IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS: Ego and the Ambassador, and a mistake by President Trump.

The Diplomad is unimpressed:

I hate false bravado. The whole "we are the hostages of Tehran, the martyrs of Tripoli" shtick in defense of the Foreign Service was almost more than I could bear. I have never heard a military man or woman do something similar. Braggadocio is not a trait of the best of our military, and should not be a feature anywhere else in our bureaucracy. It was all rather embarrassing, particularly given that both the hostages in Tehran and the dead in Tripoli were abandoned to their fate by lefty Democrat policies and administrations--something I wish the Republicans had pointed out.

On Ambassador Yovanavich:

She had the nerve to claim that Trump was undermining HER position as Ambassador, and, thus, of course, he was undermining US foreign policy! She breathlessly informed us that after about two-plus years at her post, Ukrainians were asking her if she was going to be replaced. Horrors! Ukrainians can do math. They knew that her usual tour likely would be coming to an end. The President does not need to undermine her; he can yank her out any time for any reason or even for no reason. Ambassadors, as well as FBI and CIA Directors, etc., serve at the pleasure of the President. Period. She must have thought she was King Louis XIV, you know, 'L'état, c'est moi'. But to be kind, let's just agree that she is just another in a long line of State officials who seem to have forgotten that the President sets and directs foreign policy, not State.

Read it all.