BUT… WHAT ABOUT THE JAVELINS?

Over the course of the public impeachment hearings held on Capitol Hill these last two weeks, much ado has been made by Republican representatives on the Intelligence Committee about the fact that the aid provided to Ukraine by the Obama administration did not include “lethal aid” – specifically, Javelin anti-tank missiles. Although not at all relevant to the question of whether or not Donald Trump abused the public trust and violated his oath of office as well as several criminal statutes, each witness was forced to concede that it was only through Donald Trump’s benevolence that Ukraine was given lethal force options as part of the United States’ aid package.

This was obviously a talking point that had been decided upon in some dark corner of the West Wing – “but, how can Donald Trump be accused of betraying Ukraine when Obama only gave them blankets?”

The blankets versus anti-tank narrative was repeated over and over during the past two weeks in an attempt to prove what? I don’t know… Trump has been better to Ukraine than Obama so he should be able to get away with bribery and extortion?

Once again, the facts do not line up with the whack-a-doodle, post-truth drivel being spoon-fed to the American public through the Trump mouthpieces such as Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan as well as the fair and balanced reporting of Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.

The fact is, those Javelin anti-tank systems are being stored in secure locations away from the front lines of Ukraine’s active war against Russian incursion. The Javelin missiles came to Ukraine with a caveat – they can only be used in the event of a large-scale Russian offensive.

Another fact: The Obama administration provided much more than just blankets. This was yet another fabrication coming from a desperate Republican offensive on truth and reality. Under the Obama administration, Ukraine’s rag-tag civilian army was trained to be a formidable fighting force and was supplied with bullet-proof vests, armored Humvees, night vision goggles, ambulances, medical supplies and, yes, probably some blankets too.

There has been considerable whining from Republicans on Capitol Hill that there has been no organized or intelligent defense to the impeachment proceedings from leadership. The effect has been a “throw everything against the wall and hope something sticks” defense which has been continuously in flux as witness after witness has come forward debunking the president’s claim of a “perfect call” and “no quid pro quo.”

There will likely be no retraction from Fox News or House Republicans on this issue. To date, I have seen no coverage from mainstream media outlets debunking this silly “Obama only gave them blankets” defense.

To the elected officials who turn a blind eye to the corruption and dishonesty of the Trump Party, can you not take a moment of introspection and ask yourself how you would react to the facts laid out before you and ask yourself how you would react if the same facts were to be applied to President Obama? Can you not put our great nation above your petty politics and fear of a negative tweet?

To those who truly seek to make America great again, was the United States of America not greater as a nation, as a people, when honesty and truth were demanded of our elected officials?