Donald Trump has often used his constitutional pardon power as a tool to right what he considers to be personal wrongs, and his potential pardon of NSA spy Edward Snowden is no exception. You may remember Snowden as a former government IT contractor who stole more than 1.5 million documents and fled first to Hong Kong before ultimately finding safe harbor in Moscow. Snowden claims he is a whistleblower who took proof of an “illegal” NSA surveillance program targeting US citizens and seems to believe his actions make him worthy of respect. In reality, he is neither a whistleblower, a status requiring one to go through channels which he refused to do. …

My mother, aged 92, and I went to Arlington Cemetery to visit my father’s grave on Saturday. My dad served in the US Army as an infantry soldier in Europe and, in December 1944, was wounded in an artillery attack that killed a friend fighting next to him. Dad’s wound was a “million dollar,” wound — not serious but it disqualified him for additional combat duty. He spent the rest of his time in Europe as a military police officer. My father’s military service — his time preparing to go to Europe and his time fighting the German army — was central to who and what he was, so he wanted to be buried at Arlington. …

A law school friend asked me to write a shareable post about why, as a lifelong Republican and former Trump Administration appointee, I am voting against him. Here goes.

I’m 47, so when I think of a what a president of the United States should do and ought to be like, I automatically think of Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, the good leaders of my youth. As I understood and embraced it in the Eighties, political conservatism was a “three-legged stool” that aspired to advance strong and anticommunist national security policies, economic growth and fiscal responsibility, and a rejection of avant-garde permissiveness on social issues. …

The current political environment and the associated failures of the DoD and IC leadership sparked an unprecedented clarion call from the highest ranks of the National Security Community. Many distinguished leaders publicly highlighted the dangers presented by a sycophantic ODNI, National Security Advisor, CIA, SECDEF, Secretary of State and even JCS. I am proud to stand with the likes of Michael Hayden, Leon Panetta, Susan Rice, Michele Flournoy, William McRaven, Stanley McChrystal, James Clapper, Robert Cardillo and many other true patriots who have raised the alarm. Groups like National Security Leaders for Biden, The Steady State, National Security Action, and Foreign Policy for America illustrate what truly principled National Security leaders do when faced with an existential threat to our democracy. …

Reading President Trump is a little akin to comprehending the nature of a celestial body by witnessing the effects it or the unseen black hole driving it has on its surroundings, rather than seeing and fully appreciating the qualities of the thing itself. The less than complete grip we have on the Trump presidency today makes what we will one day come to learn about those yet hidden and presumably tawdry details of his term after he has gone the equivalent of an historical tsunami. Admittedly, we have brilliant insights from the crystallizing reportage from authors such as Michael Schmidt, Bob Woodward, Michael Cohen, and a host of others. What we know already is hugely important. But there must be more to come. And what we learn in the months and years following Donald Trump’s exit may be riveting. …

Explanatory Note: The Steady State was founded because former senior members of the U.S. national security community see Donald Trump as a danger to the democracy of this country. The threat he poses to our democracy intensifies every day of this election cycle.

We have seen autocrats in other countries steal elections and destroy their democracies. Imagining what Trump and his campaign looks like to other countries, especially longtime allies, illustrates exactly how dangerous Trump and his Senate and media allies are to the United States. Until November 3, 2020, The Steady State will write reports that reflect what we see as the current president of the United States follows the autocrat’s playbook more and more closely, and will mimic what we would be writing back to our own leaders, if this were happening in another country. Again, the reports are based on our own experiences watching candidates in other countries undermine legitimate elections with lies and violence. We have chosen to present the writings as coming from the Ambassador and Secret Service of an imaginary country, an established democracy, which is a long-time ally of the U.S., …

Explanatory Note: The Steady State was founded because former senior members of the U.S. national security community see Donald Trump as a danger to the democracy of this country. The threat he poses to our democracy intensifies every day of this election cycle.

We have seen autocrats in other countries steal elections and destroy their democracies. Imagining what Trump and his campaign looks like to other countries, especially longtime allies, illustrates exactly how dangerous Trump and his Senate and media allies are to the United States. Until November 3, 2020, The Steady State will write reports that reflect what we see as the current president of the United States follows the autocrat’s playbook more and more closely, and will mimic what we would be writing back to our own leaders, if this were happening in another country. Again, the reports are based on our own experiences watching candidates in other countries undermine legitimate elections with lies and violence. We have chosen to present the writings as coming from the Ambassador and Secret Service of an imaginary country, an established democracy, which is a long-time ally of the U.S., …

Charles G. Ikins

By now, the President’s extraordinary August 31st interview with Laura Ingraham is old news. There was a brief spike in incredulity across the media but then the Presidential sideshow in Kenosha followed by reporting of his alleged comments about those Killed in Action (KIA) and other veterans being “losers and suckers” began to eclipse those extraordinary statements. And now there is reporting that disdain for military service — rather than a career in business — was common in his family (other than his older brother Fred, who served in the Air National Guard). And now we have the (I wish I could say something outraged here but with this Administration the outrage superlatives cupboard is long bare) revelation that the President has been downplaying the pandemic’s danger all along. …