I think O’Donnell reported this too soon, without proper verification.
But, I also think the documents exist as reported.
And as you say, the denial tweet pretty much confirms it - especially with a threat attached.
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Well, like Enron beforehand, Theranos was a fraud in plain sight, lauded for a long time by the powers we expect to hold power to account. Mattis was hardly the only one to be taken in. Technology razzle-dazzle mixed with the hope of being seen as a visionary has a powerful pull, and blinds a lot of people.
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How powerful would it be if, once the tickets are set, he comes out and endorses the non-tRump candidate? He could base it on many of the things you pointed out, but in first person accounts with details. He won’t attack tRump directly, but sometimes indirectly is more powerful. Plus, imagine the rabid foaming at the mouth diatribes from the Orange One who would just reinforce the general’s stance.
Just supposition. He may disappoint and just hunker down in his fox hole, but I doubt he will remain silent prior to the election.
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“It’s (silence) not eternal. It’s not going to be forever.”
Is he waiting for trump’s 3rd term or Putin’s first?
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Exactly. What he “owes” is an honest accounting of the current Oval Office occupant’s lack of fitness for the presidency. Don’t wait till after the 2020 elections to tell us.
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Not to derail - but still on the subject of speaking truth to power…
Saw the premiere of the new documentary on Molly Ivins at the Alamo Draft House last night. Dear GOD I laughed till I cried,and cried till I laughed again. You MUST see it. Find it and buy a ticket. Or at least watch for it when it streams. Seeing her - and Ann Richards together - reminds me of the great legacy of Texas women we loved so dearly.
We need her so bad right now.
https://www.mollyivinsfilm.com/
A portion of every ticket sold benefits the ACLU. So, Win-Win!
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I think there’s something called Cokie’s Law named after Cokie Roberts. Digby Parton defines it this way: “It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, it’s out there,”
Democrats need to learn to use it more often.
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Yeah, we’ve all seen this movie before, general …silence is complicity.
Some days I feel I learn so much by the postings here. This is one of those.
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I’m a bit tired of this stuff.
It’s like the Barr visiting Epstein’s prison bit. They buried that because the mobster who was the source later recanted (likely after a “visit” of his own from someone).
But nobody went to the prison and checked visitor logs.
Sure, due diligence and all that. But we’re playing in the mud with a bunch of crooks. It’s fine to throw stones and see what sticks.
O’Donnell shouldn’t have apologized, he should have said that all conjecture can be eliminated if the President would just stop blocking the release. Until they are released, anything is fair game.
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Yup. A dickhead who thinks he is a patriot.
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The author himself says he was frustrated with Mattis’s stubborness about this. And I can understand that. But I don’t respect the instant denunciation in the most scurrilous terms. Maybe people like Mattis and Mueller will be shown by history not to have understood the crisis or the danger it posed to the institutions they relied too much on the stability of. Wouldn’t be the first time. But both have done much, even in their restrained ways, and both have described the crisis accurately and left it for us, the citizens, to do our part. My limited experience with really, really serious people like this is they don’t seem to have a lot of time to tell nasty little stories about people, so if you want that then yeah, you’ll be frustrated.
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Keep it coming, like withering fire. All election campaign long!
I’m reluctant to make predictions but I think if asked, Mattis would be likeliest to endorse the concept of preserving our long-standing alliances and would recommend that people consider that in making their choice. He hasn’t been coy about that principle one bit.
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I find it interesting the number of people who have been thinking that any of these lifetime institutionalists would undermine the institutions they’ve been serving for decades by supporting a de facto coup attempt.
When the most institutional thing is to do exactly what you point out, and leave things up to the body vested with that power.
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It’s nice to see that his silence is returned. /s
I would not have either. But O’Donnell was careful to not say that what he was reporting was false.
One of the problems I have with this business of verbal jousting with the Right and what they are going to say is that they are not arguers in the traditional sense.
They offer talking points they don’t even care to understand and they appeal to people who occupy the left side of the I.Q. curve
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One of my first thoughts on reading this article was that the knowledge that Mattis’ silence won’t last will be seriously unnerving to Trump. It’s another closet of shoes to fall, and he’ll have to wonder when and what will come out.
I understand the sentiments of other posters. I do wonder what will be the tipping point for Mattis–what will be the moment or action that makes him decide to speak out. And I would also like to have had him mention that the “cacaphony that is now so poisonous” is completely and totally due to the actions and words of President Call Sign Chaos.
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Again, seriously, what will he say when he speaks out? That Trump said something rude or hateful or ignorant or stupid in his hearing? What do you expect him to say? What difference will it make?
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Yeah, it sucks trying to be the first one to point something out, unless you get in early someone else has picked up on it.
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