Dissidents Are Punished
The past few weeks have shown that the U.S. president can a) do whatever he wants with total impunity, and b) punish those whose acts of conscience command them to speak the truth in opposition. 
The wall that formerly separated the U.S. from an authoritarian regime has been effectively demolished.
We either turn this around immediately, or we surrender the freedoms for which our brave ancestors fought and died.
Craig,
The US is not an “Authoritative Regime” simply because the President transfers a rebellious NSC advisor from a bloated agency back to the army.
Nor is the US a “dictatorship” because the administration replaces Ambassadors who don’t feel it possible to adequately represent the administration’s new policies.
These reassignments and replacements are neither unusual nor “authoritarian”.
What is unusual is these officials felt their views and opinions should prevail in place of their elected superiors.
IMO Lt Col Alexander Vindman should face disciplinary charges. However, in reality, he will probably just get a job on CNN, or join Hunter Biden and accept one of the lucrative positions offered by the Ukraine!
Cleansing the NSC of Vindmin and his twin brother Yevgeny, an NSC lawyer, is a positive step in restructuring and slimming down the National Security Council.
In 2016, after winning the election, President Trump ordered slimming down this exceedingly expensive and bloated agency.
The NSC fiercely resisted any loss in personnel and this is probably the reason why officials like Vindmin and Eric Ciaramella were able to recruit so many Obama era officials to the “resistance”.
The “resistance” quickly became a group of officials loyal to the old Obama administration and collaborating with Democrat politicians to have the President’s policies sabotaged. The “resistance” set out to seek methods of destroying the President and removing from office.
These officials are not “patriots” they’re self-interested seditious traitors.
The question must be investigated is how deeply were Democrat politicians,the media and foreign intelligence operatives involved in these plots.
Until the election of President Obama the NSC never had more than 83 policy professionals employed. Within the first two years of the Obama administration there were never less than 236, highly paid policy professionals working at the NSC, nearly all selected for their pro-Obama sympathies.
I believe Vindman’s claim “I am a patriot!”. The question is for whom is he a patriot? By his own admission, Vindmin is, and always will be, a patriot for the Ukraine.
By his actions he has proved his first loyalty is to the Ukraine, not the US.
Members of the “resistance” against President Trump have many different motivations, (mostly self interest)only one thing unites them, an obsessive hared of the elected President and dedication to his overthrow.
The myriad of murky dealings between the Ukraine the, DNC, Clinton’s campaign, various Democrat politicians, the CIA, NSC and US Obama officials would fill the contents of many spy thrillers.
Hilary Clinton’s activities in the Ukraine and Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 US election, well established, and understandable.
The Ukraine is locked in a bitter dispute with Russia and its Russian minority where enmity goes back hundreds of years.
The conflict is compounded by disputes over territory and resources. both nations have a long history of rampant corruption and intrigue.
No public service can contain “policy dissidents”, since by its nature officials can only implement and administer the policies created and decided by elected executive.
This is the hard task of all who choose to become civil servants. The acceptance of having many years hard work reversed on the whim of a newly elected official must be very difficult to accept and even harder to implement.
But, that’s their sworn duty. The alternative is to leave the public service and enter politics.
Any official who sabotages the policies of the elected government for the “right” reasons is just as guilty as the official who sabotages the policies of the elected government for the “wrong” reasons.
Officials exist to serve democracy, not practice it.