MetoliusAg said:
Been saying this for awhile, and it becomes more accurate with every passing day of new testimony:
-- Despite the mountain of evidence proving that Trump and Giuliani pushed an illegal quid pro quo, almost all of Trump's sycophants are still claiming Trump did nothing wrong.
-- Eventually the same Trump supporters will be saying: "Yes, Trump did it. And yes, it was wrong of him and Giuliani. But even though it was an abuse of Presidential power, it falls just short of the level warranting removal from office by the Senate."
A handful of the more astute Trump apologists see the handwriting on the wall & are already there.
You realize that the gist of what Trump said on that phone call with Zalinsky and the policy explained by Mulvaney, Trump has written about in three different books written over 15 years leading up to his presidential campaign launch.
Books by Donald J Trump
2000- The America We Deserve
2011- Time to Get Tough
2015- Great Again
You can disagree with his policies, policy approach, demeanor, word choice, life, character, and on and on. But the man is executing on what he's written about and said consistently for 20 years. In all three books he heavily criticizes Europe and all the policymakers since WW2 that spend American money and lives on countries around the world while asking nothing of real value in return from those that call us friends and allies. He's specifically write scathing critiques of our State Department and Foreign Policy Experts.
I'm not saying I agree with all of his conclusions. I'm certainly no fan of his approach to life or politics. But the man is doing what he has written and said for nearly 20 years.
That Biden, a 40 year washington politician with a particular focus on foreign relations, is caught up in what Trump is executing on, is not irrelevant, but it's very clearly not his motivation unless he's some type of supernatural prophet that knew in the year 2000 that his policy beliefs 20 years later as president would be able to "bring down" his political opponent for President.
I myself didnt take Trump very seriously. Before his presidency I had watched many interviews of Trump and read many articles, but I had never read any of his books accept for some excerpts of Art of the Deal and the Comeback way back in college. But as I read these books and re-read much of the policy platform of Ross Perot it became clear. Trump has a distinct political philosophy, he has been consistent on it for a long period of time, he's defended it, he ran for president on it, he won the presidency with it, and now he's following through with it.
He's not a political insider, and yes, in all three of the books I listed, he very clearly broadcasts his low view of the job career policymakers, bureaucrats, and experts have done. (I.e. all of the career policy advisors and state department diplomats he has ticked off by ignoring their advice on the proper ways to approach XYZ diplomacy)
This is not an endorsement. Just an explanation based on observation that the aid withheld from Ukraine is right in line with his stated beliefs over the last 20 years and consistent with Mulvaney explaination in the presser, Trumps own explaination, the notes from the call itself, and Zalenskys own comments and reasons for rising to power.
While progressives keep yelling about quid pro quo. They seem to be making alot of noise in what appears to be an attempt to protect the status quo, which includes corruption, something both the current American President and Ukrainian president ran on ending.