Ambassador Taylor was very informative and delivered fast-based information on the war in Ukraine. Thankfully, it was non-partisan and focused on the history leading to the conflict and his perspective on what’s needed to end it. His delivery was animated and engaging. Enjoyed greatly.

The Ambassador's free flowing conversation was informative and insightful. I learned a great deal about the history of Russian/Ukrainian conflict and "why" they are where they are.

He clearly is in the midst of strategic discussion and development on how to support the Ukrainian effort.

The Ambassador was very informative. His vast experience in the field brought a reality to the conflict.

I thought the speaker was great! I liked that there were more questions and answers that a straight presentation. I also thought asking members to submit questions in advance was a good idea.

I Thought his presentation was wonderful. How lucky were we to have him right after he comes back from Ukraine and I love that he had the map which added to the understanding of what’s going on and has a personality I felt he was very warm and open. the food was good as usual and I’m so happy I’m a member.

Ambassador Taylor has wide experience and is very intelligent.
I found his introduction to the audience misleading and unfair.

"Taylor's opening statement and testimony was widely viewed as an inflection point in the impeachment inquiry" (of Donald Trump)
(Wikipedia)
It would have been helpful to ask the last question first about the award Time gave Ambassador Taylor who is hardly any form of a non-partisan independent.

Ambassador Taylor also conflated the Hamas burning of children alive in front of their parents with declaration of war on Hamas by Israel. His support for linking congressional funding support to Israel and Ukraine is a strictly Democrat talking point.

Ambassador Taylor said he was told Trump was going to hold up aid to Ukraine whereas there is a clear extortion video of Joe Biden bragging that he DID hold up aid to Ukraine until the prosecutor investigating Joe Biden's son and Burisma was fired.

I have attended countless Panetta Series lectures in Monterey where Secretary Panetta is clearly a partisan Democrat. Nevertheless, a balanced approach was achieved with very high class participants including Hillary Clinton, James Carville, Condolezza Rice and a very interesting debate between Carl Rove and David Plouffe. At one point he simultaneously had four former chiefs of staff to the president, including himself, commenting on the way policy was made. Secretary Panetta would not let either side give misleading or unbalanced statements and introduced the participants in a fair way.

To summarize, we heard no plan for ending the Ukraine war or justification for dribbling out military arms to Ukraine which has resulted in horrific civilian casualties in Ukraine. It will be 2024 until F16's approved in August and arriving after training begin to make a difference. We heard no perspective on the 1.5 trillion additional federal spending bill - only limitless optimistic support for Ukraine.

It would be nice to get speakers from higher levels in the government with broader perspectives and to keep the presentations honest.