Great Post
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Maybe Mattis could explain how dangerous trump’s impulsive foreign policy antics endangered the country, undercut our long standing alliances and helped Russia cut away at our democracy. If he would go in to some detail on these issues with specific examples that he witnessed I think it could be very helpful to the American electorate, especially so, if done before 2020.
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Until you are ready to endorse Trump’s opponent, be quiet.
Mad Dog Mattis also thought that Theranos was a good, well-run business. While I understand that he is highly respected within the military, in the private sector he now has two very big red flags on his resume.
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To be fair (I realize that’s not actually allowed here), Mattis is a Marine. He takes Semper Fidelis seriously.
He’s also a hawk, somebody who was willing to work for Trump in the first place. So presumably he has the set of more or less compartmentalized beliefs and opinions you’d expect – that is, whether he’s pro-choice or what he thinks of the tax code are surely deliberately secondary to his views on national security and foreign policy.
He’s not going to help a generic Democrat beat Trump. But he could surprise everybody with just how much he could do for the right Democrat (from his point of view), particularly as a matter of timing.
As a commander, Mattis made decisions where timing determined who lived and who died. He’s not done.
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So, if Mattis had proof Trump was a pedophile would his code of honor preclude him from informing authorities?
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Probably no good at all towards getting rid of tRump, but maybe some us want people like Mattis to be honest now rather than later.
Good for you for asking the question.
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Probably not, although you’re not actually using words properly.
In general, the Code requires reporting a crime to proper authorities. Strictly speaking “pedophilia” is a condition, not a crime in itself.
What you probably meant to say, in your imprecise way, was if Mattis had knowledge Trump had committed statutory rape, would the Code require him to report it?
Yes, is the short answer. But you kinda assume a lot: how would Mattis know what Trump knew about some kid’s age? What kind of proof are we talking about?
Better to recognize who Mattis is, and what he’s willing (and perhaps likely) to do.
When everything comes out about Grandpa Trump being mentally out of it due to dementia and syphilis, the public is going to want to know why the “adults” in the room didn’t act in the best interest of the country. Mattis wants to get out in front of that to protect his lucrative Board memberships and speaking engagements at think tanks. How is supposed to retire on just a Major General’s pension?
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You don’t want him risking his million dollar gigs sitting on Defense contractor companies boards do you? He served selflessly for so many years he is entitled to his reward from the Military Industrial Complex that he served so well.
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Schmidt, Frum, Rubin, Steele, Jolly, Boot, Will…the list of folks who I despise who also are weighing in against Trump is voluminous.
I’m not looking for Mattis to be Liz Warren. I am looking for Cracks in the Trump Wall.
As we all are.
Like I said, I understand all the negative things on this thread said about Mattis and have no problem with any of them…as I would certainly have ZERO problem with tearing apart the above list of folks to shreds.
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It’s not good, but it’s not a retraction of what he reported, either. All he admitted was violating MSNBC’s standards about sourcing.
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If he becomes a constant on Sunday Morning TV, The NewsHour, etc., that could have some impact. He may be the only ex-Trump official to leave with any trace of credibility. If you give me a half-hour and another cup of coffee, I might think of a second.
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I’d feel a bit more choked up and patriotic about Mattis and his whole “duty, honor, country” shtick if he were not mixed up in the Theranos fraud:
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“The duty of silence. If you leave an administration, you owe some silence. When you leave an administration over clear policy differences, you need to give the people who are still there as much opportunity as possible to defend the country."
Put up or shut up, clown. Your first duty is to your country, not the knaves in office.
You sound as empty as Colin Powell expressing his regrets for his speech to the UN holding phony vials of white powder to represent the nonexistent Iraq bioweapons. Serve your country, one last time.
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The resignation letter essentially says “I consider it paramount to support our democratic allies and resist our autocratic enemies, and you don’t so I’m outta here.” He’s also spoken out repeatedly about this administration’s inflaming societal divisions and how that’s damaging and dangerous. That, to me, pretty much covers it. What’s left are juicy anecdotes. We get those every day. Anyone who needs more to make up his or her mind hasn’t got much of a mind to make up.
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The comments here tell a sad story about how much credibility anyone has today, if credibility means I’ll stop to think about something the person says I don’t already agree with, or give him or her the benefit of the doubt.
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Gen. Mattis, What level of incompetence, corruption, chaos, division, risk to the country would it take for you to speak out now?
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But Donald is so quiet about it, no tweets… He doesn’t want it magnified, seems that there is something there, it makes sense with all the taxes & financial forms that he’s fighting so hard to keep hidden.
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