Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis is about the only member of the Trump Administration who is respected by most serious people. In an Administration populated by the corrupt, the unethical, and the incompetent, Mattis stood out as a serious, knowledgeable, and competent leader who not only knew what he was doing, he was willing to stand up to the way-in-over-his-head autocratic Trump. It’s been reported that Mattis repeatedly prevented Trump from acting on his worse impulses and ideas.
Apparently Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria, going against not only the advice of Mattis, but the advice and belief of almost every expert on the subject, was the straw that broke the camels back and Mattis has resigned. Tired of the pushback he got from Mattis, Trump will undoubtedly replace him with a yes-man, which should push the yes-man/women population in the Trump Administration to damn near 100%.
Speaking of experts on Syria and the Middle East, I am not one of them. But pretty much everything I’ve heard and read since Trump’s Syria announcement suggests this could have seriously negative ramifications. Even the one guy I saw who agrees we should pull out said Trump is going about it the wrong way. It’s complicated, but most experts say this could lead to a humanitarian disaster in the region and ISIS regaining a foothold there, making the world a more dangerous place for everyone. They say the folks happy about our withdrawal are Assad, Putin, Iran and Turkey’s Erdogan. If those guys are happy about it, it can’t be good.
Now little Donnie-wants-a-wall is going to shut down 25% of the government because saner heads in the Senate told him, “No little Donnie, you cannot have 5 billion dollars for your ridiculously stupid and unnecessary wall”. And besides, the $5 billion is just an attempt at face-saving; to build the wall he promised would cost $25 billion+/-. And whatever happened to Mexico paying for it? After initially saying he’d be proud to own a government shutdown, little Donnie seemed to back down in the last couple of days. Then the fools at Fox “News” went to work on him. And if there’s anyone he consistently listens to, it’s the moronic talking heads on Fox “News”. So voila, possible government shutdown (at the time of this post there was no agreement, but there were still about 4 hours before the deadline for an agreement before a shutdown would begin).
Of course, these things do serve as a distraction for Trump, as the news hasn’t been good recently in Trumpland. His one-time lawyer, Michael Cohen, has been convicted of felonies and is singing to Special Counsel Robert Mueller about Trump’s crimes; his campaign aid, transition aid, and first National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, had his sentencing hearing postponed so the judge can be sure he has told Mueller everything he knows about Trump’s malfeasance; and the New York Attorney General is zeroing in on Trump and his first three offspring for their part in the criminal enterprise known as the Trump Foundation. And this is just the stuff in the last few days!
The walls are closing in on Trump and he’s acting more desperate and erratic. Trump is a buffoon who thinks he’s a genius, a very dangerous combination. Throw in his corruption, immorality, absence of ethics, autocratic tendencies, and the power a POTUS possesses, and America and the rest of the world are in some seriously deep doodoo.
Soon-to-be-ex-Secretary of State Jim Mattis; a serious, knowledgeable, and competent person, after two years of dealing with an imbecilic petulant child who also happens to be his boss, he’s had enough.
Michael Flynn; this typical ethically-challenged Trump appointee was supposed to be sentenced this week, where he was expecting to get zero prison time because of his cooperation with prosecutors. But after a filing by his lawyers insinuated that he may have been tricked into lying to the FBI, the judge was having none of that and did a little insinuating himself, that perhaps Flynn would get prison time. Flynn took the option to delay the sentencing, hoping to prove to the judge that he has told Mueller’s team everything he knows about Trump’s criminality.
The Trump Crime Syndicate; I wonder how they’ll look in their matching orange jumpsuits?
fareforthecommonman 
December 22nd, 2018 at 3:08 am
You nailed it Dan. The question I ponder is when will the GOP hold his feet to the fire? Are they really that fearful of his ire? Maybe now that they’ve been called back to D.C. to try to avoid a government shutdown 4 days before Christmas they’ll be annoyed enough to stand up to him? As Michael Cohen said in an interview after his sentencing, “Nobody wants to be on the wrong side of this President of United States”. And I’m guessing particularly this one, who thinks nothing of tearing anyone, many of whom were at one time his most loyal followers, publicly to pieces.
December 23rd, 2018 at 8:17 pm
I’m not holding my breath waiting for GOP politicians to do the right thing Cheryl. The whole lot of ’em are weak cowards.
December 22nd, 2018 at 4:51 am
This would all be highly amusing if if wasn’t so terribly dangerous. You must have written this before he announced that he was going to pull half of the troops out of Afghanistan, just when the US was negotiating with the Taliban, effectively pulling the tablecloth and all the place settings off the table. How can you be a tough negotiator when the President keeps pulling away all your strengths?
I wish this was all “fun to watch”, but it’s just frightening at this point.
December 23rd, 2018 at 8:20 pm
You’re right Carla, I was unaware of Afghanistan when writing this. And yes, the danger to all of us just keeps increasing.
December 24th, 2018 at 6:34 am
Thank you for your column, Dan. It’s always a bit of clarity and unity in this insane time.
December 24th, 2018 at 4:02 pm
Thanks for the feedback Korby!