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Below is a link to the Patrick Lawrence article that Ted Rall quoted in his WSJ piece. It is a rather odd choice since Lawrence is about as connected to the left as Stephen F. Cohen, whose adoration for Putin he shares. Over the past 8 years Lawrence has churned out articles defending Assad and Putin's intervention in Syria. Also, his article appeared in Consortium News, a conspiracist website that was a big step down from where Lawrence used to publish, like The Nation, Alternet or Salon.
Lawrence claims that there is no evidence of a quid pro quo. I don't care that much about the impeachment hearings but what other evidence do you need except the suspension of military aid to Kiev? Congress authorized that aid and Trump held it back. Impeachment has always been about clashes between the legislative branch and executive branches of the government, going back to Andrew Johnson. Those who look for it to address big political questions like Trump's wall, etc. are missing the point. This is bourgeois democracy we are talking about. If the Republicans controlled all branches of the government, they could vote to put Muslims in detention camps just as the Chinese did. This would not be an impeachable offense because it followed constitutional procedures. That's how FDR got away with putting Japanese-Americans in concentration camps during WWII. (Even if his executive order was basically illegal.)
Lawrence also says that the diplomats who testified were all hawks on Russia. Is that true of Fiona Hill who wrote an article sounding very much like Stephen F. Cohen when she was in the Brookings Institute? For all we know, Hill still is "soft" on Putin. Her main gripe appears to be over Trump's abrogation of constitutional norms rather than its effects on the battlefield.
I might have more to say about this later on, especially how it relates to the Army-McCarthy hearings that had much more to do with Roy Cohn's attempt to get special treatment for his boyfriend after he had been drafted than the issues of the Red Scare, although it indirectly helped to bring it to an end.
https://consortiumnews.com/2019/11/12/patrick-lawrence-the-impeachment-pantomime/ _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
