“Reading Snodgrass’s Pentagon memoir, Holding the Line, the clues to Anonymous’s identity are apparent. As in A Warning, the sentences and paragraphs are pithy and punchy. Every chapter in both books begins with an inspiring but not cliched quotation from an historic figure. Many passages in both books are remarkably similar: the ordeal of conducting a Pentagon briefing for Trump; national security staffers exchanging appalled asides about Trump’s conduct of foreign policy via Twitter; and the arguments for why American alliances strengthen national security and immigration policy shouldn’t be based on building a border wall. In particular, both books stress that, when briefed about international alliances, Trump derails discussions by griping about how allies are stiffing the United States, from allegedly miserly NATO contributions to ostensibly one-sided trade policies.”
How terrible--derailing briefings by stuffed shirt bureaucrats! Impeach him, resist him! Elections be damned! Swamp rules!
DoJ is seeking the identity of the author because it claims he may have violated non-disclosure agreements.
A speechwriter.
ReplyDeleteAnd The New York Times knew he was merely a speechwriter.
As I remember from my reading of the US Constitution's 25th Amendment, speechwriters do not participate in the voting to remove a US President.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding as well. But he knows that presidents supposed to just shut up and listen.
DeleteReflects very poorly on Mattis.
DeleteTom S.
Like LE, the military has been able to coast for years on a reputation that's not always deserved.
DeleteCorrection: Like LE, the IC, the diplomatic establishment, and the military ...
DeleteMattis had a full-time speechwriter?
ReplyDeleteDid he have more than one full-time speechwriter?
How many speeches did Mattis give in a normal week?
How different were his speeches?
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When I was on the Pentagon staff of the USAF's Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, I was a captain (the lowest rank there), and I was assigned to write a couple of speeches for the ACS/I.
I think Matthis could have assigned a mid-level officer -- like a major or even a lieutenant colonel -- to write a speech if he needed one written.
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Did this particular speechwriter get permission to publish his notorious article and book? If not, he might be in legal trouble.
The ACS/I was a two-star general. It was a feather in a cap that I wrote a couple speeches for him.
DeletePlenty of Pentagon officers would have been glad to write a speech for the Secretary of Defense -- for free.
"Did this particular speechwriter get permission to publish his notorious article and book? If not, he might be in legal trouble."
ReplyDeleteAnd that's exactly what Barr's DoJ is looking into--violation of his non-disclosure agreements.
A professional speechwriter at the SecDef level in the Pentagon would be very well informed about the regulations limiting his own publications. He won't be able to claim ignorance of the regulations.
DeleteMatthis will not be able to ignore this. He will have to say publicly what he knew about his speechwriter's seditious opinions and secret activities.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see a photograph of Guy Snodgrass's Pentagon office. I imagine that it's a cubicle.
ReplyDeleteLikewise I'd like to see also a photograph of Alexander Vindman's office on the National Security Council. I imagine that it is a cubicle too.
There's nothing wrong with working in a cubicle.
However, we all were supposed to think that Snodgrass was a cabinet secretary -- something like the Secretary of Defense.
These trouble-makers are just punks.
Do speechwriters actually qualify as a "senior official"?
ReplyDeleteThey have no duties related to official responsibilities and government authority. Their duties are wordsmithing. Seems the NYT promoted him well above his status in identifying him as such.
"Speechwriter for a senior official" would've been the honest disclosure. But it's the NYT--honesty is not policy.
Forbes,
ReplyDeleteI'll translate for you. If the government bureaucrat is criticizing the President, he is a senior official. If the same employee is caught doing something wrong, he is a low-level employee. Think Snodgrass for the former and Clinesmith for the latter.