Dem
51
GOP
49
Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster (ret.) served as Donald Trump's National Security Advisor for a little over a year, from February 2017 to April 2018. Last week, McMaster published a new book, At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House.
As you can imagine, the former president does not get a glowing review from his former NSA. McMaster describes Oval Office meetings as "exercises in competitive sycophancy." He says that the administration was full of people interested primarily in advancing their own agendas—Steve Bannon is a particular target of the General's disdain. He also writes that Trump was full of ideas, and that the ideas were almost always really dumb. For example, he wanted to cure the nation's fentanyl crisis by "bomb[ing] the drugs [in Mexico]." On another occasion, Trump proposed waiting until the North Korean army held one of its frequent military parades, and then attacking them with fighter jets and wiping the whole army out. Strategery at its finest.
This week, McMaster sat down for a gaggle of interviews. And during those interviews, McMaster has said a few headline-worthy things. For example, he shared his view that Trump deserves much of the blame for the disaster in Afghanistan. He has noted, several times, that Trump is a Putin flunky. The General also said he won't be back for another go-round: "If President Trump was re-elected, of course I wish him [the] best and I want him to succeed. If our next president is Kamala Harris, I wish her the best, wish her to succeed. But I think my opportunity to serve in the Trump administration is used up."
This leads to an obvious question about McMaster. And that question is: What the hell is wrong with him? If he really and truly believes what he wrote, and what he's saying, then what is with the "Switzerland" approach to the election? What is with the wishy-washy, mealymouthed crap about "I wish them the best," whoever wins in November? Why isn't he saying, clearly and without reservation, that even if Americans don't like Harris on policy, they should be voting for her for the good of the country?
We don't like crapping on a three-star general. And we recognize that military members are supposed to be non-partisan. However, McMaster isn't actually military anymore; he's retired military. And the "keep your opinion to yourself" stuff came to an end the moment that the first copy of the new book hit the first bookshelf. He can slam Trump, but he can't make an endorsement in the election? That makes it look an awful lot like he is willing to observe the "above politics" tradition... until he needs to move product, and sell some books.
For that matter, what about James Mattis? Or Mike Pence? Like McMaster, they have certainly implied that Trump should not be returned to the White House. But many Americans don't do subtlety. If they are really the patriots they claim to be, and Trump is really the danger they say he is, they should be speaking at the DNC, telling people they just can't vote for the Donald. They should be appearing together in a commercial, explaining that while they might be Republicans, they'll all be checking the box for Kamala Harris.
We're not the only ones who have noticed this. The folks at The Bulwark have pointed it out, too. And it is not like McMaster, Mattis, Pence, etc. would be on an island. Just yesterday, over 200 former George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney staffers released a letter in which they endorse Harris. But as long as the formerly prominent members of the Trump administration try to have it both ways, and refuse to come right out and say that people should not be voting to return #45 to the White House, then all we can think of is John F. Kennedy's old paraphrase of The Inferno: "The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis." (Z)