REMEMBERING LT COL VINDMAN

    
                                                 By Florida Bill 

                                          No surprise to read that Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, 45, is retiring from the army after 21 years on active duty. He said it was because of the "bullying, intimidation and retaliation" against him by forces in the Trump administration. 
                                          His name was on a list of lieutenant colonel candidates who were on track for promotion to full Colonel, but final approval never seemed to materialize.  Several influential Democrats, including Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, were calling for his elevation to the coveted rank of "Bird" colonel, but the writing was on the wall, and it wasn't going to happen. 
                                        So why was President Trump so annoyed with Vindman?  Last February, he had him  escorted  from his trusted and prestigious chair in the White House by Secret Service Agents and reassigned  to a nondescript desk in a corner of the Pentagon.  Why so impatient with this "dedicated" career officer? 
                                        After all, Vindman had done nothing untoward but send up a balloon accusing his Commander-in Chief and President of of the United States of misconduct. He accused Trump of leaning inappropriately on the president of Ukraine with a "demand"  that he investigate his political rival, Joe Biden. The consequences of ignoring Trump's order, according to Vindman, would be that the Ukraine would have to forego $400 million in foreign aid earmarked for the country. 
                                       Vindman had conjured up that fake  narrative after monitoring a telephone conversation on July 25, 2019, between President Trump and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. As a top security aide in the White House, it was part of Vindman's routine duties to monitor the President's talks with the heads of other countries.
                                         Vindman passed his improvised version of the conversation that he had heard to a friend in another intelligence division who was not "in the loop" and had no "need to know" about discussions which the President had with foreign leaders.  Vindman's friend relayed the information passed on to him to lying Congressman Adam Schiff, and the ( still unidentified) Vindman pal agreed to be an anonymous  "whistle blower," with legal protections promised by Schiff, and Schiff's disingenuous leader, Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 
                                        A properly worded complaint was prepared for the "whistle blower," who then signed it and sent it to the Inspector General.   The story of the alleged "high crime" misconduct of President Trump  was then leaked to the Democrat-controlled media, which commenced a vicious attack on the President. 
                                         In December of last year, the House, led by Speaker Pelosi and her California colleague, Schiff, voted articles of Impeachment.  Vindman became the star witness and central figure and he pushed hard to assist the Democrats in taking down the nation's 45th President. 
                                         Vindman was a career army officer who came to America from the Ukraine with his family and became a naturalized American citizen. Before his intelligence work, he served in combat in Iraq and was the recipient of a Purple Heart and other awards.  For Schiff and Pelosi, the uniformed Vindman had the perfect credentials to be their trained attack dog against the despised Trump.
                                          President Trump defended himself and insisted that the Vindman narrative was inaccurate and dishonest, but favor and belief rested with Vindman.  However, Trump flipped the table and produced the actual transcript of the relevant conversation.  Doing so was not anticipated by Democrats as such conversations of the President with foreign dignitaries and leaders are fiercely guarded as private and retained under lock and key. 
                                       But Trump produced it for all to read and the so-called "demand" which Vindman spoke of was not there.  It was heavy fabrication. The conversation was friendly, and in no way improper.  President Zelenskyy held a news conference and denounced the accusations against Trump as untrue. 
                                      Two articles of impeachment were sent to the Senate in January for trial. House Democrats presented their case based largely upon the sworn testimony of Vindman.  President Trump was promptly acquitted of all wrongdoing. 
                                          Vindman had done his best to bring down the Commander in Chief, and in February he was relieved of his position in the White house. Asked how he regarded Vindman, Trump responded "Do you think that I am happy with him?"  In another interview, Trump said that Vindman was a "disgrace" to the military.
                                            Vindman has said that he will be beginning a new chapter in his life as he turns in his uniform.  In a statement prepared  for him, Vindman said he was leaving the army after more than 21 years after it had been made clear to him that his future within the institution he has dutifully served will forever be limited.  
                                           As sung in the old barracks ballad, old soldiers never die, they "just fade away."   Vindman will fade away, but he will be remembered not for his loyalty and devotion to the institution, but for his dishonest narrative designed to have his  President and Commander in Chief thrown out of office.                                                      . 

                                                                   XXX