Applause

They wanted to know why she was even there testifying, since she wasn’t even our ambassador when the infamous phone call was made on July 25^th.  I can answer that:  because she was part of a story of which the phone call was only one incident half way through a much longer story.

Marie Yovanovich taught us what true diplomatic work is.  Her description of how she approached her job and why diplomacy is important in the furtherance of the policies of the United States was inspiring.  It also showed all of us how important diplomacy is to the security of our country when done properly. ‘ Masha’s’ quiet sincerity, innocence and competence shone through the haze of corruption and misdirection being spewed across the hearing room by the Republicans on the committee every time they opened their mouths.

And then, as if on cue, the ‘bully’ weighed in from afar with his fetid attack on her while she was actually testifying!  His claims of not being interested enough to even watch the hearings were shattered in that one clarifying moment.  She was dangerous to him.

This is a story about a conspiracy that started many months before that infamous phone call in July.  When the cabal of Trump, Giuliani, Parnas, Fruman, Perry, Lutsenko, et. al. began planning the corruption of the Ukrainian government in the interest of using a foreign government to enhance Trump’s run in the 2020 US elections, it was even before the outcome of the Mueller probe.  They started spreading lies about Ukraine’s purported role meddling in the 2016 elections in the US, while working with known corrupt Ukrainian politicians/state prosecutors to spread conspiracy theories about Burisma and Joe Biden’s son Hunter. 

Since Yovanovich was actually working to clean up the corruption that Ukraine was suffering from, she was in the way of this nefarious backchannel plan.  The only option was to get rid of her, which is why Giuliani and his henchman were in Ukraine in the first place.  So, they initiated the smear campaign and engineered her removal just prior to the elections when the new Ukrainian President arrived on the scene. 

All Zelenskiyy wanted was to assure the United States’ continued military support in his dealing with a ‘hot war’ with the Russians on his eastern front.  After Yovanovich was gone, Giuliani and his cronies had an open field to manage and misdirect Zelenskiyy’s attention and create the conditions for the July 25^th phone call.  You know the rest of the story.

As I listened to the Republican’s insidious attempts to misdirect and interrupt her testimony, and watched Ambassador Yovanovich during the hearing; heard her recounting the events leading up to her dismissal, I was overcome with anger.  That all of these creeps would devalue this incredibly competent and loyal patriot and undermine her efforts while sabotaging the mission of our democracy is a crime.  That they were operating in my name as an American is despicable!

This tawdry story is being revealed piece by piece, and we are learning just how corrupt our own government has become at the hands of perhaps the most detestable person to ever set foot in the White House.  If we are unable to rid ourselves of his degenerate presence in 2020, there will be no redemption for the US.

If he survives a vote in the Senate to remove him, and somehow wins the next election, he will be unbridled.  The damage done thus far will be insignificant compared to what will ensue for the next four years.  Our precious America that we all grew up believing in will be over.  Even if he loses, the struggle to get him out of the White House will be monumental since he will claim the election was rigged and unfair.  Unless he is beaten soundly, the country is in for an excruciating effort to rid ourselves of him and his minions.

Perhaps the most welcome moment of yesterday's hearing was when Yovanovich's testimony ended and she was showered with an unsolicited standing ovation.  That applause, for a moment anyway, shattered the lies and said more than any spoken word.