Alexander Vindman, who famously helped undergird the first unsuccessful attempt to impeach and convict Donald Trump, has entered the debate over Elon Musk cutting Starlink service to Ukraine.
As RedState reported, Musk decided it was no longer financially viable to keep donating tens of millions of dollars in communication infrastructure to the war-torn nation. The decision was also influenced by the fact that Ukrainian officials told him to “F…off” following a Twitter poll Musk put up about a possible peace deal.
Rhetoric has consequences and cussing out the guy who was providing critical communications links for your war effort, free of charge, was a really stupid, arrogant move. Ukraine’s leaders should probably care more about winning than Twitter likes, but here we are.
Vindman, who obviously sees Ukraine as his top priority despite serving in the US military, lashed out in response to Musk’s move, demanding that the billionaire be “canceled” for supposedly undermining “US national security.”
Vindman, ever the shameless hack, continues to suggest that he is the arbiter of what constitutes “US national security.” He played the same game during the Trump administration, actually claiming that the then-President of the United States illegally undermined American foreign policy. Of course, the president is the one who sets America’s foreign policy, but that’s the mindset of these people. They see the eternal bureaucratic state as all-powerful, never to be questioned nor held accountable.
In this case, though, we are dealing with a private company led by a private individual. Musk is not bound to donate something to Ukraine in perpetuity. If the Pentagon would like to continue to pay for the Starlink portals and service, they are welcome to. To demand that Musk be “canceled” and punished for not being a ward of the state is insane and tyrannical.
In other words, it’s exactly what Vindman is and always has been. Some of us were bright enough to see through his facade years ago. This is not a man who values freedom and democracy. Rather, he is a man who desires to use the power of the state to destroy his political opponents, whether that be Trump or Musk. The idea that private companies are somehow beholden to arbitrary declarations of what constitutes “US national security” is the stuff of dictatorships, not free societies.
The entire thing feels like a blackmail attempt with the choice being to keep giving Ukraine free stuff or face economic destruction. What’s so ironic, though, is that Musk has done exponentially more for Ukraine than Vindman has, who spends his time tweeting and appearing on cable news. I’ve pointed it out before, but one of the dumbest things about our society is the valuing of mindless bluster over tangible action. Vindman is the epitome of mindless bluster while Musk has actually gotten things done to help the war effort in Ukraine.
Regardless, we do not punish companies in the United States for not being subservient to foreign nations. If Ukraine wanted to keep Starlink going for no cost, they should have acted like adults and not told the one giving it to them to “F…off” when he was already facing financial realities related to the arrangement. As to Vindman, he continues to be a pudgy, irrelevant scold, only useful for laughing at.