David Frum

David Frum @davidfrum

DeSantis and the others try to bully people on their lists into a donation. Herschel Walker and Tim Scott - and literally nobody else I hear from - ask Republicans for their support "humbly." It's a fascinating contrast. I wonder what explains it. — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

Here's the other. https://t.co/MH0Sb8yKCw — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

But against this almost perfect record of assertive, demanding, even insulting fundraising emails, there are two Republican email threads that strike a very different tone. Here's one https://t.co/yowfjhnddq — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

Or even hyper-aggressive, like this one. https://t.co/3qrB4GBpZH — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

Maybe this is a coincidence, but I notice something odd in my Republican fundraising emails. I'm on a lot of these lists, and normally the tone is ... aggressive. EG https://t.co/kUYh67ZNge — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

I'm corrected by @portraitinflesh : "CAN'T someone else do it?" not "Let somebody else do it!" — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

Yes, so many people in national security positions or the leadership of the Republican party governed themselves during the Trump years by Homer Simpson's winning political slogan: "Let somebody else do it!" — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

All of which reminds me of something else I said often in the first weeks of the Trump presidency: "The sunny American confidence that everything will turn out all right it itself the greatest threat to everything turning out all right." END — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

... in their memoirs after the fact, they console themselves: the system worked on my watch, more or less. Or if it didn't work, it can now be fixed, because surely after January 6, Trump and Trumpism must be finished. Americans would never stand for a repeat, would they? 16/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

... that natural bureaucratic propensity leaves the system vulnerable when it confronts a novel threat outside its expectation: like a corrupt, anti-constitutional president at the top of the machinery of state. Aside from delay, top managers didn't know how to cope. So .. 15/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

3) Esper describes himself as a man of "conventional" views. Except for the very, very rare Henry Kissinger, the senior levels of government are not staffed by highly imaginative people. Nor probably should they be. Keep the system working, that's the job. But ... 14/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

2) Passive resistance tactics only go so far. If Trump signs the paper exiting NATO - NATO is kaput, no matter how much DoD may wish to evade and delay. As Esper acknowledges, he could not protect the Vindman brothers from Trump's retaliation. 13/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

But here are the haunting questions left behind: 1) As I've written before, if Trump is returned to office, this time the velociraptors will know how the door handles work. He will bring with him more committed followers, who may defeat the methods of evasion and delay. 12/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

The book is intended to reassure: Yes, some excesses occurred, but they were managed and contained. Trump had some good instincts, Esper writes in more than one place, and they could be appealed to - and if not, the worst orders could be mitigated or delayed. 11/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

... the estimate remains clearly his view throughout his service. As he writs on p. 5: "There was another major concern I had to factor in to the equation: 'Who would replace me?'" 10/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

As Esper writes: "[A]lthough many things he suggested ranged from appropriate to outlandish, none ever rose to a level that warranted consideration of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment." Esper situates this estimate before the "shoot them in the legs" comment of June 2020, but ... 9/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

And here really is the crux of the book and its argument. Esper seems to have been a competent manager, moderately conservative, a loyal American. Trump offended him in many ways, but those offenses are presented as distractions from more important work. 8/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

On the evidence of his book, Esper is satisfied that his methods more or less worked. "Despite the friction in my relationship with Trump, I felt I was still able to manage the president and his worst instincts." (369) 7/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

Similar slow-dragging methods were used against Trump's demand for a big military parade through the center of Washington. 6/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

But an order is an order. So Esper agreed to a "comprehensive review ... to look at our troop presence around the world," including European Command. Obviously such a review would take a long time - and as it happened, Trump had left office before the review was completed. 5/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

Esper quotes Grenell about the troop withdrawal: "That will get their [Germany's] attention." He then quotes himself: "Of course it will, and many other countries too, including Russia, but for all the wrong reasons." 4/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

Esper details instances that support his soccer-ball analogy. EG in a spasm of irritation in December 2019 then-President Trump issued an order that all US forces be removed from Germany. Trump was egged on by his hot-tempered then-ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell 3/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

Esper compares the Pentagon to a soccer ball. There are rules about how it is to be handled. Break the rules - grip the ball with the fingers - and the ball will be briefly indented. But the rule-breaker cannot grip forever. Once released, the ball rapidly recovers its shape. 2/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

I've been working my way through former SecDef Mark Esper's memoirs, "A Sacred Oath." You've probably heard about its one or two re-reveals of previously reported information. But the real interest of the book arises from a metaphor Esper uses a couple of times ... 1/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

More evidence for my theory that the more lethal a modern military is, the more it talks about caring, inclusion, and self-actualization. And vice versa. — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

ICYMI The guide who illegally lured the bear faces felony charges. The presidential son who killed the bear does not. — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

RT @RadioFreeTom: "The point of speech rules is to allow space for the unguarded and the ill-tempered, for the provocative and prickly pers… — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

RT @aravosis: The Russians bragged about one of their guns on social media. It’s now in flames — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

https://t.co/SCA8rDyMNP — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

In @TheAtlantic on Georgetown's months-long "investigation" of a staff member's three tweets — PolitiTweet.org