IMHO, McMaster has now tainted his reputation permanently. He is fine with the President burning a friendly source to an adversary and comfortable with being the point man, because supposedly his reputation is like Caesar’s wife – above reproach.
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We were just watching General McMaster’s press conference – which has taken the place of Sean Spicer’s briefing today. The key take away is that McMaster is essentially conceding the accuracy of last night’s reporting (first from the Post and later confirmed by other outlets) but saying that in the context it was okay. It was appropriate. Notably, when it comes to specifics, he is hiding behind classification to refuse to give further answers.
He also conceded that President Trump made the decision to reveal the information in the spur of the moment. When asked when Trump made the decision and whether his advisors were part of that decision, here are the exact words of response: “He made the decision in the context of the conversation.” In other words, spur of the moment decision, not something he and his advisers decided made sense in advance.
The gist here is that McMaster is saying yes Trump did it. He was entitled to do it. And I and other advisors were there when it happened and believe that substantively it was the right decision.
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This comfortable and casual leaking of the most highly classified information purely “in the context of the conversation” with no prior planning or warning, reveals that McMaster is just as at sea as Don the Con.
Why no preparation in the 5 days since for the inevitable leak? Why was McMaster himself so unprepared if he knew and was fine with the President disclosing such sensitive information to an adversary?
I have seen nothing in McMaster’s behavior to support the sort of reputation people have suggested. His reputation will be in taters before this is over. He is willing to go along with the actions of a severely dangerous man, a man whose actions may result in unnecessary deaths.
Image: Gage Skidmore
A Man With A Ph.D. 