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| Home Front: Politix |
| Jim Mattis: Duty, Democracy and the Threat of Tribalism |
| 2019-08-28 |
| [MSN] In late November 2016, I was enjoying Thanksgiving break in my hometown on the Columbia River in Washington state when I received an unexpected call from Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Would I meet with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss the job of secretary of defense? I had taken no part in the election campaign and had never met or spoken to Mr. Trump, so to say that I was surprised is an understatement. Further, I knew that, absent a congressional waiver, federal law prohibited a former military officer from serving as secretary of defense within seven years of departing military service. Given that no wavier had been authorized since Gen. George Marshall was made secretary in 1950, and I’d been out for only 3½ years, I doubted I was a viable candidate. Nonetheless, I felt I should go to Bedminster, N.J., for the interview. I had time on the cross-country flight to ponder how to encapsulate my view of America’s role in the world. On my flight out of Denver, the flight attendant’s standard safety briefing caught my attention: If cabin pressure is lost, masks will fall...Put your own mask on first, then help others around you. In that moment, those familiar words seemed like a metaphor: To preserve our leadership role, we needed to get our own country’s act together first, especially if we were to help others. The next day, I was driven to the Trump National Golf Club and, entering a side door, waited about 20 minutes before I was ushered into a modest conference room. I was introduced to the president-elect, the vice president-elect, the incoming White House chief of staff and a handful of others. We talked about the state of our military, where our views aligned and where they differed. Mr. Trump led the wide-ranging, 40-minute discussion, and the tone was amiable. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #11 I don't see anything objectionable in what Mattis wrote here. He disagreed with Trump on many things, and told him so, and resigned, honorably, without becoming a drama queen or going on the left-wing bloviator cable shows. I don't think it's accurate to put him in the same class as Carter, W. Clark, Powell or Petraeus. Mattis is a 100% straight shooter who has never, ever departed from the principle of our military's subordination to our politicians and the political process. |
| Posted by: Lex 2019-08-28 21:43 |
| #10 Much good advice on leadership. Many good observations about America. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2019-08-28 21:40 |
| #9 Get news and analysis on politics, policy, national security and more, delivered right to your inbox Extraneous text deleted. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2019-08-28 20:10 |
| #8 Right, put on your mask first, because if you pass out first, your three year old grandson is not gonna get the mask over your fat head. So maybe that does apply. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2019-08-28 17:44 |
| #7 "Put your own mask on first, then help others around you. In that moment, those familiar words seemed like a metaphor: To preserve our leadership role, we needed to get our own country’s act together first, especially if we were to help others." That is a good analogy though |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2019-08-28 17:38 |
| #6 Get news and analysis on politics, policy, national security and more, delivered right to your inbox You know, Berserker, I almost believed that was also him.😀 Until I remembered the news site copy-paste gimmick. But he's right in a way. America does need to put the domestic policies in order first. The world can take care of their problems or die. Trump knows this too, it's just that the deepState has every President on his toes for all his term so he can't concentrate on what's actually important. Most of these diplomatic fiascos and aggressions can be traced back to Democrat policies and deepState bungling. Drain that Swamp, and you'll find the problems outside were mostly self-made. Mattis is a good guy. Boy scouts are useless in war anyway. Trump just doesn't like to keep people in positions of power for too long, I think. It's his prerogative to find the 'right fit' for the jobs his Presidency depends on. If people too committed to their own selves stay in that job, we know what happens. |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2019-08-28 17:35 |
| #5 #1 Mattis is the latest piece of proof that service to the country does not constitute immediate sainthood. One thing that I hope comes from the Age of Falling Masks is that a critical mass of people on the Right get over their reflexive deference toward (not to say worship of) uniforms and medals. It's been used against us way too many times (McCain, Poppy, the Blue city polizei who arrest Trump supporters for defending themselves) and we can't afford it anymore. |
| Posted by: charger 2019-08-28 17:16 |
| #4 A I recall, Mattis was considered a great man and great soldier, until he wasn't. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2019-08-28 16:55 |
| #3 I had time on the cross-country flight to ponder how to encapsulate my view of America’s role in the world. America First rather than America Last. Our Constitution was never written for us to be the world's policeman. Doing so has destroyed the checks and balances of the original document and will yet destroy its prosperity. Everything you claim you wish to defend will be destroyed if this is not rectified. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2019-08-28 15:57 |
| #2 Replacing link. The MSN one died. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2019-08-28 15:43 |
| #1 Mattis is the latest piece of proof that service to the country does not constitute immediate sainthood. He's in the same class with Jimmuah Cahtah, Wesley Clark, Petraeus, Stavridis, Powell and far too many others to name. I sure as hell do not ask my heart surgeon for golf advice, though he's played a few rounds on his fees over the years. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2019-08-28 14:11 |