We have a tradition in our country that strengthens and ensures our democracy.\u00a0 After elections, we come together, accept the results regardless of our vote, and work for the success of the nation.\u00a0 There was much hope and promise when Democrats worked with Reagan and Republicans worked with Clinton.\u00a0 We wanted our presidents to be strong, capable, inspirational leaders.\u00a0 Personally, I always found ways to respect every president when he took office no matter how I voted.\u00a0 President Trump is different for so many people.\u00a0 He is unique among presidents, especially those of the modern era, in his utter lack of ability to speak honestly, his complete lack of character, and serious questions about his intellectual and psychological competence to serve.\u00a0 In an era where bullying and sexual assault\/sexual harassment are serious issues, we elected a \u201cBully-in-Chief\u201d and a man with a history of mistreating women.\u00a0 He often called his battle against contracting sexually transmitted diseases his own Vietnam, an affront to women and veterans alike, not to mention his attacks on John McCain\u2019s wartime service.<\/p>\n
President Trump\u2019s supporters often cite the fact that he is a \u201ccounter-puncher\u201d who fights back.\u00a0 I certainly believe leaders have the right to respond when attacked, but that should be when the attack is significant and false, thus needing correction.\u00a0 They should respond professionally, with restraint, and to the extent necessary to correct the record.\u00a0 This president goes on a major offensive for every little thing, using harsh, demeaning, and often vulgar language, thus demeaning his office.\u00a0 Leaders, especially those occupying higher office, should expect criticism.\u00a0 It comes with the job and to a great extent they just need to accept it.\u00a0 Keep in mind, not all criticism is false.\u00a0 In Trump\u2019s case, when the facts come out, most of the criticism is true and verified.\u00a0 In any case, the key is to show leadership and confidence, not paranoia, insecurity, and immaturity.\u00a0 Accept it, own it, and move forward in a positive direction.\u00a0 For example, President Trump mercilessly attacked multiple Gold Star families who should have been allowed to grieve as the needed.\u00a0 George W. Bush never attacked Cindy Sheehan, who camped outside his Texas ranch, but rather quietly ensured she had adequate food, water, and shelter throughout her protest against him.\u00a0 That was leadership.\u00a0 Trump\u2019s attacks are not the actions of a leader.\u00a0 They are part of an unacceptable pattern of disgraceful behavior that demeans his office and greatly diminishes his ability to lead the country.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the evidence also shows that President Trump routinely lies to the American people. \u00a0To be fair, most politicians lie.\u00a0 They learn a critical lesson about the difference between campaigning and governing.\u00a0 In office, they cannot back up some of the statements or promises made on the campaign trail.\u00a0 They lie when comparing records with an opponent or about the impact of certain policies.\u00a0 However, no prior president has lied so frequently, continuously, or blatantly about so many things.\u00a0 Similarly, Trump lacks character, unable to show empathy, be supportive, act contrite, take responsibility for administration actions, or make moral decisions.\u00a0 He cares not for average people, looking down with disdain.\u00a0 Lastly, President Trump has a very unnerving affinity for the most authoritarian, repressive dictators in the world while seeming to shun the leaders of our democratic allies.\u00a0 This is more alarming in the face of his repeated statements demonstrating a lack of understanding or respect for the Constitution and the freedoms and due process it guarantees to ensure our democracy.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s continuing tweet storms, erratic behavior, lack of temperament, and inability to focus or learn the important issues a president needs to understand call serious question to his capacity to do the job.\u00a0 His behavior risks war with North Korea, the breakup of NATO, capitulation to Russia and China, loss of respect around the world, a dangerous increase in the national debt, and of course growing domestic discord as violence, intolerance, and mistrust of our leaders grow. \u00a0Despite serious disagreements over the years, even in partisan bickering we have not actually challenged a president\u2019s capacity to serve, focusing more on policy differences.\u00a0 Now, we have several members of the Senate raising issues about the President\u2019s character, fitness, and ability to serve.\u00a0 Among the most telling comments include that Trump has problems with the truth, lies, lacks the temperament to lead, fails to understand important issues, has degenerated while in office rather than improved, is debasing his office and the country, and the White House is more like an adult child care center.<\/p>\n
Every one of these individuals supported President Trump, supported his policies, and has a solid conservative voting record.\u00a0 They are publicly raising these important concerns for one reason \u2013 their patriotic duty.\u00a0 Leaders owe a duty to the Constitution and the country, not their political party, partisan politics, or to any individual.\u00a0 Shame on leaders such as Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and Ted Cruz for not supporting their colleagues in this regard.\u00a0 It speaks volumes about their own character flaws.\u00a0 They fail as leaders, forgetting their preeminent duty to the country, not partisan politics.\u00a0 This is not about party loyalty.\u00a0 It is purely about propriety and the good of the country.\u00a0 Many Republicans, including Cruz, refer to themselves as \u201cConstitutional Conservatives.\u201d\u00a0 While neither party owns or respects the Constitution more than the other, this label nevertheless begs the question.\u00a0 The Constitution is at risk, time to speak up.\u00a0 The American people deserve to know whether their president is competent to serve, and they deserve to be protected from the incredibly danger his erratic behavior poses to our security.<\/p>\n
While Congressional Republicans are speaking out, those closest to the President in the White House continue to cover for him and his failings.\u00a0 The American people deserve those around President Trump to stop enabling him and stop encouraging his pattern of lying, unprofessional actions, and erratic behavior that puts the country at risk.\u00a0 It is time for some \u201cgeneral\u201d truth.\u00a0 Generals Mattis, McMaster, and Kelly need to speak truthfully to the nation about the President, not cover for him.\u00a0 They should think hard about their obligations to the Constitution.\u00a0 Their oath and responsibilities extend to the country, not the president.\u00a0 President Trump exhibits behavior they would never accept from themselves or members of the organizations they lead.\u00a0 In the beginning I am willing to believe they had good intentions.\u00a0 They had a president who was woefully unprepared to serve due to his temperament, behavior, lying, and most importantly his lack of understanding of the major issues facing the country.\u00a0 I believe they planned to stick together and serve their president for the good of the nation.\u00a0 Their goal was to prevent a catastrophe (e.g., war with North Korea), further risk to our national security, and risk to our domestic situation.<\/p>\n
As respected, career military officers there is no chance they condoned Trump\u2019s disgraceful behavior even if they shared all or part of his policy views.\u00a0 These honorable leaders could not possibly condone such things as the disgraceful treatment of Gold Star families, the unprofessional and vulgar tweet storms, the lack of respect for the Constitution and its freedoms, the affection for tyrants who pose a direct threat to our nation, the continuous string of lies to cover for his many failures, and hopefully not his support for white supremacists and neo Nazis (even if they have the right to assemble, they are not good people\u2026).\u00a0 Gentlemen, it is time to do the honorable thing and adhere to the oaths you all took.\u00a0 Do not sacrifice your integrity and the reputations you earned covering for an ill-behaved, unqualified man who likely does not even appreciate the lengths you have gone for him.\u00a0 Tell the truth to the American people and stop enabling President Trump\u2019s inappropriate and unacceptable behavior.\u00a0 No one expects you to act against the president or lead an opposition to his presidency.\u00a0 However, that is not the same as ceasing to enable him and cover for him.\u00a0 For the good of the nation, it is time for some General truth\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We have a tradition in our country that strengthens and ensures our democracy.\u00a0 After elections, we come together, accept the results regardless of our vote, and work for the success […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[108,162,183,223],"class_list":["post-208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-fitness-to-serve","tag-kelly","tag-mattis","tag-president-donald-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}