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https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22760519/william-mcraven-donald-trump-security-clearance/The Military Intelligence Folks Are in Open Revolt
Retired Admiral William McRaven is a different breed of cat.
By Charles P. Pierce
Aug 17, 2018
It is now very obvious that the multiple impact warhead that retired Admiral William McRaven fired off against the president* the other day after El Caudillo Del Mar-A-Lago had taken away John Brennan's security clearance has hit everything at which McRaven aimed it. It has driven the president* to dig himself even deeper into the hole; on Friday, he waved his mighty sword at the other people on his new enemies list, particularly Bruce Ohr. It certainly helped embolden other dissenters among former intelligence officials and military officers. It appears that the entire military-intelligence alumni association is in open revolt.
As McRaven wrote in The Washington Post:
McRaven is a different breed of cat. After retiring from the Navy, wherein he led the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, McRaven did not become a defense lobbyist or a think-tank commando. Instead, he spent three years as chancellor of the University of Texas system and, by all accounts, and with a few conspicuous bumps in the road, he did a splendid job. And he did so despite suffering from a non-life-threatening form of chronic leukemia.
The Texas Tribune did a fascinating exit interview when McRaven left the chancellor's job last May.
This, then, is a retired military commander with impeccable credentials and a very interesting mind. (Pre-K through 12 as a national security issue? The admiral sounds like Diane Ravitch, and he's absolutely right.) Small wonder, then, that McRaven's scathing evaluation of the current president* and his administration* has had the power it apparently has.
And even though the idea of intelligence officials and military officers, retired or otherwise, combining to condemn the civilian political leaders of the country gives me the willies, that doesn't mean they aren't worth listening to, or that, out in the open, they can't present a formidable political force. The president* may have picked a fight this time the dimensions of which we don't yet know.
PJMcK
(22,056 posts)Trump is messing with forces that he doesn't comprehend. If he screws them too much, he's toast.
The Intelligence Community is widely diverse and profoundly knowledgable. He's a fool to mess with these highly intelligent and dedicated American public servants. They can eat his lunch without even trying.
We owe these anonymous patriots our gratitude and support. They have protected us in ways we do not know.
Skraxx
(2,985 posts)C Moon
(12,221 posts)FakeNoose
(32,823 posts)The GOP has done nothing to stop the orange asshole from destroying our country. I'm happy to see that the intelligence community (and our military commanders) refuse to sit back and do nothing. They obviously have seen enough and they're ready to start the revolution any day now.
TryLogic
(1,723 posts)Trump is what he is, and we all know pretty much what he is, although he may be worse than we realize. But, the GOP congress is failing its duty to the point of treason.
onetexan
(13,071 posts)The beginning, he would not be in office, nor be able to continue to devastate our institutions and individuals the way he is continuing to. They are highly complicit.
Beartracks
(12,821 posts)Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)How cowardly (R).
jimmil
(629 posts)To Betsy DeVos and all her pals trying to destroy public education and feed at the trough of privatization of government funds... scum bags
Farmer-Rick
(10,216 posts)It creates one big fat mess.
Johnyawl
(3,205 posts)..."And even though the idea of intelligence officials and military officers, retired or otherwise, combining to condemn the civilian political leaders of the country gives me the willies..."
...because I remember that several of Nixon's 'plumbers' came out of the intelligence community. However, when the political leader is edging dangerously close to authoritarianism then the intelligence officials and military officers that array themselves against him are doing what they swore oaths to do, which is to protect the country from all enemies, foreign and domestic, and to uphold the constitution. Gen. Smedley Butler helped save this country from fascism in the '30s. That we have men like McRaven, Clapper and Brennan standing against this monster gives me hope that my country will survive, and recover from this.
Mustellus
(328 posts)His very first visit the morning after his inauguration was to CIA headquarters. He stood in front of the wall of nameless heroes, many having died at Russian hands, and made a fool of himself.
Those people, above all, are not going to readily start to dance with our new friend Putin. While I certainly don't wish for a war with Russia, what they have done in our election (known inside the CIA before it came out in public!) is certainly a hostile act. And I'm sure many of these people regard our current President as a Russian tool, if not totally in the pocket of Putin.
malaise
(269,219 posts)Take that to the bank
Hekate
(90,865 posts)Quoth McRaven: You're going down hard, buddy.
That last paragraph....
TomSlick
(11,118 posts)Don't screw with the spooks. They know stuff, are sneaky, and kill without remorse.
roamer65
(36,747 posts)Stinky The Clown
(67,831 posts). . . . take him down or at least be his undoing.
There is NO love lost between him and them.
calimary
(81,527 posts)of the intelligence community: he will die in jail.
That quote came a long time ago - when this was just barely beginning. Before the 2016 election. My reaction then was the same as my reaction is now: well they sure are taking their time...
CrispyQ
(36,540 posts)We lost sight of that & now a craven group of grifters has hijacked our government to serve their interests.
I read that civics isn't even taught in some schools. I was lucky. In fifth grade I had a social studies teacher who pounded it into our heads that government impacts every aspect of your life. I bet not a week went by that she didn't tell us to register to vote when we became adults. Voting age was 21 back then, but by the time I took civics in the 9th grade, it had been lowered to 18.
Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,459 posts)Thanks for the thread babylonsister.
gtar100
(4,192 posts)And no one in the republican party serving in congress.
If only voting republicans would pull their heads out to see the what horrible people they elect.