I must admit that being a veteran myself, as someone who spent 24 years spent in the U.S. Navy, it was back when President Trump nominated General James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis to be his Secretary of Defense that I was actually pretty pleased. But as time went by it seemed to be increasingly obvious that old ‘Mad Dog’ was another of those more interested in undermining the president than doing the job for which he was hired. And sadly I was disappointed in old ‘Mad Dog’ as he turned out to be just another of those backstabbing members of ‘The Swamp’ working on the inside.
And apparently that now seems to have been corroborated by the most recent work of presidential fiction authored by none other Bob Woodward. Now granted, one can never be too sure of how much one can actually believe when it comes to anything written by Woodward, but still, it’s according to Woodward that Mattis once warned a top United States intelligence official that “collective action” might be required to stem President Trump’s “dangerous” behavior in the White House. Mattis, or so it would seem, was far more concerned with politics than with why he was hired.
And so it’s in his book that Woodward reveals the ‘supposed’ inner machinations and grumblings of several former White House officials, like Mattis as well as ex-Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. Again it’s according to the book that Mattis was particularly concerned about President Trump’s leadership in 2017 during a standoff with North Korea over its missile tests. The revelations regarding Mattis’s suggestion to Coats of taking “collective action” against Trump quickly drew attention on social media, with some comparing the discussion to “spit-balling a presidential coup.”
Although the context of Mattis’s discussion with Coats is still a bit unclear, the former defense secretary has become an increasingly outspoken opponent of his one-time White House boss. Since leaving the administration back in January of 2019, Mattis has lambasted the president over disagreements on both foreign policy as well as domestic affairs. And it was in June of this year that Mattis also made the claim that President Trump was going against constitutional norms in his handling of the protests and riots that have swept the country since George Floyd’s death in police custody.
So seventeen years of an utterly failed, totally incompetently executed war with lie after lie being told about the supposed ‘progress’ being made, all while the nation rapidly declined, and Mattis somehow thinks that it’s President Trump’s moral compass that’s broken? And he also, apparently, was of the opinion that President Trump was unable to tell the difference between the truth and a lie? And yet not once has he ever thought that Bush and/or ‘BO’ might need to be held to account for marching our military into utter ruin and thousands of needlessly dead and maimed.
Hindsight being what it is I can’t help but wonder why it was that the president hired Mattis in the first place. Who was it that might have recommended to the President those people he bring onboard. I mean, let’s face it, President Trump is certainly no DC insider and so was left to rely on the advice others when it came to much of his hiring. And for more than a few positions it’s taken a couple of attempts to get it right. He had zero experience when it came to hiring those for DoD type jobs, so he was left to take recommendations often from those he simply didn’t know that well.
And it’s unfortunate that most of the ‘BO’ era high ranking military officers earned their rank less by possessing some specific skill set than by their politics. And Mattis is yet another one of those. Apparently he’s a big believer in bogus ‘climate change’ claiming back in 2017 that budget cuts would hamper the ability to monitor the effects of global warming and noted, "climate change is a challenge that requires a broader, whole-of-government response.” He also then told senators “climate change is impacting stability in areas of the world where our troops are operating today.”
And on June 3 of this year Mattis issued a statement, in the ‘The Atlantic,’ in which he criticized President Trump and his policies during the George Floyd protests. It was then that he wrote, “Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict—between the military and civilian society, and diminishes the trust and constitutional relationship between the armed services and the civilian population they support.” He called for reunification among the people, regardless of the president, to preserve the welfare of society, and its future.
Mattis also wrote that President Trump is “the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people” and that America is “witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.” He called for accountability for “those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.” And he concluded by saying, “Only by adopting a new path—which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals—will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.” I can’t believe I was ever in favor of this guy.
And on the subject of Woodward, I think we all recognize that his ONLY claim to fame is obviously Watergate and the bringing down of Richard Nixon whose supposed ‘crimes’ pale in rather stark comparison to those committed by ‘Slick Willy’ Clinton and, even more so, the list of near endless list of crimes committed by ‘BO.’ And it was during those administrations that we heard nary a peep from Mr. Woodward. So, this is now Woodward’s second attempt at bringing down a president? It seems an obsession. The release date of the book tells all you need to know. It’s a hit piece.
Disgruntled employees and ex-generals don’t take kindly to being demoted. Never before in our history of has a president been attacked as President Trump has been and yet he’s still standing tall. One can’t help but wonder just how much better the country would be IF those in government did what was best for America instead of what was best for them. The Department of Justice should indict and prosecute all of those who were involved in the ‘coup’ to remove President Trump. Unfortunately, this will not happen which will only embolden people to attempt it again and again.
Mattis was a peacetime General. He came up after Vietnam and never physically saw combat below the rank of battalion commander. Which means he essentially never saw combat. What do you expect from ‘BO’ groomed generals? Mattis is a perfect example. President Trump has a problem with spoiled generals who expect a rubber stamp to anything they want. But that doesn't extend to the troops. That’s the line ‘The Swamp’ is trying to blur. President Trump is getting us out of the endless wars. From now on, if we have to go to Was, then it’s for a reason and it’s to WIN.
No comments:
Post a Comment