Trump's Friday night massacre

Trump made no secret of his anger at Vindman's testimony, and the timing of Vindman's dismissal is likely no coincidence. Acquitted by the Senate on Wednesday, President Donald Trump feels emboldened to act on his every impulse, now that Congressional Republicans have shown him they will not hold him accountable -- no matter the risk.  Vindman was escorted off White House grounds, according to his attorney, and in a manner that was likely intended to publicly embarrass him. His brother Yevgeny Vindman, who also worked on the NSC and is also a lieutenant colonel, was fired as well. (When asked to comment on the departure of the Vindman brothers, NSC spokesman John Ullyot said, "We do not comment on personnel matters.")

Opinions | Trump is the ultimate sore winner. Now he’ll seek revenge.
Donald Trump has always been a sore loser, but if we’ve learned anything over the past three years of his presidency, it’s that he’s also a sore winner. Not content with being elected, he’s still angry at his 2016 opponent and cannot stop talking about her. He’s angry at his predecessor for having respect from the global community and most Americans that Trump himself has not earned. He’s even angry at Republicans like his former attorney general Jeff Sessions, who’ve publicly humiliated themselves to demonstrate fealty to him, for not publicly humiliating themselves enough.

Trump’s quest for revenge could mean the end of whistleblowing
President Trump and some of his allies in the Senate are kicking off the post-impeachment era with vengeance on their minds. In a speech on Thursday, Trump condemned “leakers and liars” and declared that “this should never, ever happen to another president, ever.” On Capitol Hill, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Republicans plan to launch an investigation of the whistleblower who disclosed President Trump’s effort to coerce Ukraine to investigate a political rival. Graham threatened that they are “going to get to the bottom of all of this to make sure this never happens again.”
If they carry out this threat of state-sponsored retaliation, whistleblowing as we know it may be over. That would be a disastrous blow to government integrity.
Do not doubt that the eyes of our nation are watching this situation unfold. Federal officials will now think twice before reporting any wrongdoing they witness. Their reticence will only be magnified if Republicans exact a price by grilling the Ukraine whistleblower in a Senate hearing “to make sure this never happens again.” The same will be true if Congress lets executive branch officials fire or otherwise punish the whistleblower — as the Trump administration did to Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine.

Trump's disturbing 'celebration'
The tip-off was the fake, breathy voice -- call it Mister Rogers-on the-dark side -- that the President uses whenever he is enraged but wants us to think he's calm. He smiles and leans forward, and then spews venom in a treacly tone. Although he called it a "celebration" of his acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial, Trump's hourlong ramble in the White House on Thursday sounded more like a recriminating diatribe.
President Donald Trump recapped the many investigations against him over the last three years and directed his vitriol at those who dared oppose him. They are "evil and sick people," said Trump.
Rep. "Adam Schiff is a vicious, horrible person," he said, and Speaker of the House "Nancy Pelosi is a horrible person." Mitt Romney "used religion as a crutch," Trump said, after Romney cited his Mormon faith in his decision to become the only senator in US history to vote to remove a president of his own party. Trump went on and called the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 elections "bullsh**."
Even his decision to hold up the front page of the Washington Post, displaying the headline "Trump acquitted," struck a sour note, since it reminded the world that he is only the third US president to be impeached -- a process that has sown deep divisions in the country. Let's not forget -- the trial was rigged. His acquittal had been guaranteed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell before it even began. Boasting about it was akin to former North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il bragging about the 11 holes-in-one he scored in a round of golf.
Like Kim, Trump is not like most people. We would expect any other president in his circumstance to express relief and perhaps a little happiness before promising to heal the nation's wounds

Trump, true to his deviance, chose to babble on about his years-ago election victory, and to curse his opponents and critics. You would hardly know that he was the billionaire who occupied the highest office in the country and had just dodged a bullet the size of a bunker-buster.

People are comparing Trump's firing of 2 officials involved in impeachment him to an episode straight out of the Watergate scandal

Alexander Vindman Fired and Escorted From the White House

Trump hasn’t offered any reason beyond the obvious for punishing Alexander Vindman

Impeachment witness Alexander Vindman and his twin brother were abruptly fired and escorted from the White House as part of Trump's payback

'I'm not happy with him': Impeachment witness Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman was escorted from the White House on Friday

#marshablackburnistrash is trending on Twitter after Sen. Marsha Blackburn labeled Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman unpatriotic and 'vindictive'

Biden to Trump: Give Vindman, not Rush Limbaugh, a medal
2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden took a shot at President Trump during the Democratic debate in New Hampshire Friday night and said he should have awarded the Medal of Freedom to Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman instead of nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh.