The last adult in the room, as Jim Mattis has been described, will officially be walking out the door in of the White House in late February. From that point on the country’s anxiety level should have reached its maximum boiling point.. Who will be watching out for the nation’s security once Trump is left to his own infantile devices?
In fact, many Americans who have been anxiously paying attention to all of the craziness Trump has been exhibiting in the last forty-eight hours, feel all of the symptoms of distress today since despite the fact that Mattis still holds the position of Secretary of Defense, he has lost all influence with Trump.
Mattis finally experience the final straw as a result of Trump unilaterally tweeting that the U.S. would be pulling troops out of Syria. Trump reached this decision without consulting Mattis or the Pentagon which caught everyone in the government flat footed and shocked. Senators Lindsay Graham and Marco Rubio immediately called it a disaster.. Even Mitch McConnell said that he found the decision “distressing”..Of course, the White House tried to hide the import and reason for the Mattis decision as a straightforward resignation. They announced that he was merely “retiring with distinction”. However, Mattis made his long, eloquent resignation letter public so everyone could easily glean the real reason. Mattis was retiring in protest. Pundits suggested last night that this move became a first for a Secretary of Defense in the country’s history.
How will Jim Mattis two year tenure be appraised? Some already consider him a sellout. For example his agreeing with the Trump decision to send troops to the southwest border right before the Mid-Terms -effectively politicizing the military or when Mattis went along with the Muslim ban.
However, I think in the end, apologists for Jim Mattis will deem that he did a remarkable service for the country. He kept Trump within the guardrails. No one knows for sure the hoops Matis had to jump through just to accomplish that feat. Of course there had to have been time times when Mattis had to go along -just to keep himself in the discussions.. And what a godawful job it must have been to go to work everyday worrying about the safety of American soldiers abroad and American citizens at home, dealing with a person with the emotional stability of a “fifth or sixth grader” -. Mattis’ own words.
Let’s hope that the Mueller report will be presented sooner rather than later. (Experts are speculating that it will happen in the middle of February.) and that this latest Syria decision will be like a whack on the side of the GOP Senators.. What more evidence do they need that the train is being driven by a deranged President who if not stopped may take us all over the cliff with him?In the meantime, lets go easy on Mattis. After all, during his watch the only attacks on the country occurred over the internet.
Here is an article in Slate which discusses the
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/12/retires-the-last-of-the-grown-ups-is-gone.html