Commentary

Just two months ago we were treated to a series of interviews with former Attorney General Bill Barr, reviewing his book, “One Damn Thing After Another.” Now it’s former Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s time in the spotlight with his book, “A Sacred Oath.”  Both gentlemen provide viewers with their opinions of former President Trump that are, for the most part, critical.

However, they did praise Trump for his effort to control the southern border, his insistence that NATO countries pay their fair share, and his initiation of Operation Warp Speed during the Covid crisis.  Barr has been vocal about the unfair treatment given Trump over Russian collusion within the justice department.

While both Barr and Esper have indicated that they would prefer Trump not run in 2024, at least Barr has said that he would support him if he was elected.

I was disappointed in the Wall Street Journal’s selection of former Trump national security advisor John Bolton to author a review of Esper’s book.  It was Bolton who wrote his own unkind memoir about the Trump era, “The Room Where It Happened.”

Tucked away, eight paragraphs into a Washington Post opinion piece on the danger of losing our democracy, anti-Trump neocon Max Boot took the opportunity to drop in a quote about Trump from Esper’s book.  “He is an unprincipled person who, given his self-interest, should not be in the position of public service.”

With Esper making the rounds to promote his book, I thought it would be a good time to write about those lobbyists, some of them former generals, who are frequently called upon to comment on military defense matters, especially with the situation in Ukraine.

You may not be aware that most of those talking heads have ties to defense contractors, making them more than willing to support more weapons for Ukraine.  Esper was a lobbyist for Raytheon before becoming Trump’s secretary of defense, and Lloyd Austin served on the board of Raytheon before becoming Biden’s secretary of defense.

A few others that come to mind include, Jeh Johnson, Michele Flournoy, Leon Panetta, Gary Roughead, Ben Hodges, Jeffrey Kellogg and Jack Keane.

While the name and former title of the person being interviewed is generally stated, ties to defense contractors are rarely mentioned.  So, when they advocate the U.S. sending more of this or that weapon system to Ukraine, know that while it may be an opinion in earnest, a defense contractor is benefiting.   We do benefit from their insight.  Few network anchors have the knowledge those individuals provide. 

There are a number of talking heads with military and intelligence backgrounds, several of which were highly critical of President Trump, including James Clapper, John Brennan, Michael Hayden, and again Panetta.  You will recall that 51 of them embarrassed themselves by signing on to a letter referring to Hunter Biden’s laptop as Russian information.

I don’t know whether former President Trump intends to run again in 2024, but if he does, he will need to establish a vetting procedure not experienced before in Washington. Those who signed on for impeachment will be obvious, like the list of 51 former intel officers.  Those citing January 6, incitement have become open knowledge, too.  Finally, those within the Deep State, “Old Washington” pols, need not apply. 

I’m sure Trump has an enemies list of his own, but he will need to depend on people like Rep. Jim Jordan, former Rep. Devin Nunes, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to prevent bad actors from consideration for administration positions.

You would have to been living on another planet not to know that there’s a group of unelected officials in the bureaucracy who secretly manipulate, even direct, national policy. Some are more obvious, like Biden’s national security advisor Jake Sullivan, who was involved “up to here” in the scandalous goings on with Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Victoria Nuland, spokesperson for Secretary of State Clinton, surfaced last year to be named under Secretary of State, in the Washington DC game of musical chairs. She was involved in the questionable editing of the Benghazi talking points.

It was candidate Trump’s pledge to drain the swamp of these people. You will recall the call for government employees to sign up for resistance training and the e-mail exchanges between FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, supporters of Hillary Clinton, determined to keep Trump from the presidency.

If there is a threat to democracy, it resides among the unelected bureaucrats who operate under the radar, avoiding public scrutiny, with secret budgets.  John Brennan and James Clapper were able to escape perjury charges after lying to Congress.

Not all of those with “been there, done that” creds are to be distrusted, but their movement within the bureaucracy requires scrutiny, even if they have served in both Republican and Democrat administrations.

Now, more than ever … may God continue to bless the United States of America.