The purge continues. And it’s picking up steam:
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Monday hinted that additional officials could be forced out of their roles following the ousters last week of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and Ambassador Gordon Sondland — both high-profile witnesses in the impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump.
She defended the removal of the Vindeman brothers and said that Trump was just being nice in employing Gordon Sondland in the first place, explaining that he was a “reluctant” Trump supporter which is, apparently, a firing offense. The fact that Trump had used him as his personal instrument to smear Joe Biden wasn’t mentioned.
Meanwhile, there’s this from the Washington Examiner:
President Trump is making good on his promises to “drain the swamp” and cut Obama-era holdovers from his staffs, especially the critical and recently controversial National Security Council.
Officials confirmed that Trump and national security adviser Robert O’Brien have cut 70 positions inherited from former President Barack Obama, who had fattened the staff to 200.
Nothing but toadies and assassins need apply.
None of this is a coincidence:
Both Gordon Sondland and Lt. Col. Alex Vindman had seen their standings diminished significantly after they appeared before Congress and under subpoena to discuss the hold on military assistance to Ukraine. Because of that, both had been quietly planning to leave their positions after the impeachment trial wrapped up, three sources tell CNN.
Officials told the President this was likely and advised him to let them just leave on their own so he would spare himself the criticism of firing impeachment witnesses. But Trump didn’t want them to go quietly, according to one person familiar with his thinking.
The reason kings and revolutionaries alike put heads on pikes is to send a message to everyone about what happens to those who oppose them.
Vindeman and the others are all being smeared as traitors to King Trump. I can’t imagine what effect this has on the morale of the military but there’s actually a fairly good chance that most of them are members of the Trump cult and have no problem with this, just as officials of the Republican party have fallen into line and are now full-fledged accomplices in whatever Trump decides to do.
The fight for our country isn’t just about Trump. He really does have a movement now — he’s fully incorporated both the conservative movement and the GOP establishment —and it’s gaining steam, not losing it. This stuff is happening in plain sight.
Unfortunately, the Democrats appear to me to be focused on waging an election that’s happening in another dimension so I’m not sure how the opposition is preparing to fight this particular fight. At this point, I’m just pinning all my hopes on the common sense of the American people. There was a time when I believed a lot more of us had it. Now, I’m just praying there are enough for the Democrats to win big enough so the Republicans can’t steal it.