert Mueller,  James Comey, Rod Rosenstein, etc. couldn't be more telling as to the culture of careerism, cynical self-preservation and promotion and manipulation of politics in the FBI, the Department of Justice, etc. and, I would assert, that bleeds right into the judicial branch and right up to the Supreme Court.  Rod Rosenstein deserves his glass-eyed dummy standing behind Barr as he lied about the Mueller Report to be how anyone ever thinks of him, again.  Mueller deserves to be remembered as the reluctant witness unwilling to stick his neck out for the rule of law, Comey for his duplicity in the 2016 election, he alone may have put Trump in office for obviously partisan and, perhaps, misogynistic reasons. 

*  And I'll tell you, if  the Lt. Col.  hadn't made a point of insisting on his title being used with the Republican scumbags, I wouldn't use it.  I'm generally allergic to military titles and even most civilian titles of rank and honor.   They earned the right to ask us to use them.  The lawmen didn't.