‘The White House is not to be trusted right now’

[90DayFinancier 910]

Excerpts from the soon to be published "Holding the Line: Inside Trump's Pentagon with Secretary Mattis"

How Jim Mattis, “iced out” and blindsided by Trump, finally concluded the president was weakening the nation.

 

https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2019/10/22/trump-jim-mattis-policies-book-054967

 

 

The retired general went to great lengths to align the Pentagon's message with the president’s, Guy Snodgrass recounts in "Holding the Line: Inside Trump's Pentagon with Secretary Mattis," which will be published on Oct. 29. But Mattis' public solidarity crumbled in private as his frustration grew at Trump's dismissal of allies and shoot-from-the-hip pronouncements, writes Snodgrass, a retired Navy commander and fighter pilot and Mattis' former speechwriter at the Pentagon.

....

"Trump’s tweets created chaos in the Pentagon," writes Snodgrass, who was detailed to work for Mattis early in his tenure. The damage from the transgender pronouncement "was a terrific example of how an ill-informed, and ill-considered, tweet from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue could result in a strategic defeat."

“Mattis described the lack of a cohesive White House strategy in more colorful terms," he adds. "He labeled the situation as one where the administration was holding itself hostage. He formed his right hand into a make-believe pistol and pointed it toward his temple, saying ‘No one move or the hostage gets it!’”

[TBoneTX 43,040]

The problem for Mattis is that nobody elected HIM to ANYTHING.

[90DayFinancier 910]

8 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

The problem for Mattis is that nobody elected HIM to ANYTHING.

How is this a problem for Mattis?

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

2 hours ago, 90DayFinancier said:

How is this a problem for Mattis?

Who is Mattis?

[90DayFinancier 910]

1 hour ago, ALFKAD said:

Who is Mattis?

Who are any of us?

[TBoneTX 43,040]

The problem WITH Mattis.

[90DayFinancier 910]

9 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

The problem WITH Mattis.

I knew what you meant.  I just like the wordplay.

[Steeleballz 7,550]

22 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

The problem for Mattis is that nobody elected HIM to ANYTHING.

 

   Mattis was hired to do a job. If we accept that the president has a plan and a vision, then obviously Mattis' was never going to be able to do that job effectively. That has been a common theme at the white house. The question really is, why hire all these "best minds" if they don't align with what you are doing to begin with. When has that ever worked? It's the reason for the revolving door this administration seems to have.  

[TBoneTX 43,040]

In his private & public careers, the President has hired & fired more people than all the rest of us put together.

He has a passel of holdovers from previous, often hostile, administrations.

I tend toward a lenient view of the personnel turnover.

[Steeleballz 7,550]

8 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

In his private & public careers, the President has hired & fired more people than all the rest of us put together.

He has a passel of holdovers from previous, often hostile, administrations.

I tend toward a lenient view of the personnel turnover.

 

  Right, which was supposed to be a positive thing. He would hire all the best people for the job, remember. The inability to do that has really been a major factor that has held this administration back (for better or for worse). They are basically starting over every few months. IMO, his business acumen should have really been something that showed him you need to have everyone on the same page. IDK, perhaps that is something that didn't translate well to the political arena. I joked about the "your fired" thing when he was running, but I thought he would actually do a better job of identifying the right people for those positions. 

 

  

[TBoneTX 43,040]

Granted, but he was new to politics, or outside of it, when he entered.

Local TV station interviewed some long-time admin guy (wanna say Brent Scowcroft, but not him).

This was not long after the inauguration.

Guy dispassionately said that the personnel turnover was not to be unexpected, especially regarding a candidate who didn't expect to win.  He cited a previous instance (wanna say Jimmy Carter, but perhaps not him).

Finally, in general, folks can look great on paper, but you never really know until you get them "into the field."

[Dashinka 23,229]

Didn’t Mattis say pretty much the same thing about the previous administration?  Also, didn’t Mattis say something about commenting against a sitting president?