.MaddowBlog: A rebuke like no other: Mattis sees Trump as threat to Constitution
"We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square," Mattis wrote."We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution."
If there's a historical parallel for a leading former cabinet official denouncing a sitting president in such unvarnished terms, I'm not aware of it. The fact that it's happened in an election year makes it all the more remarkable.Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that "The Nazi slogan for destroying us ... was 'Divide and Conquer.' Our American answer is 'In Union there is Strength.
Mattis has clearly gone out of his way to avoid taking such a provocative posture. As Rachel noted on the show last night, the former Defense secretary recently wrote a book about his lifetime of service, which remained largely silent on Trump. By all appearances, the retired general would've preferred to keep his concerns about the current president to himself.
But it seems recent events, most notably the offensive against peaceful protestors in Lafeyette Square, pushed Mattis past the breaking point. As a political matter, this is no small development. In a time of deep divisions and strife, Mattis was a popular public figure who, during his cabinet tenure, enjoyed broad, bipartisan support.
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