Reprinted from Mike Malloy Website
It was a bad week for the would-be Cheeto in Chief. From "Babygate" to the war with the Khans and seeming reluctance to endorse Paul Ryan or John McCain, it was ugly. Today's major economic speech was designed to erase some of that damage and subsequent plunging poll numbers, but it was overshadowed by the news that 50 prominent career national security officials have issued a warning that a Trump presidency would put our national security "at risk," as the New York Times describes:
"Fifty of the nation's most senior Republican national security officials, many of them former top aides or cabinet members for President George W. Bush, have signed a letter declaring thatDonald J. Trump 'lacks the character, values and experience' to be president and 'would put at risk our country's national security and well-being.'
"Mr. Trump, the officials warn, 'would be the most reckless president in American history.'
"The letter says Mr. Trump would weaken the United States' moral authority and questions his knowledge of and belief in the Constitution. It says he has 'demonstrated repeatedly that he has little understanding' of the nation's 'vital national interests, its complex diplomatic challenges, its indispensable alliances and the democratic values' on which American policy should be based. And it laments that 'Mr. Trump has shown no interest in educating himself.'
"Among the most prominent signatories are Michael V. Hayden, a former director of both the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency; John D. Negroponte, who served as the first director of national intelligence and then deputy secretary of state; and Robert B. Zoellick, another former deputy secretary of state, United States trade representative and, until 2012, president of the World Bank. Two former secretaries of homeland security, Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, also signed, as did Eric S. Edelman, who served as Vice President Dick Cheney's national security adviser and as a top aide to Robert M. Gates when he was secretary of defense.
"Robert Blackwill and James Jeffrey, two key strategists in Mr. Bush's National Security Council, and William H. Taft IV, a former deputy secretary of defense and ambassador to NATO, also signed the document."
Will the 50 vote for Hillary? That seems doubtful. The Republican Party is imploding. Shattering into a thousand pieces. It will never be the same again. And we have The Donald to thank for that. Sure makes you wonder about those conspiracy theories that he's a secret DNC special op, sent to ensure both a Clinton presidency and the utter decimation of the GOP.
Even if he's for real, there is no question that the Trump candidacy has turned a spotlight on the true nature of the republican base. And base they are. Racists, bigots, misogynists, fear-based knuckle-draggers who want a wall around the United States to keep out everybody who isn't a white God-fearing, gun-toting, climate-change-denying, pro-life creationist. Just scan the crowds at his speeches and listen to their war cries.
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