Looks like Matiss is going rogue, so is Pence.....

[sunonmars]

Link to tweet

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-press-mattis-idUSKBN15Y0MB?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Sunday distanced himself from President Donald Trump's assessment of the media as "the enemy of the American people," saying during his first trip to the Middle East that he had no problems with the press.

Asked whether he agreed with Trump's remarks, Mattis said: "I've had some rather contentious times with the press. But no, the press, as far as I'm concerned, are a constituency that we deal with. And I don't have any issues with the press, myself."

...................

Trump will have a shit fit.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

1. Vice President Mattis?

Perhaps?

[sunonmars]

2. he's certainly not on the whacko Trump train which is encouraging.

[vlyons]

3. plus as an army career officer

he takes his oath to "defend the constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic" - he takes it seriously , unlike some we might mention. Freedom of the press is a right granted by the constitution. Malicious reportage is called "libel" and can be remedied through the courts, assuming that it can be proved.

I just wish that some media would sue Trump for slander.

[sunonmars]

4. indeed, he aint buying into the bullshit, i think.

[Johnyawl]

9. Marine Career officer

...please, that's important to us.

[dawg]

5. When the most sensible member of the Cabinet is nicknamed "Mad Dog" ...

you just know the country is up shit creek (with a turd for a paddle).

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. Zing!

[jalan48]

6. If he was really serious he would resign in protest. What Trump is saying is way beyond normal.

Trump bullies the press and then someone in his Administration backs off a little and this is a good thing? Anyone who remains associated with Trump in any positive way is still a problem in my mind.

[sarge43]

10. Resigning would leave the door open for someone like Flynn to step in.

Maybe too early to tell, but he may ensure Trump doesn't turn the armed forces into his personal hit squad.

[TrekLuver]

12. No we need some sanity thrown in the cesspool of human waste.

[Alice11111]

18. Yes. We hope they stay put to fight the battle. DT has opps

who are rooting out anyone who mighy not be 100pc blindly loyal, Directed by Banno, I assume. He's more concerned about that than filling all of those empty positions in the administration.

DOD, CIA, and State are the ones voicing concerns. They are not who we would have liked, but they are probably as good as we are going to get. We need some concerned people in those positions. Part of their concern is Bannon wants to pick their people, and the unhinged statements and acts of DT, like N Korean missile security fiasco at Mar a Lago. State confirmed US commitment to 2 state solution, contradicting DT, almost right after DTs statement.

[Johnyawl]

13. He'll be fired soon enough...

...he took the job and will stay as long as he can because he believes he's needed to defend the country. He despises Putin, he has talked about how Putin is trying to divide the EU and weaken NATO. He's a very necessary counterweight to people like Bannon.

[Amaryllis]

7. NOt seeing where Pence is going rogue?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

15. Pence said US commitment to NATO was "unwavering" (going rogue), but ...

... but then he wavered.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/18/trump-pence-eu-nato-munich-conference-germany-britain

Pence’s speech on Nato leaves European leaders troubled over alliance’s future

Despite the US vice-president reaffirming a commitment to collective defence, the mood in Munich was mostly one of frostiness and consternation.

{...}

Pence, reiterating that the US remained committed to Nato, attempted to soothe concerns that Trump might deal directly with Putin, bypassing western Europe. The audience welcomed his promise that Russia will be held “accountable” for its actions in Ukraine, although he didn’t spell out how.

But he lost them when he went further than US defence secretary James Mattis at Nato headquarters last week in rebuking Nato members such as Germany, France and Italy for failing to pay a fair share of its financial burden.

Echoing Trump’s threat last year that he would not necessarily be bound by Nato’s article five, which commits every member to come to the aid of any that comes under attack, Pence reiterated the president’s warning that military help might depend on how much a country under attack had contributed to Nato.

[Thekaspervote]

8. Tammy Duckworth said "I can work with Mattis."

That's a darn good endorsement coming from someone that has been through what she has.

[Hekate]

16. Thanks for passing that along

[jeanmarc]

14. Mad Dog is the least maddest in this misadministration nt.

[JI7]

19. he is the total opposite of what the name implies

[bucolic_frolic]

17. I don't believe they're rogue

It's a sign that Trump will be allowed to whip up their base and allow Republicans
to reap all the gains of the power grabbed with that political strategy and attacks
on free speech, but there won't be efforts to force compliance on Republicans to
adhere to that effort and codify it into law. At least that's what I'm thinking at this
moment.