Posted on 10/23/2019 5:50:53 AM PDT by Kaslin
House Democrats are grilling a stream of disgruntled career diplomats in a basement hearing room of the Capitol. The hearings are supposed to be secret, but -- no surprise -- Democrats leak snippets of the testimony daily. They're hoping it will add up to a case for impeaching President Donald Trump.
So far, all the testimony actually proves is that these State Department diplomats think they -- not President Trump -- ought to be running the nation's foreign policy.
Never mind executive privilege or impeachment. The most pressing constitutional issue at hand is who decides the nation's foreign policy: the president or the permanent bureaucracy.
House Democrats are accusing Trump of offering Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a quid pro quo: dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden in exchange for nearly $400 million in aid. Trump's July 25 phone call with Zelensky is the subject of the hearings, but these witnesses have no firsthand knowledge of the call.
Instead, they're whimpering about being sidelined by the Trump administration and objecting that top ambassadorial appointments are going to Trump's friends instead of to them. They're seething with disdain for the president.
For example, a deputy assistant secretary named George Kent, who testified on Oct. 15, complained he was cut out of important decisions. Boohoo. Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., leaked Kent's testimony, saying "here is a senior state department official responsible for six countries" being ignored, while he watches Trump's appointees "undermining 28 years of U.S. policy."
William Taylor, acting Ukrainian ambassador who testified Tuesday, seethed with indignation that Trump went "outside regular State Department channels."
Trump's chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, described what's happening: "A group of mostly career bureaucrats" refuse to accept that "elections have consequences. And foreign policy is going to change from the Obama administration to the Trump administration."
The State Department insurrection spans embassies across the globe.
On Aug. 8, Chuck Park, a 10-year foreign service officer stationed in Mexico, penned a vitriolic public resignation for The Washington Post, condemning Trump for carrying out "mass deportations," failing "dreamers" and pursuing a "toxic agenda around the world." He publicly accused the president of "naked cruelty."
Two weeks later, Bethany Milton, a pro-immigration advocate and state department official stationed in Rwanda, announced her resignation in The New York Times, scathingly labeling Trump's foreign policy "small-minded chauvinism."
Good riddance to Milton and Park. Resigning is what diplomats should do when they are fundamentally at odds with the administration's foreign policy approach. Taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for bureaucrats intent on sabotaging the president. No one elected them.
Predictably, the foreign policy establishment disagrees. William J. Burns, who capped his career as deputy secretary of state for President Barack Obama, argues that State Department careerists should be in charge, not the president and his appointees.
But these career diplomats favor globalism, open borders and huge American handouts to multinational organizations and third-world nations. The public elected Trump to implement the opposite -- an America First agenda. Trump must wrest control to achieve that.
Fifty years ago, Henry Kissinger understood that the diplomatic bureaucracy was biased against President Richard Nixon's foreign policy goals. As national security adviser, Kissinger pulled control of diplomacy into the White House, inciting resentment and pushback from the State Department.
Again, in 2003, Newt Gingrich warned that State Department bureaucrats were engaging in "a deliberate and systematic effort" to undermine President George W. Bush.
It's happening again. The bureaucrats are slithering up to Capitol Hill to complain about President Trump. History reminds us what's actually going on here.
On Monday evening, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a "fact sheet" about Trump's alleged impeachable offense. It provides no damning evidence, just speculation.
On Tuesday, Taylor told the hearing that another diplomat, Gordon Sondland, had informed him there was a price for military aid. But Sondland denies that, insisting the president made it clear there was no quid pro quo.
Too bad for the impeachment-hungry Dems and their sympathetic allies from the State Department.
Disagreeing with the foreign-policy elites is not an impeachable offense. In fact, millions of Americans are cheering Trump on.
A department packed by Hillary and Hussein doesn’t like Trump? Go figure...
What can you say? Over the past 3 years the very stones in the street predicted this chaos unless Trump started putting people in jail. So far the only people in jail are on our side.
“...State Department careerists should be in charge, not the president and his appointees...”
~~~
I’m not surprised at all that they believe this. When you’re a career bureaucrat you genuinely believe that you have accumulated a body of work/knowledge that makes you better than anyone who was newly elected to make policy.
I’m just surprised they are so brazen as to say it.
“To execute a man we don’t need proof of his guilt. We only need proof that it’s necessary to execute him. It’s that simple.”
Che Guevara
MEDIA TALKING POINTS
House Democrats are grilling a stream of disgruntled career diplomats in a basement hearing room of the Capitol. The hearings are supposed to be secret, but — no surprise — Democrats leak snippets of the testimony daily. They’re hoping it will add up to a case for impeaching President Donald Trump. So far, all the testimony actually proves is that these State Department diplomats think they — not President Trump — ought to be running the nation’s foreign policy.
Never mind executive privilege or impeachment. The most pressing constitutional issue at hand is who decides the nation’s foreign policy: the president or the permanent bureaucracy. House Democrats are accusing Trump of offering Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a quid pro quo: dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden in exchange for nearly $400 million in aid. Trump’s July 25 phone call with Zelensky is the subject of the hearings, but these witnesses have no firsthand knowledge of the call. Instead, they’re whimpering about being sidelined by the Trump administration and objecting that top ambassadorial appointments are going to Trump’s friends instead of to them. They’re seething with disdain for the president.
For example, a deputy assistant secretary named George Kent, who testified on Oct. 15, complained he was cut out of important decisions. Boohoo. Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., leaked Kent’s testimony, saying “here is a senior state department official responsible for six countries” being ignored, while he watches Trump’s appointees “undermining 28 years of U.S. policy.” William Taylor, acting Ukrainian ambassador who testified Tuesday, seethed with indignation that Trump went “outside regular State Department channels.”
Trump’s chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, described what’s happening: “A group of mostly career bureaucrats” refuse to accept that “elections have consequences. And foreign policy is going to change from the Obama administration to the Trump administration.”
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MEDIA TALKING POINTS
House Democrats are grilling a stream of disgruntled career diplomats in a basement hearing room of the Capitol. The hearings are supposed to be secret, but — no surprise — Democrats leak snippets of the testimony daily. They’re hoping it will add up to a case for impeaching President Donald Trump. So far, all the testimony actually proves is that these State Department diplomats think they — not President Trump — ought to be running the nation’s foreign policy.
Never mind executive privilege or impeachment. The most pressing constitutional issue at hand is who decides the nation’s foreign policy: the president or the permanent bureaucracy. House Democrats are accusing Trump of offering Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a quid pro quo: dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden in exchange for nearly $400 million in aid. Trump’s July 25 phone call with Zelensky is the subject of the hearings, but these witnesses have no firsthand knowledge of the call. Instead, they’re whimpering about being sidelined by the Trump administration and objecting that top ambassadorial appointments are going to Trump’s friends instead of to them. They’re seething with disdain for the president.
For example, a deputy assistant secretary named George Kent, who testified on Oct. 15, complained he was cut out of important decisions. Boohoo. Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., leaked Kent’s testimony, saying “here is a senior state department official responsible for six countries” being ignored, while he watches Trump’s appointees “undermining 28 years of U.S. policy.” William Taylor, acting Ukrainian ambassador who testified Tuesday, seethed with indignation that Trump went “outside regular State Department channels.”
Trump’s chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, described what’s happening: “A group of mostly career bureaucrats” refuse to accept that “elections have consequences. And foreign policy is going to change from the Obama administration to the Trump administration.”
CONTACT: The Associated Press headquarters
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Contact CBS New York
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Anyone doubting the Soviets infiltrated State and who knows what else in the 30s/40s is naïve.
The State Department has been a Leftist run establishment since the Franklin Delano Roosevelt regime.
Good riddance to Milton and Park. Resigning is what diplomats should do when they are fundamentally at odds with the administration’s foreign policy approach. Taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for bureaucrats intent on sabotaging the president. No one elected them. <<<<
EXACTLY!
Betsy McCaughy is a treasure. Hard to believe we use to vote Republicans like her into office.
Impeachment fatigue. It’s a thing.
The dems are doing exactly what they always do—overshooting the runway.
Sane America wasn’t that interested to begin with. They like having more job opportunities, bigger paychecks, and swelling 401Ks. They don’t give a rat’s ass what Trump said to some dude in the Ukraine.
While there is truth to your statement it really is much deeper than that. The overwhelming majority of employees in EVERY Federal governmental department are leftists.
Due to my former career I had to deal with numerous gov’t departments on a near constant basis so I speak from experience. Those employees hate republicans but, they hate President Trump with a White Hot hatred.
From the moment Donald Trump uttered the words “Drain The Swamp” to the very loud cheers of his supporters Trump became “Enemy One” to virtually all gov’t employees.
I quit reading at “career diplomat” because that is really all we need to know. From now on, I will not ever vote for someone who has a career in politics.
“Who really rules” is not elected positions, but career bureaucrats. The elected officials who play ball get a substantial cut of the graft.
Look at the intellectual quality of the elected puppets. Public popularity contests are the way the puppets are chosen.
At any rate, no shocker that State, DOJ, FBI, CIA and likely all the other agencies are in rebellion. Senior Executive Service sees to it that “who gets elected” is unimportant and irrelevant.
Congratulations, that was wise decision.
The real story here is that un-elected, unaccountable bureaucrats have decided they don’t like the outcome of an election and are working to undermine the president of the United States. These people are working to turn the US into a banana republic.
This belief that the careerists’ set the policy not the POTUS is common across all of the agencies. I have some 1st hand experience with one of them.
A demokrap POTUS and government bureaucracy have the same political mindset/principles as a general rule, so there is no resistance / rebellion expected there - they are aligned and “doing” what the demokrap POTUS wants them to do. It’s when the GOP wins that you see may see the resistance. Trump is different because he is the political black swan, who has challenged and rejected the (failed) wisdom / policies of the demokraps that is institutionalized (fossilized) within the agencies. The Bushes more or less went along with the agencies on many things - no real game changers, tweaking some things around the edges.
I wish more of the current crop of careerists would resign on their principles. Term limits for POTUS? How about term limits for bureaucrats.
This belief that the careerists’ set the policy not the POTUS is common across all of the agencies. I have some 1st hand experience with one of them.
A demokrap POTUS and government bureaucracy have the same political mindset/principles as a general rule, so there is no resistance / rebellion expected there - they are aligned and “doing” what the demokrap POTUS wants them to do. It’s when the GOP wins that you see may see the resistance. Trump is different because he is the political black swan, who has challenged and rejected the (failed) wisdom / policies of the demokraps that is institutionalized (fossilized) within the agencies. The Bushes more or less went along with the agencies on many things - no real game changers, tweaking some things around the edges.
I wish more of the current crop of careerists would resign on their principles. Term limits for POTUS? How about term limits for bureaucrats.
Draining the swamp is hard — damn hard — work. Few are up to it but it must be done to save our Republic. The unelected 4th branch of government — the “Administrative Branch” — is powerful and unaccountable ... a fatal combination to liberty.
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