Over 700 national security officials endorse Harris for president

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Mon Sep 23, 2024, 07:45 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: Axios

9 hours ago


Over 700 national security and military officials endorsed Kamala Harris for president Sunday in a letter that said the vice president "defends America's democratic ideals" while former President Trump "endangers" them.

The big picture: The latest boost for Harris' campaign comes days after more than 100 Republican national security leaders endorsed the Democratic presidential nominee for president, including nine staffers who served in the Trump White House.

Several polls show Harris pulling ahead of Trump, including an NBC News survey out Sunday showing the Democrat leading the Republican nationally 49% to 44% and a Washington Post one showing her with a slight lead in four battleground states.

Driving the news: Former secretaries of state and defense, ex-ambassadors and retired generals were among those to sign onto the letter, organized by the group National Security Leaders for America.

"The contrast with Mr. Trump is clear: where Vice President Harris is prepared and strategic, he is impulsive and ill-informed," per the letter, which features signatories including former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, a Republican who served in the Obama administration, and retired Navy Rear Adm. Michael Smith

The letter criticizes Trump for praising "adversarial dictators" including China's Xi Jinping, North Korea's Kim Jung-un, and Russia's Vladimir Putin, "as well as the terrorist leaders of Hezbollah," while denegrating the U.S.

It said Trump "threatens our democratic system" by calling for the "termination" of parts of the U.S. Constitution and added that his comments about being a dictator for a day were not reassuring.

Trump "has undermined faith in our elections by repeating lies, without evidence, of 'millions' of fraudulent votes," per the letter.

"He has shown no remorse for trying to overturn the 2020 election on January 6th, promises to pardon the convicted perpetrators, and has made clear he will not respect the results of the 2024 election should he lose again," it added.

"That alone proves Mr. Trump is unfit to be Commander-in-Chief."

The bottom line: "We do not agree on everything, but we all adhere to two fundamental principles," the letter said.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2024/09/22/national-security-officials-endorse-harris

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Link to LETTER - https://www.nsl4a.org/nsl4a-announcements/nsl4a-endorsement-harris

Link to LETTER (PDF - English) - https://www.nsl4a.org/s/NSL4A-Endorsement-for-President-8xbg.pdf

Link to LETTER (PDF - Spanish) - https://www.nsl4a.org/s/NSL4A-Endorsement-for-PresidentSpanish-d5g5.pdf

( to UpInArms for the links)

[riversedge]

1. Just GOTV--and better yet--find someone who needs a ride to the voting place and

offer to drive that person.

[COL Mustard]

2. I saw some familiar names on the letter

I would have signed, but nobody cares what a retired Lieutenant Colonel thinks. I'm glad to see this number of people signing on, but I don't know what difference it will make to MAGA faithful.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. The true MAGats are brain-dead

I think this effort is aiming at convincing the Indies/un-affliateds.

If anything, the hardcore MAGat "base" is only about 25% - 30% of the voters. It's a matter of peeling off that middle group who swings either way (often because of where they live and who is on their state/local ballots).

[COL Mustard]

4. I can't imagine anyone truly being undecided today.

I will never understand MAGA, who stand by him no matter what. I have family who are in that group and they don't think he's ever done anything wrong. Biden, on the other hand (and now Harris) can't wake up in the morning without committing some high crime or misdemeanor, according to them.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. At this point, outside of the youngest new voters

there are whole immigrant communities, with eligible voters, who have generally disengaged themselves from "politics" and/or have shunned it when no one came to seek them out. In many cases, there is enough of a language barrier that they truly have no idea who is running even in their local elections. Some of them are here from countries where elections were always "fixed" anyway, so the concept results in understandable skepticism.

Fortunately this election cycle, there is a little bit more outreach going on to get to these communities.

[COL Mustard]

12. That's an excellent point

And one I hadn’t considered. Thanks! 😊

[BumRushDaShow]

13. Just posted about this as a news item!

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143311850

[ariadne0614]

6. It's just a hunch, but maybe it's about keeping "manhood" at the top of the pyramid.

If 20% of likely *Rump voters are men who mindlessly cling to 10,00 years of “women are the weaker sex” social conditioning, then maybe 700 representatives of the warrior class can peel a few away from the misogynist mob.

[UpInArms]

5. Here's a link to the Letter

https://www.nsl4a.org/nsl4a-announcements/nsl4a-endorsement-harris

September 22, 2024

To the American People,

We are former public servants who swore an oath to the Constitution. Many of us risked our lives for it. We are retired generals, admirals, senior noncommissioned officers, ambassadors, and senior civilian national security leaders. We are Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. We are loyal to the ideals of our nation—like freedom, democracy, and the rule of law—not to any one individual or party.

We do not agree on everything, but we all adhere to two fundamental principles. First, we believe America’s national security requires a serious and capable Commander-in-Chief. Second, we believe American democracy is invaluable. Each generation has a responsibility to defend it. That is why we, the undersigned, proudly endorse Kamala Harris to be the next President of the United States.

This election is a choice between serious leadership and vengeful impulsiveness. It is a choice between democracy and authoritarianism. Vice President Harris defends America’s democratic ideals, while former President Donald Trump endangers them.

We do not make such an assessment lightly. We are trained to make sober, rational decisions. That is how we know Vice President Harris would make an excellent Commander-in-Chief, while Mr. Trump has proven he is not up to the job. As leaders, we know effective leadership requires in-depth knowledge, careful deliberation, understanding of your adversaries, and empathy for those you lead. It requires listening to those with expertise and not firing them when they disagree with you.

Vice President Harris has proven she is an effective leader able to advance American national security interests. Her relentless diplomacy with allies around the globe preserved a united front in support of Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression. She grasps the reality of American military deterrence, promising to preserve the American military’s status as the most “lethal” force in the world.

The contrast with Mr. Trump is clear: where Vice President Harris is prepared and strategic, he is impulsive and ill-informed. He has heaped praise on adversarial dictators like China’s Xi Jinping, North Korea’s Kim Jung Un, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, as well as the terrorist leaders of Hezbollah. Conversely, he has publicly and privately excoriated the leaders of our most steadfast allies, including the United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, Canada, and Germany. He abandoned our Kurdish allies while ceding influence in the Middle East to Russia, Iran, and China.

Further, Mr. Trump denigrates our great country and does not believe in the American ideal that our leaders should reflect the will of the people. While Vice President Harris follows the democratic norms we expect of any political leader—including promising to abide by the outcome of the pending election and respecting the rule of law—Mr. Trump is the first president in American history to actively undermine the peaceful transfer of power, the bedrock of American democracy.

Mr. Trump threatens our democratic system; he has said so himself. He has called for the “termination” of parts of the Constitution. He said he wants to be a “dictator,” and his clarification that he would only be a dictator for a day is not reassuring. He has undermined faith in our elections by repeating lies, without evidence, of “millions” of fraudulent votes.

He has shown no remorse for trying to overturn the 2020 election on January 6th, promises to pardon the convicted perpetrators, and has made clear he will not respect the results of the 2024 election should he lose again.

That alone proves Mr. Trump is unfit to be Commander-in-Chief.

We believe, as President Ronald Reagan said, that “America is a shining city on a hill.” Yet in this election, one of President Reagan’s more ominous warnings is equally relevant. “Freedom,” he said, “is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

Our endorsement of Vice President Harris is an endorsement of freedom and an act of patriotism. It is an endorsement of democratic ideals, of competence, and of relentless optimism in America’s future. We hope you will join us in voting for her.

Sincerely,

And then a very I,pressive set of signatures

[BumRushDaShow]

7. Thank you! Will add to the OP!

[FakeNoose]

10. Awesome! I hope the MAGAs see this, maybe it will knock some sense into them

[riversedge]

9. Trump Branded 'Unfit' As 700 Security Officials Back Kamala Harris.............

Trump Branded 'Unfit' As 700 Security Officials Back Kamala Harris

Updated Sep 23, 2024 at 7:50 AM EDT

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-impulsive-unfit-security-officials-harris-1957650?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1727090541

A group of former senior national security leaders have formally endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, describing her opponent Donald Trump as "impulsive," "ill-informed" and "unfit."

The National Security Leaders for America released a statement endorsing Harris on Sunday, signed by more than 700 members. The letter brands Trump as being "unfit" for the job of Commander-in-Chief, and a threat to the country's democratic system.

"This election is a choice between serious leadership and vengeful impulsiveness. It is a choice between democracy and authoritarianism. Vice President Harris defends America's democratic ideals, while former President Donald Trump endangers them," the group's statement said.

The nonprofit describes itself as a bipartisan group composed of retired generals, admirals, senior noncommissioned officers, ambassadors, and senior civilian national security leaders..................

[Hermit-The-Prog]

11. If we had uniformly good education in the country, polling would be at 70% Harris, 30% traitortrump.