Posted on 05/09/2017 6:36:35 AM PDT by shortstop
It's not the 24 days Michael Flynn was a national security adviser that worry me, it's the 33 years he was an Army officer.
How does a guy spend his entire adult life a commissioned soldier and still compromise himself and his position so completely and cavalierly?
When a tree bears bitter fruit, you wonder about the tree.
Michael Flynn clearly used his position to enrich himself, and he actively violated policy to do so. He failed to get permission to receive money from a foreign and hostile power, and then engaged in deception to conceal his conduct.
In doing so, he made himself subject to coercion or blackmail by that foreign power and its intelligence services.
And coincidentally -- or not -- when describing to the vice president of the United States the nature of a conversation with the ambassador of that foreign and hostile power, Michael Flynn lied.
It is clear this man was a compromised bad actor who had rendered himself unworthy of his position and the trust of the American people. This sort of conduct should put people in Fort Leavenworth.
And what's troubling to me is that this sort of full-blown and dangerous misconduct was engaged in by a man who had 30-plus years of supposedly being steeped in the Army values of integrity and trust. Further, over his career he was primarily an Intelligence officer, meaning he has dealt with secrets and security matters for decades.
He ultimately led the Defense Intelligence Agency.
And how such a person, understanding what's at stake and how things are supposed to be done, can sit next to Putin and take a check, and have a chit chat with the Russian ambassador that he keeps on the down low, is unfathomable.
It's the sort of conduct any soldier would be warned away from. It's the sort of conduct any person of integrity, honor and patriotism would know to avoid. It is the sort of conduct that violates regulations, ethics and the law.
And yet Michael Flynn chose to engage in it.
That makes me worry about the culture of Army leadership that produced Michael Flynn. It either failed to root out his sinister predilections or it encouraged them.
This man was commissioned in 1981, at the latter height of the Cold War, and he knew specifically the evils of the Soviet Union and Russian imperialism. And yet he chose to -- for money -- sit beside Vladimir Putin. It was two longtime intelligence officers sitting beside one another and one was giving money to the other.
Such high-level contacts might not necessarily be bad. They might actually be spycraft. It is possible a retired three-star American general was trying to influence or surveil the leader of Russia. That would be a reasonable intelligence operation.
But it's something that would be disclosed to the American government, and which would comply with American law and Army regulation.
Michael Flynn's Kremlin moonlighting did neither of those things.
And then he lied to the vice president, completely disqualifying himself.
And my question remains: How could our Army have had this man for three decades and not have either discovered him or ennobled him? How did a person of such easy virtue gain such rank and become the nation's top military intelligence officer?
And if he was crooked in 2016 and 2017, how was he in 2001 and 1995 and every other year and day of his military career?
Donald Trump has said that he wants to rebuild the military's numbers and capability. He may also want to re-examine its culture. After decades of political generals and ass-covering officers, and eight years of the force feeding of political correctness and social engineering, and a general pussification of training standards and rigor, it might be good to look into the military heart and see what it's all about.
Michael Flynn -- like David Petraeus before him -- has shown us that brass on the shoulder does not mean character in the heart. We need to make sure this isn't a broader problem of senior military culture.
Like I said, it's not the 24 days Michael Flynn was a national security adviser that bother me, it's the 33 years he was an Army officer.
Jr came out with a series of interesting tweets recently that people have saved. He deleted his account again. Maybe yesterday. Don’t know the timing.
He is a loose cannon. He was defending his dad. Whether true or not...what he said seems plausible.
Following in the footsteps of Gen. Wesley Clark.
>>How did a person of such easy virtue gain such rank and become the nation’s top military intelligence officer?
Observe the culture of rape covered up by the “leadership” at the AFA...
“To do what is right for some else, even though you know it may not go well for you, that is the character trait we are missing in the Air Force today. I believe integrity has gone to the waste side at USAFA “
—Staff Sergeant Brandon Enos, (USAFOSI “Operation Gridiron”)
http://cryptome.org/2014/08/brandon-enos.pdf
well-written article.
Having spent his career in intelligence, you’d think he’d know to be more careful.
Bullcrap. Flynn was out because he had tree wrong opinions about Islam and the new cold war.
All of that other garbage was the neocon explanation. I believe all that like I believe the Warren Commission.
Simply ask yourself, how do you know any of this is true? Don’t forget, he was fired by Obama because he wasn’t a Islam lover. He was against the war in Syria and b the new cold war with Russia. Everything else is BS.
It's what you gather, not what you have in many cases.
Thoughtful article. When it comes to character, there is no such thing as a ‘little’ lie.
wow. Off topic, but that is one hell of a statement.
Accepting money for speeches from a foreign news network (RT) or foreign lobby group or think tank may be construed by liberals as “ taking money from a foreign government” - there is a legal distinction
One might also ask how many retired military and govt officials are working for multinational or foreign sources as consultants lobbyists or whatever
If a Lockheed consultant is being paid by Lockheed on a contract funded by Saudi Arabia - who is he accepting money from? This is rampant and common and long accepted practice in Flynn's world
The bigger issue is how many serving voting politicians are taking foreign
money or gray money raised offshore like Soros - who makes major donations to the The McCain Foundation which also gets Saudi money
not sure we have the real story, looks to me like a setup from Obamma to blame someone else and russia for their crimes..and held up by corrupt cia/fbi etc..we are in a coup..whats the truth?
Not off topic.
It illustrates the culture of systemic corruption that manufactures “leadership” like Flynn and answers the question:
“How did a person of such easy virtue gain such rank and become the nation’s top military intelligence officer?”
Very odd how Flynn can be crucified but still not aa word about jailing the Clintons. Their nefarious acts are not even under scrutiny. Come on, Sessions, put the finger on the biggest traitors ever to “serve” the USA. They served up the USA to foreign agents for their own personal profit to the tune of how many millions starting with selling the Lincoln Bedroom like a tourist trap?
Flynn was also too close to the down low on pizzagate
That is what sealed his doom
I think there is an element of truth in what you say. It’s a small possibility.
Did Obama set up the General to take a fall? Was Flynn under orders to do what he did for the greater good of the Country?
Who knows!
Really. So if a person searched on ‘Donald Trump Jr twitter,’ there’d be no account found.
Based on my own CI experience I would look closer at Flynn to be sure he has not done worse during his career inside military intelligence. He reeks of illicit contacts, greed, compromise and untruthfulness....badges of a spy.
This story is about flynn. I am talking about Flynn Jr
btw, it looks like his account may be back up again.
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