My husband was aghast that Sec of Defense has a nickname "Mad Dog"

[boston bean]

He wondered if the nickname of the Treasury Secy was "Fingers Malone"...

[exboyfil]

1. Mattis seems to be a pretty good guy

all things considered, but he should not be SecDef. NSA I could handle though (infinitely better than Flynn who singularly ill suited for such a position). Here is a document that talks about what the NSA should do.

"Being an “honest broker” means running a fair and transparent process for bringing issues to the President for decision. It means maintaining a “level playing field” in which ideas and views can compete with one another on an equal basis, without “stacking the deck” in favor of one or another approach. It means in particular not using the privileged position accorded to the National Security Advisor in this process to “tilt” the process in favor of the outcome favored by the National Security Advisor.

http://defense360.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Scowcroft-Paper-1_Hadley_The-Roll-and-Importance-of-the-NSA.pdf

[Tommy_Carcetti]

3. He has expressed a certain glee in killing people

That's slightly disconcerting. War should never be pleasurable.

[gulliver]

2. Trump even used the guy's nickname to introduce him.

I wonder how that translates into foreign languages. "Trump Announces 'Rabid Canine' as Secretary of Defense Pick?"

Foreign readers are probably thinking, "Well, it's not the worst thing he's done. Maybe he's mellowing."