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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGeneral McMaster, Step Down--and Let Trump Be Trump
General McMaster, Step Downand Let Trump Be Trump
Save your reputation while you still can. The country will be fine.
By THOMAS E. RICKS May 28, 2017
(Thomas E. Ricks is the author of five books about the modern U.S. military. His most recent work is Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom.)
During the presidential transition, when a friend called me to discuss whether he should accept a national security post in the Trump administration, I advised him to do so. My thinking was that the more mature, thoughtful people we had in the administration, the better. But over the last two weeks, I have come to think I was wrong. I no longer believe in the adults in the room theory of containing President Trump and the similarly erratic and ignorant people around him.
The prime reason I have come to believe I was wrong was the experience of watching Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trumps second national security adviser, make a series of statements. On the evening of Monday, May 15, he appeared before cameras at the White House to respond to a Washington Post article reporting that the president had shared sensitive intelligence about terrorism with Russian visitors. This information was sufficiently detailed, some intelligence officials feared, that it might enable interested parties to determine the source of that intelligence.
Not so, said General McMaster. The story that came out tonight as reported is false, he stated emphatically.
The next day, he appeared again before the cameras. This time his line was: the premise of that article is falsethat in any way the president had a conversation that was inappropriate or that resulted in any kind of lapse in national security. Thats what people in Washington say when they cant dispute the facts in a given article, but still dislike it.
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http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/05/28/general-mcmaster-step-downand-let-trump-be-trump-215199
emulatorloo
(44,133 posts)Didn't take too long for McMaster to make the transformation.
Excellent op-ed, thanks for posting.
uponit7771
(90,347 posts)FM123
(10,053 posts)You are turning into a big ole puppet, HR Pufnstuf maybe?
onecaliberal
(32,866 posts)He is without morals and ethics as well. He's already clearly demonstrated that.
nycbos
(6,034 posts)Could he say no?
onecaliberal
(32,866 posts)I just have zero respect for these people who. Leah do not care about the United States.
furtheradu
(1,865 posts)McMaster wrote "Dereliction of Duty", about Vietnam War.
McMaster's description of LBJ, & his circle of advisors...
"arrogance.. deceit..." etc, etc!
...sounds like trump & his bunch.
just.. WOW.
Thanks for posting this.
Leith
(7,813 posts)It seems like Ricks is saying that Trump is going to be a shitshow and will be around for a long time, so just enjoy the show and let the competent people do their jobs.
The problem is that the competent people are gone and nobody is doing the jobs that need to be done. And we are still stuck with the shitshow.
The country will NOT be fine and neither will millions of people in it.
gibraltar72
(7,506 posts)Would someone once respected choose this to be their legacy. His former aide says McMaster once lived by the credo an officer does not abide a lie. I guess weasel words are OK though!
Vinca
(50,285 posts)If it's a "save the country" thing, they need to stop covering up the harsh reality of the situation. The POTUS is a dangerous nut who is ruining the reputation of the country and endangering the lives of all Americans.