Hearsay has merit and has been reinforced by testimony of those who have been given their orders by Trump himself.
Mr Trump is doing his best to make certain that nothing else is available. But he has overlooked himself. His transcript is something he seems proud of and it does indicate he gets a good sequence, but it is hard to interpret it any way but that he expects an investigation in return for almost $400 million worth of military equipment. To all those who think it was a a reasonable offer I would ask what would they think if Barrack Obama had made the offer? We all know the verdict if that were the case.
Other than that we have several credible people claiming to have heard that in fact the military assistance is being held up because Trump wants to get an announcement of an investigation. They are also trying to suggest it was Ukraine that interfered in the 2016 American election which is an idea apparently put out by Vladimir Putin.
It is not really relevant, but I was married in a Ukrainian church and have some familiarity with Ukrainian culture. It is pretty obvious to anyone that Russia wants to control Ukraine which is why they made an effort to put in a pro Russian government. Paul Manafort who later became a campaign manager for Trump was hired to stir up trouble and was successful at putting in not only a pro Russian government, but one that was also corrupt. Fortunately his luck ran out (or more people saw they were being hurt by the government) and the Orange Revolution replaced the government. Russia felt emboldened and attacked Crimea which was recognized as Ukrainian territory under the guise it was really rebels. It is true there were a large percentage of ethnic Russians who had been encouraged to work in Crimea as part of Soviet policy. The Russians in fact though had taken off uniforms and pretended to be Ukrainian rebels. They expanded their efforts into eastern Ukraine where as of today they are still fighting.
The Obama administration found themselves in a delicate position. Ukraine had been thwarted from joining NATO and the EU and it was well known Russia would resist Western efforts. They decided to send non lethal equipment. The Russians kept pushing and Congress under Republican control decided to send lethal equipment. It was an overwhelming bi-partisan decision. Somehow Trump got the idea that he could get some negative information on now candidate Joe Biden (and his son). Rather than go through his own judicial system he felt he could leverage Ukraine into digging up the dirt. Ukraine is literally fighting for its life, so he was essentially correct. Fortunately some American government staff got wind of it and have strongly complained. Trump backed down and released the vital military equipment and has claimed that he had only been concerned with corruption. One word sums up that--bullshit.
The Mueller Report should have rallied American voters and politicians to action, but somehow was easily dismissed and mostly forgotten. This incident is relatively minor, but harder to deny. More thoughts on the Mueller Report. http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/07/the-mueller-report-and-american-voter.html
Fitness is an underlying factor. Honesty, transparency. fitness to be president--competency--accepting advice. It is true that many people want Trump removed from office for his policies. It is also true that most people don't understand how his policies are hurting America and them.
There certainly are problems out there, but some voters blame the wrong people. There are two main culprits--the rich and the rest of us. The rich hit at least two ways. First as investors they are focused on profit which means such things as demanding de regulations, keeping labor costs low including with curbing unions, looking overseas and automation. Much of their income comes from dividends and capital gains which due to lobbyists get special tax treatment. Real estate also offers unique tax advantages.
The risks to the Democrats (which means the rest of America) are great. It is said that "the truth will set you free" but I fear the power of "the big lie." Already 50% of Americans favor impeachment, but the electoral college distorts the impact of votes. Trump has calculated where he needs to get the votes that really count. He continues to stoke his base with hate and ignorance.
I think that censure does make sense as more Republicans might go along with that although many might not dare go even that far. The media has been lukewarm in some ways. 50% is dismissed when hearings have not moved the dial. The dial is already higher than under previous impeachment efforts at this stage. As more information is revealed (after great effort) those on the fence will understand their real interests better.
Nancy Pelosi has made the difficult choice and Adam Schiff has presented an obvious case. It is very likely that the Senate will vote down the impeachment and that Trump will claim he has been vindicated against the witch hunt and could possibly be re-elected for another disastrous four years. The hope is the information will get out there and Trump and the tail coating Republicans will be ousted from power. Overcoming the damage will be a long difficult haul, but the sooner it starts the better.
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