What has Pres. Trump done wrong so far.

Obviously two people talking at cross purposes.
Geomeau is talking about morals and ethics, along with right and wrong.
Smr is talking about the legal political process, and whether or not there are enough votes to convict regardless of right and wrong.

Smr, I'm an old grammar NAZI, and find some things jarring. Just to keep me happy could you please use you're (short for you are), and not use your (possessive pronoun) inappropriately?

Apparently after Trump's latest tantrum piled on top of his despicable conduct in Syria General Mattis has decided to stop hiding his utter disdain for Trump...

General Mattis wrote:“I earned my spurs on the battlefield; Donald Trump earned his spurs from the doctor”.

My sister had me spitting up my breakfast this morning.

She said she asked the Alexa app "What has President Trump done wrong?"

She says Alexa has been talking non-stop for three days.

A bit of a change of subject... Mitt Romney marched with protesters this weekend. When asked why he responded because black lives matter and that he was protesting police brutality.

Isn't that encouraging? He will never be anything other than a very deeply conservative Republican. But I know that my own personal opinion of the man changed when he voted for impeachment. Recognizing when somebody shows both backbone and moral compass is an important thing to do, I think.

Don

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A few on here have spent time with their various militaries, so will know what I am talking about when I say that they have a definite hierarchical bent. Not sure as to how many ranks from a private to a five star general, but at a guess 25 to 30 depending on the service.
Generally (deliberate pun) the higher up the ladder you go the more competent and brighter the individual.
The current rush of retired 4 and 5 star Generals to tip on Trump is interesting.
He must have frustrated them to the core, being their Commander In Chief, yet displaying the intelligence and competence of a not particularly stellar Lance Corporal.

Daryl wrote:A few on here have spent time with their various militaries, so will know what I am talking about when I say that they have a definite hierarchical bent. Not sure as to how many ranks from a private to a five star general, but at a guess 25 to 30 depending on the service.
Generally (deliberate pun) the higher up the ladder you go the more competent and brighter the individual.

Anyone who's actually been in a military (or, for that matter, any hierarchical org) will tell you that you're dead wrong there. The skills you need to get promoted and the skills you need to be good at your job are not all that related; Generals and Admirals are much more politicians than Soldiers.

The current rush of retired 4 and 5 star Generals to tip on Trump is interesting.
He must have frustrated them to the core, being their Commander In Chief, yet displaying the intelligence and competence of a not particularly stellar Lance Corporal.

They're politicians. They can see that Trump isn't delivering on any of his promises and that he seems to be losing his pull with even the republican establishment; they don't want to tie themselves to a sinking president.

The E wrote:

Daryl wrote:A few on here have spent time with their various militaries, so will know what I am talking about when I say that they have a definite hierarchical bent. Not sure as to how many ranks from a private to a five star general, but at a guess 25 to 30 depending on the service.
Generally (deliberate pun) the higher up the ladder you go the more competent and brighter the individual.

Anyone who's actually been in a military (or, for that matter, any hierarchical org) will tell you that you're dead wrong there. The skills you need to get promoted and the skills you need to be good at your job are not all that related; Generals and Admirals are much more politicians than Soldiers.

The current rush of retired 4 and 5 star Generals to tip on Trump is interesting.
He must have frustrated them to the core, being their Commander In Chief, yet displaying the intelligence and competence of a not particularly stellar Lance Corporal.

They're politicians. They can see that Trump isn't delivering on any of his promises and that he seems to be losing his pull with even the republican establishment; they don't want to tie themselves to a sinking president.

Politicians? Yes in a way. These are very highly educated and trained people...war college, economics, engineering, psychology, sociology, management of people, yada, yada,yada... Most of them combat vets.

In short, by the time that are at that level, you have a very impressive group of individuals. Their politics? They bias left or right, but usually, with some exceptions, they are tight lipped about it, serving under presidents of both parties. Colin Powell is a good example of this. It wasn't until after he retired that he self-identified Republican. In fact the Demos were thinking about recruiting him!

But, perhaps most important under our current circumstances, they take an oath to protect and defend the constitution of the United States and the American people against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. There are a number of things that come out of that that are important.

First you don't turn the military loose on the public. Policing and military ops are very different things. The military does not do policing of civilians unless the situation is extreme. This holds true, even acknowledging that there have been exceptions.

Secondly, the oath is not to an individual,not even to the individual who happens to hold the office of the presidency, but to the office itself, to the presidency, to the constitution. There has been some speaking out lately, reminding everyone of that. The military is not going to help anyone stage a coup... No soldiers lining the walls of Parliament while Cromwell demands that Parliament go home!!!

Finally, the it is illegal for the military to follow unlawful orders... Again, something that has normally been followed but has had some exceptions.

At this time the military is the most respected institution in the country. It has a reputation for being very honorable. I suspect that it was concern over losing both that respect and reputation that led the retired senior officers to speak out, perhaps in hopes of covering their still serving peers backs...

Don

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Daryl wrote:A few on here have spent time with their various militaries, so will know what I am talking about when I say that they have a definite hierarchical bent. Not sure as to how many ranks from a private to a five star general, but at a guess 25 to 30 depending on the service.
Generally (deliberate pun) the higher up the ladder you go the more competent and brighter the individual.
The current rush of retired 4 and 5 star Generals to tip on Trump is interesting.
He must have frustrated them to the core, being their Commander In Chief, yet displaying the intelligence and competence of a not particularly stellar Lance Corporal.

Ummm. Quick point of correction. There ARE no 5-star generals (or admirals) in the US Military. Nor are there any RETIRED 5-star generals or admirals from the US Military. The last one was General Omar Bradley, who passed away in 1981.

Apologies for my assumption. Knowing that there are 4 Stars I assumed that the more senior ones were 5 Stars. A quick Google has explained it to me.

In response to The E, it is true that to get to the top echelon of any large hierarchy you have to have politicing skills, and I'm sure that many capable officers have been shortlisted out because of that. Simply having a wife who refuses to go to Dining In Nights or not being interested in golf can be a career fatality. I saw plenty of this happening.
However despite this, most of the senior officers I worked with were above average smart and capable across the board.

WeberFan wrote:

Daryl wrote:A few on here have spent time with their various militaries, so will know what I am talking about when I say that they have a definite hierarchical bent. Not sure as to how many ranks from a private to a five star general, but at a guess 25 to 30 depending on the service.
Generally (deliberate pun) the higher up the ladder you go the more competent and brighter the individual.
The current rush of retired 4 and 5 star Generals to tip on Trump is interesting.
He must have frustrated them to the core, being their Commander In Chief, yet displaying the intelligence and competence of a not particularly stellar Lance Corporal.

Ummm. Quick point of correction. There ARE no 5-star generals (or admirals) in the US Military. Nor are there any RETIRED 5-star generals or admirals from the US Military. The last one was General Omar Bradley, who passed away in 1981.

Between Bolton and Trump's niece's books, we shall soon see if Trump was unfortunately correct when he claimed that he could shoot someone down publicly in the street, and his supporters would excuse that.