Secrets Don't Make Friends...Or A Stable Government

Editor's note: Jason is an avid listener of the show and frequent contributor to the blog.  He is a U.S. Air Force Officer, and his views expressed are entirely his own and not that of the United States Air Force or the DOD.  Follow on Twitter @jbbakes3

I have a new found appreciation for print journalists with deadlines. I told Pantsuit Politics editor Dante Lima late last week that I could get him something for this week dealing with some current foreign policy and national security issues. It was going to serve as sort of a primer/commentary on our policies and dealing with allies and the importance of such.

Then as I was getting into bed Monday night, my phone buzzed and the news alert stated that National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was resigning.

Edit.  Select All.  Delete.

Now, I find myself writing down some thoughts about how Retired General Michael Flynn helped everyone who took the under on number of days he’d last cash their bets out.  The position had previously been held for an average of 949 days.  Mr. Flynn gave it the old comrade try and got to 24. In Russia, job resign you!  That was forced, I’m sorry.

The White House is in pure chaos, and even Trump’s harshest critics should not take joy in this.  Aside from the fact that an American National Security advisor was lying to his bosses and is possibly compromised by the Russians, North Korea is expanding their missile program, the aforementioned Rooskies are ignoring treaties and deploying missiles, Yemen is limiting our ability to conduct raids to hunt terrorist leaders, and the refugee ban is bolstering ISIS recruiting numbers.

Were all of this being handled professionally and in good order, this would be the time where all of my Republican friends reminded me they said it would be ok. I told you he’d change. I told you he’d surround himself with the right people. I told you that you had nothing to worry about, I told you that it would be fine and we had to vote for our team to beat the email lady. Instead?

Absolute, crickets on a quiet rural night, silence. 

I’m not going to continue to preach, I’m going to ask you all for a favor. In the name of Pantsuit Politics nuance, and keeping faith with everything I’ve ever written here about partisan politics, I ask this of you:

Please let our system work. Is it not so far? Judges are pushing back on the ban, patriots in our intelligence community are not being bullied into ignoring wrong doing, and our right to a free press is presenting the information. We live in a country where in the past week alone, our courts used their checks and balances, and the press of a free society brought to light issues that brought actionable wrong doing to the surface. Nobody was dragged from their home, nobody was locked up, and no blood was shed. As you think to yourself these are unprecedented times also ask yourself this: In the long history of this world, how often are such violate disagreements handled with the rule of law and the upholding of governing documents?

Tell your elected representatives you want answers and demand accountability.  Stay informed and be aware of current events, your rights, and what you can do with them, but let the system work. As badly as I want to see this issue investigated from top to bottom, I just as badly want it to be the end of it. I sincerely hope that a full investigation reveals that Flynn acted alone, lied, was caught, and our President dealt with it. I believe the time and resources spent doing such a thing would be well spent in the name of establishing some much needed order on the National Security front.

If IC members exposed secrets and methods that could compromise the position and safety of our officials and operations, then they too have to be investigated. Two wrongs don’t make a right. And if the investigation leads elsewhere? Well then we need to know that too. It’s not just about asking questions anymore, it’s about finding answers – answers our country desperately needs to maintain order and integrity.