I nominate General James Mattis for Secretary of Defense in the Biden administration.

[Laelth]

If you have read Bob Woodward’s book, Rage, you will fully understand. Mattis is a true patriot, the epitome of what it means to be a GOOD public servant and a tireless steward of America’s military might who is committed to civilian control of the military.

I don’t know whether or not this is what the author intended, but Mattis is the STAR of the first half of Woodward’s latest book.



-Laelth

[enough]

1. No. NT

[TheBlackAdder]

18. I'm with you on this! A Big Fucking NO! Nothing from this Shithole Trump Administration.

[Laelth]

22. Trump fired him, you know.

Trump fired him because he was more loyal to the Constitution and to the people of the United States than he was to Trump.

Chapter 1 of Woodward’s book is focused entirely on Mattis. In chapter 17, Mattis is a bad-ass. The book is worth reading.

-Laelth

[TheBlackAdder]

23. He's fired almost everyone he hired. No one w/strings attached, no matter how small or burnt.

[Laelth]

27. I hear you.

But I hope you read Woodward’s new book. I have gained tremendous respect for Mattis as a result of doing so.

-Laelth

[ahoysrcsm]

68. It's a good thing we can respect someone for doing the right thing...

However, we should not bring anyone that has been with Trump administration. We do not need extra baggage with tainted individuals.

[JI7]

2. NO, Mattis' mother would be a better pick. But we have many good people already

to pick from.

[Laelth]

5. His mother asked why he would work for a beast like Trump.

Mattis replied by saying, in effect, “Mom, I am working for the Constitution, not Trump.” Mom relented and said, “All right. All right.”

If you have read Woodward’s book, you will know why we were very fortunate to have Mattis as our Secretary of Defense during the early years of the Trump administration.

Note: the Senate approved Mattis’ 2017 nomination 98-1. He even got Bernie Sanders’ support. I have not yet determined who that one dissenting Senator was.

-Laelth

[JI7]

7. That doesn't mean he should be defense sec for Biden.

[Totally Tunsie]

3. No. Clean house, and no redux.

We don't need or want Chump's sloppy seconds, no matter who they are.

[TheBlackAdder]

19. THIS! 👍

[onetexan]

45. +1 K&R

[hlthe2b]

4. Mattis is intense anti-Iran hawk. He was real problem for Obama during Kerry's nuclear negotiations

So, I suspect Biden may have issues with him.

Still, I do respect Mattis for his past service.

[Laelth]

29. He WAS an anti-Iran hawk, at one point.

I suspect that his position on that matter has changed.

-Laelth

[hlthe2b]

33. ThAT was what attracted TRUMP/caused him to hire him!

WHAT evidence do you have for making that assumption?

[Laelth]

39. I am reading Woodward's new book.

Sorry. That’s all I have.



-Laelth

[TwilightZone]

36. There's no evidence of that assertion.

You might want to review why Obama fired him in the first place. Expecting that he's done a 180 since then simply isn't realistic.

[Laelth]

37. Really? I hear you, but people can and do change their minds.

I highly recommend Woodward’s new book.

-Laelth

[tman]

6. Biden wouldn't be that stupid.

There was a reason he was let go during the Obama admin.

I don't trust Woodward.

[Wanderlust988]

8. The only possible holdover may be Wray at the FBI

and that's only cause he has a term. I highly doubt there will be ANY holdovers or retreads from the Trump era. Powell at the Fed will probably be a holdover due to him having a term as well.

[GusFring]

66. Fuck that. Comey had a term. Everyone must go.

[Yavin4]

9. No. Hell No.

Fresh blood is desperately needed.

[ornotna]

10. no thank you

Still has tRump poo on his shoe. It'll be awhile before that stink goes away.

[Ron Green]

11. We at least ought to change the name back to the War Department.

A step towards honesty.

[jorgevlorgan]

12. I mean. We can do worse (and have)

[LisaM]

13. No, he helped Trump get elected.

It's like Colin Powell and Bush. He gave Candidate Trump legitimacy that he did not deserve (a Trump voter from my hometown was raving about Mattis before the 2016 election, though she went radio silent on him later).

He does not deserve any reward.

[rurallib]

14. I want a freaking DEMOCRAT in all cabinet positions

especially Defense and Treasury.

We have tons of experienced people.

[SharonClark]

52. If Biden puts ANY repugs in the cabinet

he’ll be betraying all the Dems who brought him to the dance.

[Snake Plissken]

15. Mattis has a wealth of knowledge and should be used in an advisory capacity for that reason

But this opinions on how we should position ourselves in the Middle East are unrealistic and very dated.

He would want nothing more that a large scale military conflict with Iran, which as we all know would never end and accomplish nothing but even more misery.

We need a Secretary of Defense who understands that what's in the best interest of the United States is to get out of that region of the world and focus energy independence to reduce the influence of that region of the world, and not to increase our presence there.

[Laelth]

20. It's not just a wealth of knowledge.

Chapter 17 of Woodward’s book explains how Mattis manhandled his Chinese counterpart, and it’s a thing of beauty. Mattis’ handling of the affair almost certainly prevented a war with China.

-Laelth

[BGBD]

51. He made an excellent point.

The Chinese have absolutely no officers with combat experience in their military.

[Laelth]

63. Precisely.

Mattis let his counterpart know, in no uncertain terms, that if it came to war, the US would kick China’s a**.

-Laelth

[dawg day]

16. No, he had his chance.

If he would have come out loudly and publically and told us what he knew about Trump when he resigned, I would have more respect for him...
and Dan Coats...
And John Kelly...
And Kjirsten Nielsen...

[blueinredohio]

32. Absolutely

[jrthin]

17. No!!!!

[BootinUp]

21. I can appreciate that, but i'll leave the choice to Biden. nt

[Laelth]

26. Naturally, I agree. This is Joe's choice and Joe's decision.

But make no mistake. Mattis is the star of the first half of Woodward’s new book, and we could do a lot worse.

Mattis was confirmed by the Senate 98-1. He even had Bernie Sanders’s support, and Woodward’s book makes it clear that we were very fortunate to have him as our Secretary of Defense during the early years of the Trump administration.

-Laelth

[WhiteTara]

24. He's a holdover

war criminal from the Iraq war foisted off on the world by *co. He used phosphorous in Fallujah.

[superpatriotman]

25. Malcolm Nance

Or General Wesley Clark

[Laelth]

46. I admit that Nance would make a good Sec. of Defense.

Clark is 75 and definitely retired. I don’t see that happening.

-Laelth

[awesomerwb1]

28. HARD pass.

[gulliver]

30. Wesley Clark

[Laelth]

43. Clark is 75 and definitely retired.

Don’t we have someone younger who would make a good Secretary of Defense?



-Laelth

[SharonClark]

53. Well, you nominated Mattis. How old is he?

[ribrepin]

56. 70

[Laelth]

59. Mattis is 70. Definitely no Spring chicken. n/t

-Laelth

[panader0]

67. Tammy Baldwin?

[milestogo]

31. NO MORE FUCKING REPUBLICANS IN DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATIONS.

Call it the Comey doctrine.

[RicROC]

35. totally agree !!

...and no reaching across the aisle until we have this mess straightened out. Those men mentioned in this original post knew what Trump was like, JUST AS WE DID. Yet, they joined his administration. Sorry...but every crumb needs to be swept out.

[still_one]

34. No. Obama fired him because he wanted aggressive action against Iran, while the Obam administration

was negotiating the Iran nuclear deal

[VMA131Marine]

38. No! Just no!

There are better options.

[Laelth]

41. Please elaborate.

Who are our better options for Secretary of Defense? I am genuinely curious.



-Laelth

[Autumn]

40. Nope. Nope.

[2naSalit]

42. No thanks.

[helpisontheway]

44. Nope..nt

[Polly Hennessey]

47. No. We have had enough of him.

He deserves to be forgotten.

[Bucky]

48. Good Lord, NO!

What are you smoking, Laelth?

Mattis is a loyal and patriotic American, and I'm grateful that he tried to curtail the worst of Trump's excesses for as long as he could. But he's also a champion for Trump's absurd and obscene military buildup that kicked off this four year long heartbreaking shit-charade

But we need a Democrat with defense department oversight experience who can get in there and slash the ridiculously bloated military budget.

[Laelth]

62. LOL. I am reading Woodward's book.

I might smoke it when I am done.



Mattis is portrayed very favorably by Woodward. The Senate confirmed Mattis 98-1. I am not the only Democrat who likes him.

-Laelth

[CentralMass]

49. No.

[LizBeth]

50. No, he did the nation no favor. No, he is on board with the right just Trump wasn't nice enough to

him. No.

[Rice4VP]

54. Add me to the no column

He had a chance to publicly expose Trump while he was in there and didn’t

[GeorgeGist]

55. In public he's a coward by HIS silence.

[ribrepin]

57. I like having him in Washington state

He does public service announcements for wearing a mask. I like having General Mattis home. He's earned his retirement.

[whistler162]

58. Mattis - No Stavridis - Yes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_G._Stavridis

[Laelth]

60. Interesting option.

Hillary vetted him for VP. Trump vetted him for DNI and State.



-Laelth

[mindfulNJ]

61. HELL NO!

No one who has EVER propped up Trump in ANY way should EVER be anywhere NEAR the White House. Where is Mattis NOW????

[NewJeffCT]

64. No, please, no

Mattis is a good general, but Biden should bring in his own people

Sec Def - Pete Buttigieg

[WhiskeyGrinder]

65. Lol nope.

[eissa]

69. Thankfully, this will never happen

Biden won’t appoint someone who was fired by Obama. I don’t care how “patriotic” Mattis is portrayed to be, I question the morals and judgment of anyone who endorsed this SOB and then chose to work for him. There are plenty of other qualified people out there without trump’s shit smeared over them. Mattis can do the patriotic thing and spend the rest of his days atoning for the mess he helped create.