Blogger Candidate Forum: Tweeters Have To Tweet

Hello Everyone:

It is Blogger Candidate Forum with a quick Friday evening summary of today’s impeachment hearing  and what a day it was. The featured witness was the former American Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was summarily dismissed from her post this past summer.  Ambassador Yovanovich’s testimony was highly anticipated because during the now infamous July phone call between Mr. Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ambassador Yovanovich is described as “bad news” and “about to go through some things.”  During her testimony, she detailed how she was concerned about the campaign, directed against her, to besmirch her reputation. What was truly remarkable about Ambassador Yovanovich’s testimonywas the way she was able to convey her outrage without the cynicism typically associated with Washington D.C. politics.  However, the real fireworks came when House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairperson Adam Schiff (D-CA) read a tweet launched by the president, who was apparently watching the hearing.

In an attempt to intimidate the witness, the president tweet how everywhere Ambassador Yovanovich was posted, thing went bad, referencing her time in Somalia.  Obviously, no one was prepared for this.  You could perceive it as a calculated move by the president who knew that this tweet would get Representative Schiff’s attention (it did) and humiliate Ambassador Yovanovich at the same time (it did not). When given the opportunity to responde, she eloquently described the good work she and her fellow American diplomats did.  Needless to say, the tweet sent the president’s lawyers and White House Communications Office into collective cardiac arrest. Now what did The Candidate Forum say about the president laying off the Twitter?  Apparently, tweeters have to tweet. When asked about the mid-hearing tweet, the president replied that he just wanted himself heard. He was and the internet responded.

Interestingly, after weeks of demanding open public hearings and getting it, the president is carrying on they should not take place. His Republican defenders are complying about the process, forgetting they wrote and approved the new rule in 2015, when they were in they in the majority.  The House Republicans also forgot that there are Republicans on the Intelligence Committee and a Republican committee counsel, who are allotted equal time for questions.

On Wednesday, we will get into a little of the constitutional mechanics of the impeachment process as well as any summary of the day’s testimony.

Have a lovely weekend