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Removing Vindman
One of the benefits of being retired is that I have a lot of time to follow world events. One of the drawbacks of being retired is that I have a lot of time to follow world events. I honestly think I may have spent too much time in the last five months watching and reading about the whole Ukraine mess. I think I understand the chronology and have a pretty good understanding of the motivations of the actors involved.
Today, LTC Alexander Vindman got reassigned, his brother removed, and Amb. Sondland fired. Immediately and reflexively, LTC Vindman became a martyr to some on the left. But, as I like to do, I quote Uncle Joe Biden, “Come on, man.” Some call it a purge. But how on earth can President Trump ever rely on Vindman as a member of the National Security Council staff?
Beyond the evident truth that Vindman thinks he is a policymaker, rather than a policy advisor, how can his advice ever be devoid of suspect motives? Imagine some crisis or policy meeting in the situation room and the principals look across the table and see Vindman. Could they ever suspend their doubts about his contributions? I say this even acknowledging that whatever he says there may be appropriate and entirely correct. He went outside his chain of command to report a phone call in which his superiors saw no wrongdoing. He testified about his disagreement with the elected official’s policy. His history can’t be put aside, so he has to go.
I spent almost forty years working in the far less contentious world of television production. If I ever disagreed with a producer about a replay or a visual effect, when there was time the good producers would listen to my objection and take it into account. But the decision was theirs, not mine. If I continued to object or took it further, his job wasn’t in jeopardy, mine was. The thing about live sports production that’s exciting is that you have seconds to do it. The production crew has to mesh to get it right instantly. There’s no time for debate. There’s probably not an employee anywhere that hasn’t sometime felt he knew better than his boss. But a subordinate has to know his position in the chain of command.
I knew where I stood. Apologists for Vindman may not understand how he, rightly or wrongly, could never be trusted again.
Published in General
Others call it a high enema. There are so many orifice buildings in Washington into which the probe need to be inserted.
As do I. I’m pretty sure they had pretty high security clearances. (Mom used to say it wasn’t Top Secret, it was Tip-top Secret). They had to have them just to discuss issues like nuclear submarines, stealth, etc. I don’t and can’t know if any of their work involved intelligence.
And, yes, the Navy did get ships out of the deal.
There’s a lesson to be learned here for those like John Bolton who are chosen by the President to advise and inform regarding a range of options to be considered in formulating foreign policy. Immigrants from other nations can be assets as language translators and may inform on cultural matters but must be received more cautiously when offering political advice. Without any suggestion regarding the Vindman twins view, we can be fairly certain they come with a point of view and it likely matches up with a faction within Ukrainian society that may or may not match up well with American interests. I’m a little reticent to accept that Vindman was solely disturbed that the President was pushing for a foreign nation’s inquiry into the actions of a political rival.
Instapundit flagged a November 2019 NY Post column by Josh Hammer today. The conclusion:
There is no question that twins can work together. That can be a problem, which is why governments and businesses often have anti-nepotism regulations. They don’t want family relationships to create a conflict of interest.
They are both “Chairborn Rangers,” what was known in Vietnam as REMFs. I assume the LTCOL ranks are subject to up or out, or to RIFs.
His boasting about being offered positions in the Ukraine government is enough to raise suspicion.
OK, I found it. “Rear Echelon Military Figures”. I propose that they be re-assigned as FLMFs. “Front Line”, that is. There they could riff to their hearts’ content.
Alexander Vindman is going to the Army War College as scheduled, so I guess he’s on track for promotion.
He’s going to teach undercover tactics.
Huh? I’ve been a Lutheran since baptism, never heard of such a thing. Never witnessed it in any of the churches I’ve attended.
Wellll, that’s close.
I would want further data on “apparently common” before I’d believe it. It doesn’t seem like a good idea at all for a church, unless the lead guy is playing celebrity politics or thinks he needs to clean out the deep state in his congregation. But if “he” isn’t the correct pronoun, then I probably know which denomination you’re talking about. It’s one where anything goes.
It surprised me when I learned about it, because it is not the case at our church. It may be one of those things that is observed in the breach.
Heh. No, we’re a fairly conservative denomination. No wimmin pastors. Also, low-church format as opposed to liturgical. We’re like rebel Lutherans. I think we share common roots with Evangelical Free Churches.
Anyway, I’ll double-check if y’all are interested. I came up in conversation a few years ago when we got a new lead pastor. It might be an old synodical rule that nobody bothers with anymore but is still “on the books.” All I know is that we certainly don’t follow it. When we have open ministry positions, we have a hard enough time filling them. It would be dumb to purposefully “clean house.”