berg80
Diamond Member
- Oct 28, 2017
- 15,001
- 12,420
- 2,320
I implore supporters of the President to get out of your collective defense crouch for just a moment.
Not that it isn't understandable for you to be in one. I have no doubt you feel besieged by the constant need to defend Trump from criticism. And in so doing to defend your judgement as to who is best suited to lead the country.
I'm asking that you set aside the reflexive impulse to chalk this post up to another attack on the man you chose to fill that leadership role. In other words, don't take it personally. Just slowly read the article without prejudice. That is, without looking to immediately punch holes in it. Please consider the possibility that it is not fake news. That the subject of the article is not a player in a deep state conspiracy to undermine Trump. That what you are reading is a representation of the simple facts.
www.cnbc.com
"Kathryn Wheelbarger, one of the Pentagon’s most prominent and respected policy officials, is resigning after three years in the job after President Donald Trump dropped plans to nominate her for an intelligence post, sources tell Reuters.
Wheelbarger, who is highly regarded by national security experts in Trump’s Republican Party and among Democrats, had been named by the White House on Feb. 13 to a senior intelligence position at the Department of Defense.
But in a surprise move last week, the White House instead announced plans to nominate Bradley Hansell, a former special assistant to Trump, to the position of deputy under secretary of defense for intelligence."
.........................................................................................................................................
A story like this tends to get lost in the shuffle in the wake of Supreme Court decisions and the release of excerpts from controversial books like Bolton's. Nonetheless, it deserves our attention.
By all accounts, Wheelbarger is a highly qualified official who the US has lost the serves of because she's been passed over for a job she was well suited to fill. It's not the first time something similar to this has happened.
The question I'm asking that you ponder is whether this story fits a pattern of what you have heard in the past. Namely, a qualified person not getting a job because “It looks like she failed the loyalty test somehow,” said one former U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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The article continues.........................
"Her departure will come as Trump attempts to overcome stiff Senate opposition among Democrats to his nomination of retired Army General Anthony Tata, a strong defender of Trump on Fox News, to the Pentagon’s most senior policy position.
Tata has misportrayed former President Barack Obama as a Muslim and accused him of being a “terrorist leader” working to benefit Iran, according to now-deleted Tweets seen by Reuters."
Here we have another example of the President prioritizing fidelity to himself over the dubious character of someone who has made outrageously false allegations about former prez Obama.
Just as important as the implications of these actions are for compromising our national defense, they weaken the country too by sowing division among us. They create mistrust. They bring the President's motivations for personnel decisions in to question.
This story fits seamlessly with what Bolton has observed as revealed in his book. A President consumed with his own interests to the exclusion of the country's. Which in turn fits seamlessly with dozens of other examples that have been reported for the last 3 1/2 years. It's how he makes us weaker when his obligation is to make us stronger.
Not that it isn't understandable for you to be in one. I have no doubt you feel besieged by the constant need to defend Trump from criticism. And in so doing to defend your judgement as to who is best suited to lead the country.
I'm asking that you set aside the reflexive impulse to chalk this post up to another attack on the man you chose to fill that leadership role. In other words, don't take it personally. Just slowly read the article without prejudice. That is, without looking to immediately punch holes in it. Please consider the possibility that it is not fake news. That the subject of the article is not a player in a deep state conspiracy to undermine Trump. That what you are reading is a representation of the simple facts.
Top Pentagon official Wheelbarger resigns, urges colleagues to be guided by U.S. Constitution
Kathryn Wheelbarger, one of the Pentagon's most prominent and respected policy officials, is resigning after three years in the job after President Donald Trump dropped plans to nominate her for an intelligence post, sources tell Reuters.
www.cnbc.com
"Kathryn Wheelbarger, one of the Pentagon’s most prominent and respected policy officials, is resigning after three years in the job after President Donald Trump dropped plans to nominate her for an intelligence post, sources tell Reuters.
Wheelbarger, who is highly regarded by national security experts in Trump’s Republican Party and among Democrats, had been named by the White House on Feb. 13 to a senior intelligence position at the Department of Defense.
But in a surprise move last week, the White House instead announced plans to nominate Bradley Hansell, a former special assistant to Trump, to the position of deputy under secretary of defense for intelligence."
.........................................................................................................................................
A story like this tends to get lost in the shuffle in the wake of Supreme Court decisions and the release of excerpts from controversial books like Bolton's. Nonetheless, it deserves our attention.
By all accounts, Wheelbarger is a highly qualified official who the US has lost the serves of because she's been passed over for a job she was well suited to fill. It's not the first time something similar to this has happened.
The question I'm asking that you ponder is whether this story fits a pattern of what you have heard in the past. Namely, a qualified person not getting a job because “It looks like she failed the loyalty test somehow,” said one former U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
.......................................................................................
The article continues.........................
"Her departure will come as Trump attempts to overcome stiff Senate opposition among Democrats to his nomination of retired Army General Anthony Tata, a strong defender of Trump on Fox News, to the Pentagon’s most senior policy position.
Tata has misportrayed former President Barack Obama as a Muslim and accused him of being a “terrorist leader” working to benefit Iran, according to now-deleted Tweets seen by Reuters."
Here we have another example of the President prioritizing fidelity to himself over the dubious character of someone who has made outrageously false allegations about former prez Obama.
Just as important as the implications of these actions are for compromising our national defense, they weaken the country too by sowing division among us. They create mistrust. They bring the President's motivations for personnel decisions in to question.
This story fits seamlessly with what Bolton has observed as revealed in his book. A President consumed with his own interests to the exclusion of the country's. Which in turn fits seamlessly with dozens of other examples that have been reported for the last 3 1/2 years. It's how he makes us weaker when his obligation is to make us stronger.
