Kent and Taylor are credible and compelling. They both conveyed genuine concern about Ukraine's strategic importance, and the importance of cultivating relations between the US and Ukraine that would transcend shifts in the administrations of either country.
They were also concerned about the irregular channel (the Giuliani group) being established to pursue Trump's aims re: Ukraine. Kent's opening statement characterized it as "infecting US engagement with Ukraine."
Nunes and Schiff each demonstrated their commitment to protecting their respective brands. Schiff has made clear he's already absolutely sure that the president has committed the most egregious impeachable offenses, and Nunes is determined to portray anyone and everyone who smells something out of whack about the way Trump has handled Ukraine policy as a deep-state hack, or as he put it, members of a "politicized bureaucracy" who are trying to usurp policy-making authority. Nunes is characterizing the hearing as a cheaply made sequel to the just-concluded Mueller investigation. It's not. This is a different kind of critter.
Kent's defense of Marie Yovanovitch's character was compelling. Yovanovitch's career in diplomacy began during the Reagan administration and she's served under the subsequent variety of presidents in various capacities. In her role as US ambassador to Armenia during the Bush 43 administration, she received the Secretary of State's Human Rights Award. Kent characterized Giuliani's treatment of her as a smear campaign.
A situation like this requires a bit of reliance on one's gut. The back-and-forth gets rather arcane and the hot takes are formed by the microseconds, so one has to step back a bit and ask who appears to have the most integrity and commitment to the conduct of a grown-up foreign policy.
I know, I know. This hearing is specifically about whether Trump did anything that rises to the level of an impeachable offense, as Jim Jordan has made clear with his emphasis on the fact that Taylor was not a first-hand witness to the infamous phone call. His ilk is hot to get to the point where they can say, "Bingo! No impeachable offense! Time to move on, everybody!"
But we can learn things of a broader nature from these proceedings, such as who has the real national interest at heart.
Neither the Trump shills on the House Foreign Affairs Committee nor committee chair Schiff and his minions have any of that to speak of. Kent and Taylor have demonstrated it in spades.
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