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NRaleighLiberal

(59,940 posts)
Tue May 16, 2017, 04:42 PM May 2017

slate - Donald Trump is a Stress Test for Democracy. We are Failing.

by Jamelle Bouie

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/05/donald_trump_is_a_stress_test_for_democracy_and_we_are_failing.html

Donald Trump began the 115th day of his presidency embroiled in yet another scandal of incredible scope and consequence, the second such occurrence in as many weeks. On Monday, the Washington Post broke incredible news: During a closed-door meeting with two Russian officials—Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak—the president revealed highly classified information regarding operations against the Islamic State. According to the Post, “the information the president relayed had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government.” The New York Times reported on Tuesday that this ally was Israel, actualizing fears from Israeli officials, who previously worried that a President Trump would leak intelligence to Russia, which might then find its way to Iran.


As Trump, his staff, and his allies have asserted in the wake of this revelation, it’s within his rights as president to unilaterally declassify intelligence. There’s no question the president has the right to share this information, just as he had the right to fire now-former FBI director James Comey. He even has the right to tweet details of major operations or unmask covert operatives. In that regard, when the president does it, it isn’t illegal. But this isn’t a question of legality or authority; it’s a question of norms and protocol, of temperament and discretion, of actions that may constitute an abnegation of duty that could equate to high crimes and misdemeanors.

On that score, Trump’s loose lips are like his impulsive action against Comey: evidence that, on the most fundamental level, he is not fit for high office. Indeed, he’s never been fit for high office. And as we debate the means to hold him accountable for this latest action, it’s worth tackling a different question: How can we prevent another Trump in the future?

By all accounts, President Trump didn’t reveal this information as an official action with the Russian government. He did so as a casual boast, a way to win affirmation and praise, like a child eager to please a teacher. “In his meeting with Lavrov, Trump seemed to be boasting about his inside knowledge of the looming threat,” reports the Post. “ ‘I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day,’ the president said, according to an official with knowledge of the exchange.”

snip - more to read at the link above

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