DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus I served under six president — only one has failed to serve U.S. national security interests

I spent over 300 mornings in the Oval Office briefing the president and his senior staff. I had the privilege to manage, edit and deliver the president’s Daily Brief a summary of the most timely and critical intelligence threats to the U.S. from 2010 to 2014.

As a Deputy on the National Security Council, I spent over 1,000 hours in the White House Situation Room providing the intelligence assessments which informed critical U.S. national security policy decisions — including the raid that rendered justice for the victims of 9/11.

Since I have been eligible to vote, I have never registered with a political party. I remain an independent with a history of voting for candidates I believe in — I focused on their policy and not their party. Before this election, I have never spoken out for or against a candidate for any office.

But I can be silent no longer.

In the summer of 1976, I was 14 years old and new to Colorado, my father took command of the Western Region’s National Guard. I enrolled in the brand-new Smoky Hill High School on what was then the far eastern boundary of Aurora. As a military brat, I was accustomed to moving around and not putting down roots — but as readers will know well, Colorado has a way of pulling on your heart and it became home. It remains so as my family spends as much time as possible in our Dillon residence.

Upon graduating from Cornell University, I joined the intelligence community as an analyst during President Ronald Reagan’s increasing investments in defense — a buildup that culminated in the collapse of the Soviet Union by the end of the decade. In my nearly four decades of service, I had the privilege of serving under six presidents — four Republican and two Democrat. The constant across all of those administrations was the oath I took to “protect and defend” the Constitution against “all enemies — foreign and domestic.”

I know what it takes to succeed at the highest levels of our government — intellectual curiosity, the strength of moral purpose and a commitment to selfless service. Broadly speaking, I can personally attest that Americans were very well served by those they elected to fill critical national security positions.

There is one important exception to that statement — our current president.

I have briefed him up close — and I have seen and felt the effect of his faults on our nation’s security. Out of respect for the confidential nature of Oval Office conversations, I will not provide details. Suffice to say that the person you see presiding over COVID-19 press conferences is the same one in the privacy of his office. He has little patience for facts or data that do not comport with his personal world view. Thus, the conversations are erratic and less than fully thoughtful.

While it is natural for there to be tension between the intelligence community and senior policymakers, President Donald Trump’s decision to rely upon the word of dictators like Vladimir Putin is an unprecedented betrayal of his oath to the Constitution. Our current president bases his decisions on his instincts, and his instincts are based upon a personal value proposition — what’s in it for me?

As a Commander in Chief, President Trump comes up tragically short. He fails to protect our soldiers when bounties are placed on their heads by his friend Vladimir. And not only does he not respect their service, but President Trump also belittles combat heroes who were taken as prisoners of war.

As a nation, we were fortunate that a true crisis did not occur during his first three years in office.

Then 2020 happened. This has been an unprecedented year for which many of us were not prepared. In moments of crisis, the American people demand — and deserve — a leader who will put the country first. Full stop. Because the reality and the science of COVID-19 conflicted with his personal views, President Trump knowingly downplayed the pandemic.

This is not about the economy, taxes, health care or any other normal ballot considerations. This is about American lives unnecessarily lost. This is about businesses unnecessarily closed. This is about being guided by service to all Americans. This is about centering decisions on a higher morality. President Trump’s actions — and inaction — demonstrates that he is not concerned about any of this.

And as damaging as his faulty leadership has been, four more years would be devastating.

We must elect a thoughtful, moral, responsible, respectful leader on Nov. 3. Our current president is not that leader.

Robert Cardillo retired as the director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency after 36 years of public service that also included serving as deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Acting J2 — a first for a civilian — in support of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen.

Meh, one man's disgruntled opinion and it gets its own thread.

Have you noticed the lies and the constant fallacies coming out of trump’s mouth over the last 4 plus years? The incessant blaming of the media he does?

Have you noticed the lies and the constant fallacies about the president over the last 4 plus years? The incessant blame the media does?

Shoot, just do a timeline on covid. See when trump did what he did, and see how some of the d's, and WHEN, they were saying what they did.

I think a lot of people will vote for Trump because they fear the Democrats policies. They don't like how the Democratic party has turned their backs on hard-working, moral, middle-class Americans. They don't like the demands of groups like BLM. They don't like being taxed even more to pay for reparations and wealth distribution. They don't like defunding the police, while excusing criminal behavior.

This, among other things is exactly why people voted for Trump. But rather than addressing (or even acknowledging) that people feel this way, the left resorts to inciting hatred and contant labeling and name calling. Then, after the election, they spout off how their are so many idiots and racists in this country.

donny resorted to hatred, constant labeling, and name calling throughout his entire presidential run. His followers had no issues with those tactics... yet complain when ‘the left’ does it.
I find this weird.

You do have a point here.

BUT...

President Trump inherited a Military that was searching through museums for plane parts and whose generals were begging him not to start anything with North Korea because we didn't have enough bullets and other weapons left in our arsenal.

Trump rebuilt the Military financially, even compromising with the Dems on things he was against in order to get the Military funded.

The Military knows this regardless of what the left reports.

I find it interesting too that those Military Ballots they found in a ditch in Pennsylvania, ever single one of them was voting for President Trump.

I find it interesting too that those Military Ballots they found in a ditch in Pennsylvania, ever single one of them was voting for President Trump.

You do have a point here.

BUT...

President Trump inherited a Military that was searching through museums for plane parts and whose generals were begging him not to start anything with North Korea because we didn't have enough bullets and other weapons left in our arsenal.

Trump rebuilt the Military financially, even compromising with the Dems on things he was against in order to get the Military funded.

The Military knows this regardless of what the left reports.

I find it interesting too that those Military Ballots they found in a ditch in Pennsylvania, ever single one of them was voting for President Trump.

Military that was searching through museums for plane parts

I find it interesting too that those Military Ballots they found in a ditch in Pennsylvania, ever single one of them was voting for President Trump.

I will cast my vote for Joe Biden on Nov. 3. It will be my first vote for a Democratic candidate for president of the United States. But it is not the first time I have said “no” to Donald Trump. I urge my fellow Pennsylvanians to join me.

I actually consider it a point of personal pride that I’m recognized for being among the first Republicans to reject Donald Trump. It was way back in December 2015. I told NBC’s Chuck Todd that day that I could never support Trump. I said then that he was an embarrassment to the Republican Party and our country. I said he belittles, demeans, and ridicules people who disagree with him, and that I’ve never thought that loud, obnoxious, and simpleminded solutions to complex problems are the kind of qualities we want in a president. I believe that earned me my first of several Trump tweets of indignation.

So here we are in 2020. And do we ever have complex problems that demand thoughtful, intelligent leadership. We are getting none of it. I cannot help but compare our current situation dealing with a global health pandemic to my time leading the Department of Homeland Security following the 9/11 terror attacks. There are many similarities to our national response. Those similarities, however, do not include presidential leadership.

Many of us remember when President George W. Bush, with megaphone in hand, stood on the rubble in lower Manhattan and told his fellow citizens and the world that those responsible for the brutal carnage of 9/11 would be held accountable. His remarks unified the country and his appearance on the mound at Yankee Stadium days later put an exclamation point on the message that America was resilient and would overcome.

Compare and contrast that with the crisis of today. Imagine the impact of President Trump traveling to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention back in February, and talking plainly about the challenge Mother Nature intended to throw at us, and how this country, working together, public and private sector, would confront it with all the fortitude and resources we could bring to bear. Then imagine him meeting with journalists the next day, appearing with a face mask, and calmly walking through the steps that his fellow citizens could and should take to do their part to combat this new challenge. Imagine the difference in attitude and outcomes. Perhaps I have more trust in Americans being able to handle the truth than the president.

Donald Trump has proven over these last four years he is incapable of such leadership. It is not within him. He lacks the empathy, integrity, intellect and maturity to lead. He sows division along political, racial and religious lines. And he routinely dismisses the opinions of experts who know far more about the subject at hand than he does – intelligence, military, and public health. Our country has paid dearly in lives lost, social unrest, economic hardship and our standing in the world.

With just about one month until Election Day, President Trump continues to claim the only way he can possibly be defeated is a rigged election. Can you imagine the hubris? Can you imagine any other president in our lifetime — or ever — saying something so dangerous and un-American? We are in the midst of a health crisis, when we should be doing all we can to help citizens vote safely, yet he continues to cast doubt on the sanctity of the vote. He’s done so multiple times here in Pennsylvania. It’s deplorable, yet utterly consistent with past reprehensible behavior.

Vice President Biden and I both know that supporting his candidacy now certainly won’t dissuade me from speaking out later when I disagree with him. But we surely will do so with civility and respect, not with childish name-calling and twitter tirades. Joe Biden has the experience and empathy necessary to help us navigate not only the pandemic, but also other issues that have fractured our nation, including social injustice, income inequality and immigration reform.

Whether the Republican Party can restore itself or not, I don’t know. Whether it wants to or not, I don’t know that either. But what matters to me is that the core group of conservative principles I held as a young man when I cast my first vote decades ago are with me today. They are the same principles exhorted by my party’s forebears -- Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. Those principles have been indispensible to me in deciding to extend my hand of support to Joe Biden, who I believe absolutely must be America’s next president.

Pennsylvania voters, along with voters in Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida, are likely to ultimately determine the next president. So much is at stake. For me, voting is not just a privilege, but a responsibility. And this year, I believe the responsible vote is for Joe Biden. It’s a vote for decency. A vote for the rule of law. And a vote for honest and earnest leadership. It’s time to put country over party. It’s time to dismiss Donald Trump.

Tom Ridge is a former Republican governor of Pennsylvania and first U.S. secretary of Homeland Security.

The Inquirer’s Opinion pages typically do not publish endorsements of candidates written by individuals. However, the editors made an exception for this piece by former Gov. Ridge due to its news value.

....a vote for decency. A vote for the rule of law. And a vote for honest and earnest leadership.

j/c:

I love when politicians talk about honesty and integrity. And ironically, the name-calling, social justice issues, and the lack of respect for hard-working Americans all contributed to why I will no longer vote for Democrats.

I'm not sure that there is any name-calling, or social justice warrior comments in the Ridge Article?

Do you think Ridge/Bush have less integrity than Trump?

What a bunch of hooey. Trump is getting peace deals signed in the middle east. So much for not understanding.

and the lack of respect for hard-working Americans

This is hilarious. You know, it's pretty easy to find peace when you aren't at war to begin with. "We will continue to not be at war."

Peace deals with countries that refused to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. Now they have peace deals that include commerce and travel. Trump is only the 3rd president since 1948 to get any kind of mideast peace deal, and now has two in one term.