Over the past five or six years, we have seen those on the left attacking President Trump for about everything he says or does – or does not say or does not do. I have often been a critic of Trump’s personality and some of his policies – but have praised him for the things he did that were beneficial to the country.
The Democrats and their media allies have failed to show any sense of fairness and objectivity. They mounted an unbridled and unprecedented “resistance movement” immediately after his election. They proclaimed their opposition to anyone saying anything that would – using their term – “normalize” Trump. In other words, never, never say anything positive.
They have continued a series of hyperbolic propaganda-style accusations that too often proved to be false – the three-year Russian collaboration claims to be the prime example. You will recall that after a two-year, $35 million investigation, Trump and his campaign were completely exonerated.
I have been more than willing to criticize Trump for his pugnacious personality, his provocative language and his making the presidency a personal issue. I have criticized his Syrian policy, his Afghan policy, his tariffs and his overly friendly language to adversaries. I have called on Trump to stop whining about the 2020 election and look forward with any agenda he may have for a future presidency – although I have not been among those wanting him to run in 2024.
On the other hand, the outrageous and dishonest attacks from his adversaries need to be called out – especially when their cynical purpose is to empower leftwing democrats and the authoritarian leftwing agenda I vehemently oppose.
The effort to demonize Trump has gone to a new low – as seemingly impossible as that may seem. It happened in an interview of Col. Alexander Vindman by MSNBC’s Ali Velshi – two of the premier Trump haters on the left.
You should first recall that Vindman was one of the harshest critics of Trump during the first Impeachment. At the time he was a member of the intelligence community and a critic of Trump’s communications with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy regarding Hunter Biden’s role with the corrupt Burisma Holding Company.
In the Velshi interview, Vindman took his venomous opinion of Trump to hyperbolic outer space. According to Vindman, it was Trump who set the stage for Vladimir Putin’s invasions of Ukraine. It was Trump who is responsible for the horrors we see befalling the people of Ukraine.
How is that even rationally and factually possible? Well, it isn’t. Vindman was offering up a preposterous fanciful narrative – but one that was fully accepted and endorsed by Velshi. No surprise there.
According to Vindman, it goes back to those conversations between Trump and Zelenskyy. The claim was that Trump would not supply military equipment to Ukraine unless the Hunter Biden file was provided. That was Trump’s impeachable sin. (Oddly, when then Vice President Biden threatened to block aid to Ukraine unless Zelenskyy fired the Ukraine prosecutor who was investigating Burisma AND Hunter Biden, the press did not find that even newsworthy.)
In fact, that conversation between Trump and Zelenskyy was ages ago and has nothing … nada … to do with Putin’s dirty little war. Trump never blocked any arms shipments to Ukraine. Those that were alleged to have been held up were actually shipped.
It is also noteworthy that it was Trump who reversed the Obama/Biden policy of only shipping humanitarian aid – no weapons. Trump is reported to have infuriated Putin by reversing that decision. It was Trump who ironically strengthened NATO by brow-beating member nations into fulfilling their funding requirements.
Velshi opened the interview with this leading statement: “What is happening on the other side of the world in Ukraine, a country from which you hail, is directly tied to the attacks on democracy that you witnessed in the White House while you were the director for European affairs at the National Security Council.”
Vindman responded to the Trump/Zelenskyy conversation by saying, “this corrupt scheme was potentially going to embolden Russia, precipitate this kind of confrontation. I couldn’t imagine the scale but something on that order of magnitude.”
That is merely the kind of nonsensical and misleading doubletalk that could only come from an experienced establishment bureaucrat. No matter how you feel about the Trump/Zelenskyy exchange, it had nothing to do with Putin’s decision to invade.
Vindman says it “potentially” was going to “embolden Russia.” Did it or did it not? Vindman says he could not imagine the “scale” of the Putin response but knew it would be something “on that order of magnitude.” That is verbal hash.
Vindman concluded with his claim that “Donald Trump bears the enormous burden of responsibility for that, and for his attack on democracy, for presenting the U.S. as weak and vulnerable for Vladimir Putin to conduct these vile attacks around the world “
That logic is a bridge too far. Vindman is not just spinning, he is literally inventing a false narrative that does not even make sense on the surface. To understand the extreme of Vindman’s fairy tale, you need to know what did motivate Putin’s invasion.
First and foremost was Putin’s maniacal desire to reassemble the old Soviet Union at any cost. But what led him to believe that such an invasion could be successful?
Obviously, Putin did not believe that the west – and especially the United States – had the will or the power to stop him. He saw weaknesses all over the place – and not much to do with Trump.
Vindman said that American weakness enabled Putin to “conduct these vile attacks around the world.” But the previous attacks were not even on Trump’s watch.
Obama did nothing to deter Putin from invading Georgia and Chechnya. He did nothing as Putin took the Crimea away from Ukraine – and established a separatist presence in the Donbass Region.
Putin saw NATO’s dependency on his oil as a weak point – which it was and is. It was Trump who chastised Germany for its dependence on Russian oil and Trump who called for a stop to the second Nord Stream pipeline. Biden reversed that policy and approved the project – only opposing it AFTER the invasion.
Putin had seen Obama’s withdrawal from Syria – leaving the Russian-friendly Bashar al Asaad in charge. And anyone who thinks Biden’s surrender in Afghanistan was not a significant factor in Putin’s thinking is hopelessly non compos mentis.
Vindman is an uncompromised propaganda peddler and a partisan liar. His words appear to be driven by an irrational hatred for Trump. Fortunately, the public sees through such blatant attempts to deceive.
As President Lincoln said, “You cannot fool all the people all the time.” Vindman’ s bullstuff should not fool anyone anytime.
So, There ‘tis.