Oh my Gord. The Gord Rails are Off. The Gord and the Stone. The Gord of Damocles has dropped. It’s Decorative Gord Season, Motherf–kers. Today’s impeachment testimony was so bad for the President (and others) that no single pun could possibly suffice. Not only was the president implicated in a quid pro quo by his own appointee, Americans also got a depressing glimpse at how its foreign policy is being run — by a smirking ambassador making unsecured cell phone calls to a president whose primary objective is that his ass be loved; and by shadow officials who roam, untamable by career diplomats, around the world representing America as if it were a country that falls somewhere on the spectrum between a banana republic and a banana peel slip. (And I’m not even including the Trump team members who are already in jail.)

+ From The New Yorker: ‘We Followed the President’s Orders’: Gordon Sondland’s Testimony Likely Assures Trump’s Impeachment.

+ The moment Sondland says explicitly that there was a “quid quo pro” at play.

+ The Atlantic: The Two Most Important Sentences of the Impeachment Hearings. “Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret.”

+ Sondland’s testimony shows Mike Pompeo was far more central on Ukraine than we knew.

+ During the hearing, Sondland just said he donated to Trump’s inaugural committee “to secure tickets.” He donated $1 million. (At those prices, it’s no wonder that event was so empty…)

+ WaPo: Trump’s sweeping rebuttal to Sondland’s testimony? Quoting his own denials of quid pro quo. (Including his notes. That he just wrote.) Trump has also said of Sondland, “I hardly know the gentleman.” Nothing about that lie surprised anyone. Nor should anything about today’s testimony. Nor should the tired, pathetic retort that through all of this, it is Trump who is being treated unfairly. And please, don’t misunderstand. There’s no joy in any of this. Just anguish at seeing America dragged through the mud and a political party selling its soul to defend a self-dealing, narcissistic, conman. Come on. Enough.

+ Here’s the latest from impeach pit from CNN and WaPo.

+ As Lt Colonel Vindman said yesterday, “Right Matters.” Let’s hope that’s true. If you missed my take on Vindman, his solid testimony, and the poor treatment he received, it’s right here: Alex Vindman, America, and the Truth.