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Joan Friedman (MA, from NY)'s avatar

Not at all.

Linda Tripp lied to her friend (some friend) to get hold of evidence that would show Bill Clinton not having the wherewithal to say no to sex. She used dishonesty and betrayal of a friend to catch a president lying about sex.

Lt. Col. Vindman behaved honorably the entire time, and as a result the public learned that tfg had been shaking down a foreign head of state, illegally witholding necessary money for self defense appropriated by Congress to procure an announcement of an investigation into the family of a political rival.

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William's avatar

I believe Lewinsky was freely discussing/bragging about her tryst.

Further, both Vindman and Tripp had Blue Dress Blues ;)

Not to mention, both were equally effective in bringing down the POTUS <rolleyes>

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Joan Friedman (MA, from NY)'s avatar

Maybe, but Tripp coaxed Lewinsky to give her the dress with lies about what she was going to do with it.

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William's avatar

So? Both produced "evidence"; were the darlings of the opposing Parties; contributed to impeachment charges; and their action led nowhere. Further, she was fired from her job and subsequently filed a court case against the government.

Like it or not, they are rife with similarity

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Eric O'Donnell's avatar

Listing transient and broad consequences their actions had does not make the heart of their motivations, loyalties, and actions remotely alike.

Linda Tripp was no Alexander Vindman. History will not mention them in the same breath.

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William's avatar

You are not the gatekeeper of history and I think you are also woefully wrong. In fact, the impeachments of Clinton and Trump will likely be indelibly linked together when examining the political failure of democracy in the US. And with them, the players within will be highlighted.

These two were the public faces during impeachment; no one ever said they were similar people or ideology, but rather they served similar roles and had similar trajectories.

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lin•'s avatar

No dice. Similarities with relatively little significance - in the greater context of ethics in government.

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William's avatar

Yet, the similarities exist are robust whether you like it or not. Vindman's efforts were just about as insignificant as Tripp's, so thanks for underscoring that similarity, too

As an aside:

Ethics? Bill Clinton? Hahahaha. I fail to see your distinction between exploitation of vulnerable situations that result in presidents lying about it afterwards. It's not right to take advantage of Ukraine for political gain, nor is it right to exploit Interns for sexual pleasure.

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