"THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!" screamed a Trump tweet last week after Ninth Circuit judges denied the government's request to reinstate his Muslim ban. The reality is, Donald Trump is putting the security of our nation at stake—and we should all be concerned.
Still, Trump has been downright effusive in blaming federal judges for any attacks that might happen on U.S. soil. “Just cannot believe a judge would put us in such peril," Trump wrote after his ban was temporarily stayed on February 4. Yet when given the chance, government lawyers couldn't offer the judges any rational basis whatsoever for Trump's ban on refugees and travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations.
Cue the Michael Flynn revelation. Even before his resignation as national security adviser, the National Security Council was in total chaos. Keep in mind, the NSC's main function is to counsel the president on all homeland security and foreign policy related issues.
Three weeks into the Trump administration, council staff members get up in the morning, read President Trump’s Twitter posts and struggle to make policy to fit them. Most are kept in the dark about what Mr. Trump tells foreign leaders in his phone calls. Some staff members have turned to encrypted communications to talk with their colleagues, after hearing that Mr. Trump’s top advisers are considering an “insider threat” program that could result in monitoring cellphones and emails for leaks.
And then there's congressional Republicans doing everything they can to look in the other direction as Donald Trump's complete, thorough, and undeniable incompetence lays bare the fulcrum of vulnerability our country now represents.
Nearly every House Republican is trying to avert attention, including Speaker Ryan, who’s super eager to get his tax cuts through as our nation’s security hangs in the balance.
Speaker Paul D. Ryan sidestepped calls for congressional inquiries into the Flynn episode. He said he welcomed the resignation of Mr. Flynn, saying, “You cannot have a national security adviser misleading the vice president and others.”
But when asked about calls for congressional inquiries into the episode, he said: “I’m not going to prejudge circumstances surrounding this. I think the administration will explain the circumstances that led to this.”
Pssst, Paul, the administration hasn’t been able to explain anything it’s done. Nothing. Not even Trump’s signature safety initiative—the Muslim ban, that later required clarification why the White House Counsel and couldn’t even be properly defended in a court of law. Other things they’ve failed to explain: why Trump hung up on an international ally, canceled a visit with the president of Mexico, called for a massive voter fraud investigation, put tax payers on the hook for his multi-billion dollar border wall, authorized a botched Navy SEAL raid, obsessed over the scantest inauguration turnout in recent history, lied about knowing Flynn contacted the Russians—and that just skims the surface. In fact, there’s not one single news development in the last three weeks Trump’s White House has been able to provide any reasonable explanation for.
Meanwhile, House Republicans reportedly spent their entire weekly meeting Tuesday talking healthcare repeal. And from the Senate floor, GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell skipped over Flynn and the Russians entirely, opting instead to berate Democrats for demanding that Trump's cabinet appointees be fully vetted before confirming them.
Really, these are your concerns, GOP?
Because the U.S. general who commands the military’s Special Operations went on record Tuesday warning that the government is in "unbelievable turmoil."
“I hope they sort it out soon because we’re a nation at war,” he said at a military conference on Tuesday. Asked about his comments later, General Thomas said in a brief interview, “As a commander, I’m concerned our government be as stable as possible.”
It hasn’t been lost on Gen. Thomas that American lives are on the line, both at home and abroad.
That fact also wasn’t lost on Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the NSA and CIA, just after Trump first issued his Muslim ban.
“We are now living the worst jihadist narrative possible—that there is undying enmity between Islam and the West,” he told NPR.
EARTH TO THE GOP: “THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!” to borrow a phrase. So go ahead and prattle on about your policy goals—Trump is burning down the country around you.