By Chris Cillizza
..."I've never seen (click here) an instance when the President is so detached from the reality of what's going on," Woodward told NBC's Savannah Guthrie in a Monday interview, adding: "This has not been treated seriously enough. Some of the things Trump did and does jeopardize the real national security."...
..."The Woodward book is a Joke - just another assault against me, in a barrage of assaults, using now disproven unnamed and anonymous sources," Trump tweeted on Monday morning. "Many have already come forward to say the quotes by them, like the book, are fiction. Dems can't stand losing. I'll write the real book!"...
Bob Woodward is never a joke. I never remember him making light of a book he wrote about a president. No. I don't recall him ever being frivolous about a president.
...What Woodward is reporting in his book isn't new....
It might not be new, but, it is fact. There is no suppositions being made. Bob Woodward's book is about fact, it validates all the reports that are treated with skepticism. There is no more speculation. We now know the facts and it is seriously worrisome, ESPECIALLY, because no one is doing anything about it and Trump takes the lack of action as permission to be and do worse.
Bob Woodward's book is as much a criticism of Congress as a factual reporting.
...There have been reports of massive staff dysfunction in the Trump White House from the get-go. There have been reports that Trump seems uninterested or unaware of the details of key foreign policy and national security efforts. He seems entirely convinced that he possesses all the knowledge he needs despite never having held elected office before. He began his presidency cocooned from the news and has grown only more so -- seemingly (if his Twitter feed is an accurate representation) primarily watching Fox News at this point. His entire life -- including the long period before he started running for president -- suggests that Trump is simply telling himself a story of his own life. Whether or not that story is consistent with established facts has never been of much concern to him.
Woodward's book reinforces all of that. And unlike, say, Michael Wolff or Omarosa Manigault Newman, Woodward comes from a position of decades of journalism about the highest levels of government with very, very few questions about the veracity of his work. In short: Woodward is not easily dismissed.
When Bob Woodward says that we are not taking seriously the threat posed by a President "so detached from the reality of what's going on," we should all take note. These are not idle words by a carnival barker.
Trump doesn't treat national security with any degree of brevity.
...A tweet drafted (click here) by President Donald Trump ― but never posted ― had the potential to lead to war with North Korea, veteran journalist Bob Woodward said on Sunday.
“He drafts a tweet saying ‘We are going to pull out dependents from South Korea ... Family members of the 28,000 people there,’” Woodward said on CBS “Sunday Morning” as he promoted his upcoming book, Fear: Trump in the White House.
But a backchannel message from North Korea said bringing family members home would be considered a sign of an impending U.S. attack.
“At that moment there was a sense of profound alarm in the Pentagon leadership that, ‘My God, one tweet and we have reliable information that the North Koreans are going to read this as an attack is imminent,’” Woodward said....
Did nuclear war break out? No, but, the potential is all too real. The Pentagon was taken completely off guard and surprised. Ordering USA personnel and families home is a direct threat, except, if you are Putin where he orders out Americans and then takes possession of the USA Embassy.
The "Tweets" are the problem. If the back channel message came directly from North Korea, the person to person dialogue is what is being used to direct foreign policy. One tweet and the USA is completely vulnerable because no one is sitting in the Map Room and discussing threats and policy. Launching a tweet regarding evacuations of American family members is pure panic to begin with and who says North Korea would wait until everyone left. Trump is grossly out of step with national security and directly placing American lives in the path of danger.
I know this is old already, but, there needs to be a complete investigation of such actions by Trump. His twitter account is used to establish USA foreign policy in the flash of a second. That is not the way the world is supposed to work. It places American lives directly in the path of danger. It is Pearl Harbor all over again, only this time all parties have nukes. When discussing North Korea there are two permanent nuclear members that are standing side by side with Pyongyang. The USA has allies in Europe that would be reacting at the launch of the first nuclear capacity missile. That type of poor judgement and lack of awareness of the lives of Americans is dangerous. There is no other way to put this. Trump has no regard for American lives.
BOB WOODWARD IS NOT TABLOID JOURNALISM!
Trump needs to take this book seriously and Congress needs to act on it.
This isn't political fodder. Bob Woodward does not write political fodder. Every word is writes is considered seriously before it goes to paper.
...An excerpt of the book obtained by The Atlantic said the nearly-posted tweet “scared the daylights” out of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford....
This is what Woodward, the Atlantic and the Generals are reacting to. Feel aggravated and worried all at the same time. This isn't suppose to be a concern any longer, right? I mean there is a treaty, right? Not with North Korea there isn't and China and Russia are sworn allies.
The attitude, "What difference does it make? The people that die or are vaporized simply won't be able to complain and everyone else will have to pick up the pieces and go on."
...“You are only given One life, (click here) So cherish this moment Cherish this day, Be kind to others, Be kind to yourself”
TESTIMONY
“I was three years old at the time of the bombing. I don’t remember much, but I do recall that my surroundings turned blindingly white, like a million camera flashes going off at once.
Then, pitch darkness.
I was buried alive under the house, I’ve been told. When my uncle finally found me and pulled my tiny three year old body out from under the debris, I was unconscious. My face was misshapen. He was certain that I was dead....
Every year Japan recalls the attacks no different than the USA notices Pearl Harbor and September 11th. Surviving a nuclear blast is completely unpredictable. There are no guarantees for anyone. Peace is a necessity in such times and no one is pursuing it.
My life is not to be toyed with!
I don't care who wrote the Op-Ed. The staff is terrified of Trump. I do hope the idea that who wrote it is a whistle blower is being entertained as the truth. The person is blameless. It is a warning. I hope everyone read the warning. I really don't care who wrote it and neither should any other American.
