Persiflage on Parade

At the moment of Constitutional crisis, THIS appears:

Ambassador Bolton, withdraw your book
Fred Fleitz / Fox News

—  “Tune in to see Fred’s exclusive interview with Laura Ingraham on ‘The Ingraham Angle’ at 10 PM ET on Fox News Channel.”  —  It was crushing to read weekend press reports that my friend and former boss John Bolton plans to publish a tell-all book …

Right. The horses have left the barn, so let’s buy a padlock for the door.

This is stuff from another dimension, probably Superman’s Bizarro World. Listen:

I haven’t seen Bolton’s book manuscript and I don’t know what’s in it.  I take Bolton and his staff at their word that they did not leak the manuscript to the New York Times.

Hard to claim not to know what’s in the book when one has admitted reading the New York Times story. But, worse, this then becomes a partisan plea for COVERING UP A CRIME.

But I believe they are still responsible for this leak since Bolton’s explosive book was sent to the leak-prone National Security Council for a security review in December 2019 so the book could be published in the spring of 2020.  It also is inexplicable how such a sensitive manuscript could be sent to the NSC in the middle of the impeachment process.  Under such circumstances, a leak of the manuscript was all but certain.

So, complying with the law compelling NSC review of the manuscript was a bad idea? Bolton ought to have FLOUTED the law?

Well, consider the source:

Fred Fleitz, president of the Center for Security Policy, served in 2018 as deputy assistant to the president and to the chief of staff of the National Security Council. He previously held national-security jobs with the CIA, the DIA, the Department of State, and the House Intelligence Committee staff.

He seems to have forgotten WHOM it is that he was originally hired to serve: Secrets are not kept FOR the security of the American people; secrets are kept secure FROM the American people.

And allow Mr. Fleitz to pound the final nail into his “patriotism” coffin:

If a manuscript of this sensitivity was to be published at all, this should happen after the election, not in the spring of 2020.  I don’t understand the need for a former National Security Adviser to publish a tell-all book critical of a president he served, especially during a presidential reelection campaign that will determine the fate of the country.  There will be a time for Bolton to speak out without appearing to try to tip a presidential election.

Yes. Good lord knows that the American people shouldn’t know about criminal behavior in the White House BEFORE an election!

How did mainstream GOP turn so antithetical to the very notion of what it means to be an American citizen?

The kindest thing that might be said of Mr. Fleitz is that he advocates for groveling, monarchical fealty to the Chief executive (at least if he’s a Republican) to the detriment and exclusion of one’s obligations as a citizen, a constitutional officer and an American.

That’s patriotism?

Right.

“There are three things that can not long be hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth,” said the Buddha.

The Republicans seem to disagree.

Courage.