Another week of impeachment testimony reinforced the scheme that has been operating with Russia hysteria and now Ukrainian hysteria. The system leaks things damaging to the president to set a narrative, reality is far different but the media runs with the leak to frame it as horrible and worthy of punishment. This was the Friday-Weekend-Monday cycle for Mueller’s investigation where leaked juicy bits on Friday would be proved false or denied by Monday. This is all narrative management.

Notice how the opening statements are damning for Trump but all questioning leads to exoneration or revelation that nothing wrong was done? The same method of leak bad-reveal good is at play nested within this piece of the process. Recent testimony further supported this method as witnesses claimed that things were lies, that other things already admitted events were right wing conspiracy theories and the most interesting of all was Ambassador Sondland’s “it was quid pro quo but wait it was not quid pro quo” testimony. Sondland fit into this framework. His opening statement gave the left what it wanted by saying yes it was a quid pro quo. Media runs with it for the morning. As the testimony wore on and he answered questions, it was revealed that the quid pro quo was his presumption and that no, there was no evidence for it nor did Trump ever state it. In fact, he stated the opposite. Sondland has been under intense pressure from the left but already has sworn testimony on the record saying no quid pro quo.

This is all they have and this will be enough cover for a majority of Democrats to vote yes in Congress to impeach. Impeachment has been certain since the Democrats won a majority. I’d estimate they impeach but not all Democrats vote for it. Senate acquits. We all move on with our lives. The system waits for another thing to impeach Trump later. Maybe this can be an annual thing. Maybe a compromise can be reached where we make him eternal president with an annual ritual of denunciation and scapegoating rolled into an impeachment proceeding a la shouting at stuffed dolls in group therapy.

Does this change the narrative management and power forcing a take versus the truth situation? Unlikely. Vindman and Hill both talked of the baseless idea Ukraine was involved in 2016 shenanigans. Poppycock! Right wing conspiracy! That is the new narrative rolled out to head off what they suspect is coming from Team Trump. These Ukraine and 2016 details are facts that have been laid out for years. What has been admitted and what is the truth? John Solomon presents 28 facts that back up all of the Ukrain-2016 claims. The media and left (add in Mike Cernovich) will say, “but look at what Vindman/Hill said to Congress, they have gravitas”! They are not telling the truth.

No one should care if someone looks credible. No one should care if they look polished, professional and put together. Remember normies saying that about Christine Blasey Ford during the Kavanaugh hearings*? Does not matter. Any hobo can be cleaned up and put in a suit for Congressional testimony with a lawyer by their side. Are they lying or are they telling the truth? If you are not evaluating on that basis, then you will fall for simple marketing. You will become a victim of narrative managers.

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*Awful lot of similarities between Ford/Kavanaugh and Ukraine/Trump