George Kent's opening statement is brilliant.

[madaboutharry]

Analogizing Ukraine to colonial America in its fight for independence is brilliant.

Make those who oppose what is right look unpatriotic and supportive of the undermining of the rule of law.

[Leghorn21]

1. He's a show-stopper, mad!!

*****WOW*****

[dawg day]

2. He's right-- Ukraine's difficult path to democracy is something we should, as Americans, admire

I don't understand how our own government ended up trying to undermine that.

Well, I do understand. Trump thinks his puerile personal interest is more important than democracy and peace.

[librechik]

9. Trump also think Putin holds his life & fortune by a hair over the abyss

Everything Trump does is to please his nasty master Putin.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. BIG George Kent: "I do not believe the United States should ask other countries to engage in..."

Link to tweet

Yamiche Alcindor ✔ @Yamiche

BIG

George Kent: "I do not believe the United States should ask other countries to engage in selective, politically associated investigations or prosecutions against opponents of those in power, because such selective actions undermine the rule of law regardless of the country."

10:48 AM - Nov 13, 2019

[Mike 03]

4. It's excellent!

He sounds like a guy who won't suffer fools gladly.

[question everything]

5. His whole presentation should be taught in classes

His concluding remarks, defending his colleagues who were smeare, were, too.

[Pacifist Patriot]

8. Yes!

[Pacifist Patriot]

6. Agree, and his closing remark about his colleagues was ...

damn, I cannot even come up with a superlative worthy of his remarks. Beyond brilliant.

[FM123]

7. Not just brilliant, but deeply moving.

Loved his statement.

[tblue37]

10. Read his opening statement here:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/13/politics/george-kent-opening-statement-house-impeachment-hearing/index.html

[handmade34]

11. thank you for link

it is brilliant!!

[Lars39]

13. Thanks for posting!

At the doctor with just my phone.

[wnylib]

12. Those opening remarks, followed by Taylor,

made me think of the international events preceding WW2, when Germany was expanding its territory with takeovers of sections of other countries on the claim of protecting and reassimilating ethnic Germans.

This is the claim that Russia made about ethnic Russians in Ukraine. It was the Russian excuse for invading Ukraine to annex Crimea.

But this time, the US under Trump is on the wrong side. Imagine if, in the US election of 1932, Germany had managed to intervene and get a pro German candidate elected instead of FDR. There were many pro Nazis in the US at the time, some of them very prominent.

That is the situation we are in today. Russia has done what Germany did not do, and benefits from having Trump as an ally in strengthening Russian influence and power in the world as Russia fights to take over Ukraine.