Shorter Mitch McConnell: Support Trump--If Necessary, We Can Always Have a Military Coup
Live from the Cleveland Republican Dumpster Fire: The very sharp Brian Buetler points us to the Senate Majority Leader:
Mitch McConnell: Trump 'Wrong' on NATO:
I disagree with [Donald Trump]. NATO is the most important military alliance in world history. I want to reassure our NATO allies that if any of them get attacked, we'll be there to defend them.... I think he's wrong on that. I don't think that view would be prevalent or held by anybody he might make secretary of state or secretary of defense...
U.S. Constitution: Art. II: §2:
The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States...
The President. Not the Secretary of State. Not the Secretary of Defense. Not the Chief Officer of the Praetorian Guard Secret Service. Not the Commander of Joint Base Andrews.
Brian Buetler: McConnell Says: Support Trump--If Push Comes to Shove, We Can Always Have a Coup:
File this one away under “Donald Trump discredits everyone in his orbit.”... The worst part about it is how McConnell explained his blasé attitude.... McConnell isn’t the first Republican to rationalize supporting Trump under the theory that Trump can be contained. But think about what this implies in an extreme scenario: Russia invades a NATO member state, Trump is inclined to abrogate the treaty, and the secretary of defense, what, mobilizes the military without the president’s approval? Here’s the Senate majority leader, the second-most powerful Republican in the country, shrugging off the tail risk of a Trump presidency, because if the going gets tough, the secretary of defense might just override Trump’s command and control of the military. This is utterly disqualifying stuff. The underlying decision to support Trump is enough to taint any politician, but when politicians are forced to justify the decision, the magnitude of the disgrace becomes clear.
