Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Second rate reporter says what?

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

This fight is for everything.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Republicans in disarray!

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / The Naval Special Warfare Development Group Moves to Contact: Admiral (ret) William McRaven Calls Out the President

The Naval Special Warfare Development Group Moves to Contact: Admiral (ret) William McRaven Calls Out the President

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Admiral (ret) William McRaven, former member of SEAL Team 6, the former Commander of Joint Special Operations Command who planned and oversaw Operation Neptune Spear, and the former Commanding Admiral of US Special Operations Command, has publicly responded to the President’s revoking DCI (ret) Brennan’s and threat to revoke the clearances of DNI and Gen (ret) Clapper, former FBI Director Comey, DCI and Gen (ret) Hayden, former Acting Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, APNSA and AMB (ret) Susan Rice, former FBI staff lawyer Lisa Page, former FBI Director of National Security and Supervisory Special Agent in Charge Peter Strzok, and Bruce Ohr who is still serving in a senior executive position at the DOJ. Admiral McRaven, most recently the Chancellor of the University of Texas system until his retirement last May, dared the President to revoke his clearance too. (emphasis mine)

Dear Mr. President:

Former CIA director John Brennan, whose security clearance you revoked on Wednesday, is one of the finest public servants I have ever known. Few Americans have done more to protect this country than John. He is a man of unparalleled integrity, whose honesty and character have never been in question, except by those who don’t know him.

Therefore, I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency.

Like most Americans, I had hoped that when you became president, you would rise to the occasion and become the leader this great nation needs.

A good leader tries to embody the best qualities of his or her organization. A good leader sets the example for others to follow. A good leader always puts the welfare of others before himself or herself.

Your leadership, however, has shown little of these qualities. Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation.

If you think for a moment that your McCarthy-era tactics will suppress the voices of criticism, you are sadly mistaken. The criticism will continue until you become the leader we prayed you would be.

Before anyone starts in on “the generals won’t save us” in the comments, what Admiral McRaven has done here is almost unprecedented. The only general officer/flag officer with equivalent rank (4 stars) who has called the President out in these types of clear terms is GEN (ret) McCaffrey, who has done so on cable news (MSNBC) and twitter.

While a number of other general officers and flag officers have spoken out against the President in no uncertain terms, Admiral McRaven’s challenge this morning is especially important. What he, GEN McCaffrey, LTG (ret) Hertling (who went on CNN this evening and, following ADM McRaven’s lead, challenged the President to revoke his clearance as well), MG (ret) Eaton, and a number of other now retired senior leaders – civilian and military – are doing is the very definition of leadership. They are speaking truth to power, standing up for the ideals they both believe in and have spent their lives serving, and showing others that it is not only okay to publicly dissent, but that no one should give in to intimidation. Even intimidation from the current President.

What the President did yesterday in revoking DCI (ret) Brennan’s clearance, and threatening those of the other former senior leaders whose criticism has upset his most fragile of egos, is really only about eligibility for access to classified materials in the short term. Rather, the real issue here is the President’s direct violation of the 1st Amendment to punish a critic. This is the current President of the United States directing the power of the state to punish a critic – DCI (ret) Brennan –  for engaging in political speech, which is protected from governmental retaliation under the 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights. This is as clear a violation of the oath of office as one could ask for.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

114Comments

  1. 1.

    raven

    Before anyone starts in on “the generals won’t save us” Good luck with that. Some folks here grab onto one thought like little yappy fucking jack russels. I’m going to bed.

  3. 3.

    Adam L Silverman

    GEN McCaffrey also gets it!

    And:

  4. 4.

    Nicole

    Problem is, nobody cares if he violates the oath of office. Or, at least, no one who can actually do anything about it. I’d say he’s embracing “L’etat, c’est moi,” except that he can’t even speak one language fluently.

  5. 5.

    Chip Daniels

    Of course no one person or institution will save us, but collectively all of us can and will.

    Nations fail when everyone shrinks back out of fear, hoping that someone else will do the job.
    Every citizen, every government employee, every agency head, every organization and institution needs to step into the fight.

  6. 6.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    Let’s hope McRaven’s intended audience received the message and act on it accordingly. The next few days should be interesting.

  8. 8.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Susan Hennessy @ Susan_Hennessey
    I think people saying the McRaven op-ed won’t matter are missing the intended audience, which is not the general public but a small community of peers grappling with the right path in the present moment. His choice to say this now will matter to them. And courage is contagious.

    courage is contagious
    here’s hoping

    Occurs to me that one thing people like McCaffrey and McRaven could do is bigfoot into some House races in red states, like Barr-McGrath

    Barr, the Republican incumbent who is running for re-election in Kentucky’s sixth district, made his comments in a New York Times report published Thursday.
    “We both served our country,” Barr told the New York Times. “I’ve served in a position where ideas matter. My opponent has served her country in the military, where execution matters.”

  9. 9.

    Cheryl Rofer

    McRaven is trying to provoke an “I am Spartacus” moment among high-up national security professionals. Two have joined him.


    Thanks to Platonailedit for the Wendy Sherman tweet. Sherman led the US delegation in the Iran talks.

  10. 10.

    Wapiti

    Every one of these generals and admirals has a following; direct subordinates and service members who served under them. The services make a big deal about character, and these retired officers calling out the President will have some (small – because not a lot of people serve) effect.

    The fact that no retired generals are rushing to lick Donald’s boots and assure him that everything is hunky-dory is a bonus. I’m surprised some Air Force christianists haven’t hustled out to do that yet.

  11. 11.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Nicole:

    nobody cares if he violates the oath of office. Or, at least, no one who can actually do anything about it.

    A lot of people care and we can do something about it. We can vote in November. We can make sure everyone we know is registered to vote in November and that everyone they know is registered to vote in November. And that all those people vote in November.

  13. 13.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Cheryl Rofer: Glad you found the link. I saw references to LTG Hertling’s statement, which is why I included it, but couldn’t find the link.

    Full disclosure: LTG Hertling was my Division Commander, 1st Armored Division, when I was the Cultural Advisor to the Commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team/1st Armored Division.

  14. 14.

    Elizabelle

    Proud of Admiral McRaven.

    I think his audience is actually Republican Senators and Congressgrifters, too. They’re all about the military, right?

  19. 19.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Wapiti: Yep. One of the GOs I served as a senior advisor now works as one of McRaven’s senior administrators at the UT system.

  24. 24.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Elizabelle:

    They’re all about the military, right?

    No. They’re all about how threatening war makes them feel tough, how scary brown people are, and at least some of them how much they can get paid shoveling money to defense contractors. The actual military? They don’t give a flying fuck.

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    Over time, folks on BJ have said things like “It feels to me like something changed when xx happened,”

    That’s how I feel about what happened yesterday when Trump actually revoked the one clearance and threatened the others. I stated to type “this time he went too far” but that’s not really it because I could say that about pretty much every day of his presidency. But this one feels different to me – hoping the gloves are really off this time.

    It scared me when I read about what Trump had done yesterday, and I find it somewhat reassuring to see all these people stepping up and stating publicly that Trump has violated his oath of office. (in so many words)

  33. 33.

    efgoldman

    @The Ancient Randonneur:

    Let’s hope McRaven’s intended audience received the message and act on it

    Weasel Face’s minders wwill try their damndest to keep this from him. But they really can’t. What’s beyond “ballistic twit storm”?

  34. 34.

    Adam L Silverman

    @japa21: Apparently he retired at the end of the academic year in May. I had not heard about it. I’ll update up top. Thanks.

  35. 35.

    Zinsky

    McRaven will be called a traitor by Trump tomorrow and FauxNews will dutifully question his patriotism/manhood/sexuality/sanity endlessly, without a shred of evidence.

  38. 38.

    maeve

    Given my timezone usually don’t see post til over 100

    My interpretation Trump was in a frenzy wanting to FIRE SOMEONE and his staff deflected him to this – not a good move. Love to wish that the military hiearchy with whom I probably don’t (would do the crossout thing and do certainly but don’t know how) agree at least see this as a step too far.

  41. 41.

    J R in WV

    @Adam L Silverman:

    In the past I never developed much respect for Gen. McCaffrey. But now he has stepped out into a leadership position against the Russian stooge in the White House, and apparently against the Roman Catholic church and its corruption, both financial and personal. Thanks are due to Gen McCaffrey for putting himself in this leadership position against the
    Russian stooge!

    Off Topic: WV has a chocolate maker, from Switzerland. While in town for many little errands, I stopped by their shop at the Farmer’s Market. It is a good thing to do hand-dipped chocolates after dinner. It helps with the stress of seeing our nation mistreated by its titular leadership. And perhaps a good thing to see real leaders speaking up against the corruption of the Russian stooge, who shall be nameless hereafter, referred to as “Russian stooge” for evermore.

    I’ve been doing fiction more recently, to avoid grinding my teeth and otherwise harming myself with tension and stress. I still check B-J for news, but not here all the time.

    Thanks, Adam, for this post and all the other information you share with us! Keep up the good work.

  42. 42.

    Platonailedit

    American Legion to WH: “Until such time as we can celebrate victory in the War on Terrorism and bring our military home, we think the parade money would be better spent fully funding the Department of Veteran Affairs and giving our troops and their families the best care“— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 16, 2018

  45. 45.

    p.a.

    Wonder if the infantile resident and his admin’s actions and rhetoric will have any statistically significant effect on military minority recruitment and reenlistment? Doubt it: people gotta pay the bills. But time will tell.

  47. 47.

    Emma

    @Zinsky: Please don’t take as a direct attack, but could we please stop this sort of thing? It is preceded by an invisible, but definitely audible “nothing matters because….” Of course the usual suspects will say/do the usual crap, but they don’t matter. We do. If we find the way, they will be dragged along.

  48. 48.

    Brachiator

    If they can’t find any dirt on McRaven, I think that Trump and Fox News will try to ignore him, to pretend that it is not happening.

    Still, things are getting very interesting. Equally interesting is the refusal of the GOP leadership to speak or react. Party over country.

  51. 51.

    Amir Khalid

    @Adam L Silverman:
    I’d been under the impression that they were wonks who did R&D related to commando ops (whatever that might be), rather than carrying out the ops themselves. It’s been a while since I read any Tom Clancy. SEAL Team Six are like the bestest SEALS in the US Navy, right?

  52. 52.

    Elizabelle

    @Emma: Agreed. I’m sick of the Eeyore shit. And who cares what the fucks who watch and program Fox news say?

    Look for the helpers. Look at the good stuff that is happening now, and is building.

  57. 57.

    West of the Rockies

    Adam, do you think we are no longer in a place where the IC leaks info to strategically respond to Trump’s words and action (in order to give Mueller full power and space to do his investigation)?

    For a time (pre-Mueller), my take was that there were strategic IC leaks. Perhaps I am wrong.

    Anyway, I am wondering if the IC and military top leadership is doing anything behind the scenes to limit Trump’s damage to our nation.

    Any thoughts would be appreciated.

  59. 59.

    Matt McIrvin

    I see all these things as part of a game of inches. There is not going to be any moment when the floodgates open and Trump’s supporters start abandoning him en masse. Most of them are committed. But it’s the marginal cases: the habitual Republicans or temperamental conservatives who thought Trump was kind of gross but decided to give him a chance, hoped that the asshole behavior was just an act for the rubes. A bunch of them seem to have voted for him, but not really approved of the job he was doing until he passed the tax cut and started appointing right-wing Justices; then they started coming home. But an endless succession of gross-horrible-Trump stories keeps more of them from coming home, and maybe peels some of them off. And it gets more of our people out.

  60. 60.

    pat

    Rachel put on one of her illuminating episodes tonight when she demonstrated how much these people depend on being able to access their old memos, etc, if called on to testify.
    This is a real attack on the rule of law and we can only hope that people will be able to step up and put a stop to it. I do not have any confidence at all in our republicans in congress.

    VOTE!

  62. 62.

    Adam L Silverman

    @West of the Rockies: The IC will leak when it needs to leak. Both the US’s and our allies and partners. As to what any specific senior leaders may or may not be doing, I know what everyone else knows from reading and watching the news.

  63. 63.

    Aleta

    @Chip Daniels: no one person but collectively

    Yes exactly

    I believe a course correction will need many more military/security people to openly join McRaven soon.

  64. 64.

    jl

    The Pentagon slow walk of Trump’s vanity parade may be quite an interesting parade in itself.
    I’m surprised at the visceral dislike of a vanity military parades that I sense when the TV generals talk about them.
    I wonder whether Trump understands that the parade he saw in France was a commemorative event for World War I, not just some shit specially for Macron. Or maybe Trump thought it was for Trump’s visit? He steamed that the French threw a parade for him but his own military wont’t throw one for him?

    Pentagon postpones Trump’s military parade
    By Barbara Starr, Ryan Browne and Clare Foran, CNN
    Updated 9:29 PM ET, Thu August 16, 2018

    “The Department of Defense and White House have been planning a parade to honor America’s military veterans and commemorate the centennial of World War I,” Defense Department spokesman Col. Rob Manning said in a statement Thursday. “We originally targeted November 10, 2018 for this event but have now agreed to explore opportunities in 2019.”

    https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/16/politics/military-parade-postponed/index.html

  66. 66.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’m not a big fan of GEN (ret) Powell. I’m aware of the highway of Death stuff and understand why people have issues with GEN (ret) McCaffrey as a result.

  67. 67.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Platonailedit: I think the leadership was very offended and considered about the optics of the egregious speech he gave at the national convention last month.

  68. 68.

    Mary G

    This goes against the military culture of not questioning civilian authorities out loud in public, and I am heartened to see it. And his writing is beautiful. Second excellent statement in a week, after Stephen Miller’s uncle Dr. Glosser. He has done a patriotic thing. Hoping lots of others will follow.

    Twitler will get away with everything until he doesn’t. A pinecone can start an avalanche. (If this is not scientifically justified, don’t what about me).

  69. 69.

    jl

    @Matt McIrvin: I think GOPer congress finks still facing primaries are literally shitting their pants with fear that any evidence at all of any deviationist behavior at all re Trumpism will come out. If any does, from what we have seen so far, they will be DOA on primary day. The others are probably frozen between the insane Trump hordes that will be their main base of support in the general, and the rest of the voting population, not sure what to do. If they lose their Trump base of support, you might be able to count their votes on one hand come election day.

    They will do nothing for the time being. I can’t imagine them doing anything unless Trump commits treason at high noon in front of WH in front of a thousand or so tourists as witnesses. And even then, I am not sure.

  71. 71.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Adam L Silverman: I’m sure many people have their issues with some of these generals. I have mine esp. with Colin Powell and his infamous UN briefing. And other things he did, for sure, but that briefing really …. ugh. Notwithstanding, I would never call Colin Powell a traitor; he was a patriot, a believer in American power. And I might differ with him as to the proper methods and uses of American power, I think he surely would disagree vehemently with anybody who wanted to *give* it away (to an adversary no less).

    I feel like it’s important to remember this distinction, between the folks we disagree with about HOW America should be run, and those who are happy to give America away to our adversaries.

  73. 73.

    lamh36

    @mkraju
    Follow Follow @mkraju
    More
    Eleven former CIA chiefs and one former DNI head – who have served under GOP and Democratic presidents – issue joint statement tonight raising alarms at Trump’s move to strip Brennan of his security clearance, calling it “an attempt to stifle free speech.”

  74. 74.

    Mike J

    Cool. Just saw D trip up against Rossi. Last spot before final Jeopardy, which they either paid extra for or (unlikely) got really, really lucky on a run-of-day buy.

  75. 75.

    Corner Stone

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Or Colin Powell

    I hope I live long enough to usher Colin Powell in to his special, reserved space in Hell.
    If I pass before him I plan to have the duct tape and bowie knives waiting for that motherfucker.

  76. 76.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    God-Emperor Trump sat on his golden throne in the Imperial Palace. He had renamed it from that low-energy name “White House”, though he did like the “white” part a little.

    He felt completely and utterly omnipotent. He had finally silenced his critics, chief among them that Brennan guy. No more would worthless cucks defy him. Now, he would rule these United States in perpetuity.

    He brought out his smartphone and opened up Twitter to issue his latest proclamation to the gullible masses. He saw that someone had retweeted a CNN video. He would have to get around to that Executive Order banning CNN one of these days. The guest was some guy name McRaven or something. Trump’s name was in the thumbnail so he just had to play it. By the end he had thrown his phone into the mirror of his bathroom and it shattered, thousands of pieces flying all around the room. Trump seethed. He would make them all pay! But first he had to finish his dump.

  77. 77.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Mary G:

    Twitler will get away with everything until he doesn’t

    You know, I sometimes think of the case of Ken McElroy of Skidmore, Missouri. Let it be said first that I’m not suggesting, implying, hinting at any kind of 2nd Amendment solutions, but McElroy terrorized his town for years, threatening people, stealing stuff, always getting away with everything. Until one day in 1981, after he’d shot and wounded the local grocer, McElroy was sitting in his truck on Main Street in broad daylight, after lunch, and was shot and killed by bullets from two different firearms. Somewhere between 30 and 50 people were estimated to be on Main Street at the time, but oddly, nobody saw the shooting. Not one person has ever been charged, let alone tried or convicted.

    You can get away with a lot, until you can’t.

  78. 78.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh36: Andrea Mitchell @ mitchellreports

    List of former CIA and other agency officials supporting JohnBrennan and criticizing Trump decision includes Webster, Tenet, Hayden, Panetta, Petraeus, Goss, Clapper, Kappes, McLaughlin, Morell, Haines, Cohen – bipartisan, military and civilian

    Petraeus! I suspect he’s still in the top five on the Beltway Surrogate Daddy list, probably above anyone else on that list. I wonder if Poppy Bush will show some support

  85. 85.

    Eclare

    @Adam L Silverman: “You” was directed toward McCaffrey, not you. Tried to edit, site is not friendly. But that tweet is disgusting. Priests were not weird. And they were not incompetent, they hid crimes for decades.

  90. 90.

    Platonailedit

    General Michael Hayden on CNN: "The W.H. just messaged the entire American Intelligence Community: if you stand up and say things that upset the president … he will punish you. And that is a horrible message to be sending to folks who are there to tell you objective truth."

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 16, 2018

  92. 92.

    Sophie Montane

    What is the purpose of having a video ad that covers the content and makes it impossible to read the comments? I rarely comment here because I can’t actually read the comments anymore thanks to those horrible video ads, but I was particularly interested in following the discussion on this post from Adam.

    No, clicking the X doesn’t work. I had to come to my desktop and boot up the ad-free browser to make this comment.

  93. 93.

    Brickley Paiste

    Since Open Thread:

    I had read most of the decent media coverage of the trial and I was pretty optimistic until I had dinner with a jury consultant tonight who watched the closing arguments.

    She said that two of the jurors were unmistakably dismissive during most of the prosecutors close. Another one was probably dismissive, just not and demonstrative . Three were clearly responding much more to prosecutor arguments. That’s the only read she could get.

    She said that in her experience, there were big differences between civil and criminal juries with the former much more likely to freely react to lawyers’ arguments. She said she did not think she had ever seen such a clear display in a criminal case – at least towards the prosecution.

    She makes a living reading people and she’s the only one we use, so I think she is an accurate interpreter of jurors’ actions.

    Gaming juries is the biggest waste of time in the world, but I wish she had had something different to report.

  94. 94.

    Mike in NC

    Admiral McRaven and anybody else who assumed Trump would suddenly become an adult once in office were sadly naive.

  95. 95.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Sophie Montane: They’re working on it. My understanding, from talking to Alain and others, is that the site as it exists now is built over, on top, and around the original site from when John first started it. And that these pieces aren’t playing well with each other anymore as a result of all the updates and patches and everything else that’s been done to keep everything running over the years. Alain, with the help of M4, are working on fixing all of this mess, but it is going to take time. They’re aware of all the problems and issues, and on their behalf and that of the other front pagers, I ask for your patience as they work to get this whole mess sorted out. I know that Alain and M4 are committed to getting everything sorted out to get all of you all the best and most enjoyable experience possible.

    And thanks for the kind words.

  99. 99.

    clay

    Adam, or others, any thoughts on this:

    Rachel tonight was working on the theory that Trump’s actions against Brennon (and potential actions against Rice, Comey, Yates, etc.) are not because they spoke out against him. Rather, all these people were overseeing the Russia investigation at one point. In other words, he’s punishing witnesses , and hampering their ability to testify. It’s not about the First Amendment; it’s about obstruction.

    Then Rachel speculated that he might try to pull the clearances from Mueller and his team. Thoughts?

  100. 100.

    sukabi

    @WaterGirl: it’s a process. It seemed like forever before the Nixon presidency was ended. So much dirty dealing from the start. Once the tipping point was reached it went pretty fast.

    Trump has burned through any good will he might have had and is working on burning actual assets to the country’s security now. Pretty sure we’re getting to the point where it’s going to be a choice…you can leave the oval office and “retire” from public life, or you can leave in cuffs. But you are leaving.

  101. 101.

    Adam L Silverman

    @clay: I haven’t gotten to her on the DVR yet. She’s posited this theory before in regards to the firings of Comey, McCabe, Strzok, et al. It is a plausible theory, but neither Brennan nor Rice nor Clapper were running the counterintelligence investigation against him. They were way upstream of that. As was Yates. Hayden was out of government for a decade and not involved at all. I don’t really think a jury is going to understand the intricacies of clearances, let alone care enough about who has one, for this to make a difference.

    As for pulling the clearances from Mueller and his team, I think that if he were going to do that he’d just fire them all. Or try to. And it would have the same effect, which would everything would completely grind to a halt because of the mess. I like Maddow. She’s a smart woman. She means well. She also needs to stop with the professional naif and I’m just speculating schtick.

  102. 102.

    JanieM

    @clay:

    Then Rachel speculated that he might try to pull the clearances from Mueller and his team.

    I wondered about this too. Does that mean I can have my own TV show now?

    But more seriously, I too would like to hear more informed opinions about the possibility.

    ETA: cross-posted with Adam. Thanks…at least I’m an amateur naif. ;-)

  103. 103.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Woth noting the Admiral is retired, but still, damn.

    I always thought we liberals would be cheering the American Julius Caesar and thanks to Trump we might be.

  104. 104.

    NotMax

    @clay

    That’s like speculating on the order the kernels will burst open when making popcorn, and unworthy of her. Scaremongering, IMHO.

    Grand jury testimony is closed, and sealed.

  105. 105.

    Sophie Montane

    @Adam L Silverman: Hi Adam – thank you for the reply. Good to know they’re working on it. It would be so nice to be able to read this site again on mobile and follow the discussions.

    Thank you also for this post, as well as for your overall body of work here. I appreciate it and often share your posts with others in my sector.

  108. 108.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Sophie Montane: My understanding is that if you’re on your phone or tablet or have one of those really big phones that’s a phablet, that they recommend you request the desktop site and use that rather than the mobile site. I personally don’t like mobile sites and always use the desktop site option, so I can’t really comment on what is and isn’t working. Just that I know a bunch of stuff is broken.

    And thanks for the additional kind words.

  110. 110.

    EveryDayIHaveTheBlues

    Nice post Adam. Thanks for thinking through the implications of McRavens dissent, vis-a-vis his peers.

    If I remember coreectly, there was a speech he gave a onetime last year in which he supported the press and said they were essential to democracy, etc., in direct contradiction to whatever piddle was coming from the WH.

    McRaven’s position is neither new, nor ill-considered. The stuff about wanting the president to grow into the job and act presidential is just a prophylactic against critics who would potentially accuse him of being a crazed and unhinged partisan. He very clearly knows that Trump is niot going to change.

    Now, I’m curious to learn what he thinks of Kelly, clearly acting in a manner sympathetic to white supremacists and racists. After all, they were flag officers contemporaneously, and brothers in arms.

  111. 111.

    diane

    @Chip Daniels: to your point, while McRaven is incredibly courageous for calling out 45 in a perfectly worded letter and I wish I could thank him personally, it is time for anyone who cares about this country and what it is supposed to stand, to speak up now and loudly or we will rapidly sink into an authoritarian state before we know it

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