Why Do Otherwise Honorable People Work For Trump's Criminal Regime?

I don't know that there are too many honorable people working for Trump's regime any longer. I imagine most of the left behinds are one version another of lowlife Jewish neo-Nazi Stephen Miller. The actual honorable people have fled mostly long ago. One day, whatever honorable Republicans there are left in Congress may flee in greater numbers as well, not the ones like Chris Collins, Michael McCaul, Louie Gohmert, Nevin Nunes, Donald Bacon, Steve King... honorable ones who just can't take being part of it any long, who know they will never been able to explain the enabling and kowtowing to their grandchildren. This morning former Congressman Alan Grayson told me that he thinks that "in general, people need to think harder about what makes a good President. Trump got the GOP nomination because, in a field of 18 candidates, he clearly was the biggest putz. Would you pick your neurosurgeon that way? What does this say about the thoughts (and prayers) of GOP voters? Alan was one of the first candidates Blue America ever endorsed. Jason Butler in North Carolina is the most recent. "Poor leaders," he told me today, "make us feel like failure is unavoidable but great leaders empower us to pursue a collective ideal we thought was previously unattainable."

As you may know, former Defense Secretary James Mattis, was one of the honorable men who felt he was serving the nation, not the budding fascist pile of crap. He tells his friends that he "did as well as I could for as long as I could... When my concrete solutions and strategic advice, especially keeping faith with our allies, no longer resonated, it was time to resign, despite the limitless joy I felt serving alongside our troops in defense of our Constitution."

Wednesday, General Mattis promoted his upcoming book, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead with an OpEd in the Wall Street Journal, Duty, Democracy And The Threat Of Tribalism. "In late November 2016," he began, "I was enjoying Thanksgiving break in my hometown on the Columbia River in Washington state when I received an unexpected call from Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Would I meet with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss the job of secretary of defense?" He hadn't been active in the campaign and had never met or spoken with Trump and to say he "was surprised is an understatement."

The essay isn't primarily about Trump per se-- and he makes a concerted effort to mention him as infrequently as possible. He wrote about the importance of the post-WW II system of alliances every president has been involved in building to protect the country until Trump came along to help Putin unravel those alliances. "Nations with allies thrive, and those without them wither, he wrote. "Alone, America cannot protect our people and our economy. At this time, we can see storm clouds gathering. A polemicist’s role is not sufficient for a leader. A leader must display strategic acumen that incorporates respect for those nations that have stood with us when trouble loomed." This was a savage attack on Trump that Trump is unlikely to notice unless someone tells him.

He also blasted Trump-- again without mentioning his name-- on his abysmal leadership style and for ripping the country apart. "Unlike in the past, where we were unified and drew in allies, currently our own commons seems to be breaking apart. What concerns me most as a military man is not our external adversaries; it is our internal divisiveness. We are dividing into hostile tribes cheering against each other, fueled by emotion and a mutual disdain that jeopardizes our future, instead of rediscovering our common ground and finding solutions. All Americans need to recognize that our democracy is an experiment-- and one that can be reversed. We all know that we’re better than our current politics. Tribalism must not be allowed to destroy our experiment."

Long Island Democrat Tom Suozzi believes in working across the aisle to accomplish stuff for his (and their) constituents. "When I was younger," he told me, "I would have never said it, because it seemed so trite and banal, but I’ll say it now: 'Leadership matters.' It is easy to divide. It’s easy to gin up your base. It’s easy to foment against 'the other.' Someone once described leadership as 'disappointing you followers at a rate they can absorb.' The last thing we need now, at this particularly point in history is more demagoguery. We need leadership. We need leaders who can lead us forward, finding common ground under a banner of hope, justice and love. We owe a great debt to General Mattis for his service, his reminder that we are part of a great human experiment that is currently at great risk and, most of all, for his leadership."

Jamaal Bowman-- a principal in a Bronx middle school-- knows a little something about leadership. Earlier today he told me that "Our nation was built as a democracy of checks and balances with classism, sexism, and racism as fundamental flaws. I believe so called 'honorable people' who work for trump see themselves as working for America's values and believe that Trump as one man cannot 'sink' the country because of our built in checks and balances. But again, because the fundamental flaws remains and because of America's oligarchy having too much influence over our political, social, and economic systems, honorable men and women can only survey in the toxicity and volatility of Trump for so long. As a school leader for the past ten years, my values would never allow me to work with a degenerate like Trump. A leader works to serve the people, and empower them toward transformation. A true leader is a collaborative visionary who inspires action and progressive change. Trump and others like him are leaders for profit and power. Their souls are empty because they lack a moral compass. As a leader and educator, morality, and our collective humanity drives my every decision. I look forward to bringing this leadership to NY-16."

"Secretary Mattis is right that our country is decaying into tribalism," said congressional candidate and Milwaukie, Oregon Mayor Mark Gamba, "and while Trump has exacerbated the problem, and in the short term, thrives on the tribalism, he is by no means the sole cause of it. This dynamic has been intentionally created to distract the middle class from the fact that they are getting poorer and poorer every year. It has been whipped up in the mainstream media and social media to keep us from noticing that the 1% has been systematically bleeding us dry. In the meantime, they pay fewer and fewer taxes. They rightly fear a revolution should the veil ever be lifted, and they pour millions into programs designed to distract and confuse. I do believe that Trump is the worst and most dangerous (to this country) president in my lifetime and potentially in the history of this grand experiment, but he has neither the wit nor subtlety to manufacturer the deep divide that is tearing this country apart. We have a small number in Congress willing to point out the truth and we have a couple of Presidential Candidates doing the same. It may be possible to reach a critical mass if enough of us are elected, to turn us away from the cliff before it is too late."