JAMES MATTIS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “James Mattis just cut the world’s safety net. The defense secretary’s decision to quit Thursday [12-20-18] was a warning that will ring through history about an impulsive President who spurns advice, disdains America’s friends and proudly repudiates the codes of US leadership that have endured since World War II. Mattis stopped Washington in its tracks — even after months of stunning plot twists in Donald Trump’s presidency, and as stock markets plunge, a legal net tightens around the White House and the government is about to shut down. His recognition that he could no longer work for an erratic commander in chief who decided to pull US troops out of Syria, apparently without consulting anyone, could lead to a new period of global uncertainty as Trump slips his remaining restraints. Grave faces on Capitol Hill and the shaken voices of retired military men on cable news reflected the Pentagon chief’s renown as more than a decorated warrior, retired four-star general and the most admired Cabinet member.”
–Stephen Collinson, “Trump unleashed: Mattis exit paves way for global chaos,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, December 20, 2018 4:41 am