Long Before “The Perfect Call” There Was This December 30, 2019December 27, 2019 Trump had Mulvaney block military aid to Ukraine in 2017. “The stated reason at the time,” reports Seth Abramson, “was Trump didn’t want to upset Russia.” Leading one to wonder: who’s side is America on? Russia’s? America’s? Look past the sarcasm that begins the thread — I know from personal experience that sarcasm, though deeply satisfying to the writer, rarely clarifies an argument — and consider, for example: 4/ The Ukraine scandal begins in *March 2016*. Yes—I’m serious. Trump has been scheming over how to use Ukraine to his benefit for *over four and a half years*. The July 25 Zelensky call was a *minor episode* in a *years-long* course of conduct that was criminal, start to finish. . . . and . . . 6/ So Kremlin agent Manafort—who signed a deal with Putin lieutenant Deripaska in 2006 to aid Putin in America; Google it—joins Trump’s campaign and *immediately* Trump is *proactively* setting up an anti-Ukraine foreign policy that goes *beyond* opposing sanctions on Russia. . . . and so much more. I know the mind has the tendency to shut down over all this. Those of us of a certain age are still trying to remember it’s now “Ukraine” not “the Ukraine.” But Russia is winning. Putin is winning. America is losing. Democracy is losing. It’s worth our attention. Even if it takes reading more than once.