https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50223635
Colonel Alexander Vindman was one of the few officials who listened in on the infamous July 25 call between Trump and the Ukrainian president, where the original discussion of the "quid pro quo" sparked. This call, in addition to many other factors, led to the ongoing inquiry, addressing abuse of executive power by Trump and his associates, national security, and America's role on the political stage. Many have argued that Trump's actions fall under the sphere of standard interactions between world leaders, while many like Vindman have described them as "improper." Some have criticized Vindman for potential dual allegiance, as he was born in Ukraine; still, even if these questions undercut the legitimacy of one witness, as a whole the inquiry is untainted.
Questions:
1. What should normal interactions between world leaders look like? As discussed so far, do Trump and Zelensky's interactions fall under this paradigm?
2. How is it possible to tell if someone's political bias undermines their judgment in politically-charged cases such as this impeachment inquiry? Are there instances of this occurring so far?
3. Is Trump accurate in calling this inquiry a "witch hunt"? Why or why not?
I feel like foreign affairs and communication is needed in our world, what I don't think is valid nor appropriate is Trump's request of Zelensky to intervene in the US election. To tell if bias is affecting someone's political judge is rather easy. You can base bias off of previous actions by the person, how they decided on other decisions, where their money goes. That can define their degree of bias, and therefore deduce whether their judgement is bias, if it is of extreme degree, then there judgement shouldn't be the one you look for to seek truth. If he hasn't done anything which is probably not the case, then yes, it could be called a witch hunt, like McCarthy. But the fact that there is evidence and many suspicions which have arisen regarding his presidency, then I don't think it is accurate to label it a witch hunt. The witch hunts were based on bandwagon effect and superstition, no real fact, in this case, Trump has been proven for doing bad things and in some cases he doesn't deny that he did some of these things, just prevents inquiry.
ReplyDeleteTrump clearly asked the president of Ukraine for dirt on his political opponent Joe Biden. This should not be a partisan issue, but it is. I believe Trump should have been impeached a long time ago in the wake of the Mueller report, but the GOP unfortunately isn't letting that happen. I believe the more we talk about Trump, the more he wins. He is a like a creature that feeds on and becomes more powerful from attention. People saying Colonel Alexander Vindman immigrated from Ukraine and it therefore biased is ridiculous. He immigrated over at the age of 3. Trump is inaccurate calling the impeachment inquiry a Witch Hunt, but we shouldn't have any illusions that the inquiry will be successful in removing him from the presidency. Like most liberals I would like it if he got out of the White House, but I believe it is much more important that the Democrats win the 2020 election, and the more we talk about Trump the less we get Americans excited about what the Democrats have to offer. I wish we would stop focusing all our attention on Trump and rather focus on the problems that got him elected in the first place.
ReplyDeleteWhile there may be some justification for Trump asking foreign officials to investigate people that he deems suspicious, the manner that he went about doing that in the Ukraine scandal was completely unreasonable and deserving of punishment. What world leaders should do in situations similar to this is to make sure that there’s no conflict of interest and that things are done in a clear and fair way, but this is quite the opposite of what Trump did. Not only did he offer to give military aid to Ukraine in exchange, but he has also been less than cooperative with the inquiry, instead choosing to repeatedly hide and deny his actions and statements. Additionally, the motives behind his actions seem to be political; with the 2020 election on the horizon and Biden being one of the front runners on the Democratic side, there is a clear conflict of interest in Trump’s actions.
ReplyDeleteVindman has served the American Government and people for all of his adult life, both in the foreign service and military. Despite being born outside of the USA he is, by any meaning of the word, an American through and through. Therefore it is absurd to question his loyalty to the United States. I don't think that it is accurate to describe this investigation as a witch hunt. Trump engaged in some very suspicious behavior with the Ukrainians, and that should be investigated.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem in this whole scandal is not what Trump did, but the fact that it has taken so long for something to be done about it. We can argue whether Trump's actions were reasonable or not, but it was definitely not something that a world leader should do. Trump calling it a "witch hunt" is completely inaccurate, it is the process of holding someone accountable.
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