According to an MSNBC guest, there is a "debate"

[LuckyCharms]

on whether former government employees should speak out against the president.

A debate.

On whether a now private citizen can express his views of the president.

It was in reference to what John Brennan is saying.

I missed the exact language, but the impression I got from the guest was something like..."Former officials should not speak out against the president. That being said, Trump should not have taken away his clearance".

I am not familiar with the guy who said it.

Some strange shit is seeping into the old TV box. Brennan is protected under the first amendment. Plain and simple. Brennan should not be held to some high standard concerning this...he is now a citizen like me and you. He can say whatever he wants, like I do. And I speak as someone who held a clearance for many years. Mine ended because it was terminated through a normal and expected process because I no longer had a "need to know". Getting one revoked because of a political opinion is really beyond the pale.

I'm going to have to start keeping a barf bucket next to the recliner.

[rurallib]

1. thought that one was settled about 240 years ago or so.

[kentuck]

2. Excellent point!

I feel like Paul Revere is riding by in a hurry, yelling, that "the British are coming!"

[csziggy]

14. Something like this?

[Lindsay]

3. There used to be a theory

that one should respect the President because he is the President.

But when you've got a president* who respects no one but himself, all bets are off, I think.

[MoonRiver]

6. And that theory has never been followed.

Even George Washington had very verbal detractors.

[triron]

7. That is beside the point.

[jalan48]

15. Look how they treated Obama. How long did the bullshit birth certificate issue get debated in the

media? Now Trump is supposed to get little criticism because he's President? I see the media as one of the main problems here.

[iluvtennis]

16. To get respect, you need to give respect. Trump respects no one. He doesn't deserve to be respected

just because of the position he holds. I feel that way for anyone in any position.

[Ilsa]

4. I know of more than one current government employee

Who speaks out against former government employees. He says everything is their fault.

[SammyWinstonJack]

12. The Bigly Hypocrite tRUMP who doesn't see himself as a gov't employee

Someone should tell him, that's exact what he is, with 300 mil+ bosses.

[avebury]

5. If there is a bat shit crazy guy sitting in the WH and Congress

refuses to do anything about it then it is the civic duty for any current or former government officials to speak out.

The refusal of Germans to speak out against Hitler allowed Hitler and his goons to wage a world war and create death camps.

[triron]

8. +1000

[iluvtennis]

17. +10000

[dawg day]

9. And frankly, an honest president wouldn't have to worry.

President Obama has had just as many aides and officials as Trump, and did he try to restrict their right to talk about their experience and express their (very informed) opinions? Of course not.

And they talk a lot. They write books.

Besides-- Brennan wasn't in Trump's administration. Is he really supposed to never talk about current events?

There's no debate here. He knows he's not supposed to disclose classified information, and he's not. Everything else is fair game. He has the same rights all of us do... and a lot more useful information.

Trump's people all think they have the right to go sell themselves, their access, and their information as lobbyists. But speaking up in the public interest, they're against.

[randr]

10. We will always respect the "office"

When the current occupant of the "office" does not share this respect, they need to be shamed and worse.

[cos dem]

11. Didn't stop assholes like Cheney or Bolton.

Once again hypocrisy strikes.

[gratuitous]

13. Isn't it odd?

Nobody from the Bush administration ever said a word against Obama. Uh huh. Sure.

[TNNurse]

18. Any citizen whether a government employee or previous one has the right to free speech,

Pretty sure it is written down somewhere.

[blue-wave]

19. What also seems strange to me

is that individuals in the administration are asked to nondisclosure agreements. I can understand the necessary need to not disclose classified information. But these people are public servants whose salaries are derived from taxpayer money. If there is wrongdoing in the administration, it should be exposed.