Worse Than Tribalism, Should Mattis Break His Silence and Tell All About Trump?

A military policy dispute with President Donald Trump wasn’t the only thing that caused General James Mattis to resign as Defense Secretary last December. So did the president’s simplistic thinking, cognitive inattentiveness, erratic behavior, a desire to promote his business interests at the expense of the nation’s security, and the widely reported concern over his dangerous brand of political tribalism which threatens the U.S. Constitution. As a result, these reasons and many others are why some believe Mattis should break his silence and tell all about his former Commander-in-Chief. It includes a warning, in that, silence always becomes cowardice in the face of incompetence and when occasion demands speaking truthfully. Is that occasion now?

Single Mindedness in the Worse Way
One of the first times Mattis called for a meeting with the president is when he and others realized Trump did not understand the importance of allies overseas. It included the value of diplomacy and the relationship between the military, and the economy and intelligence partnerships with foreign government-some which took years to build. Despite organizing and presenting a part history lesson and part geostrategic concerns, it was apparent the president had only one thing on his mind: Igniting a trade war with China. Regardless of the rationale behind how economic disruptions in the global markets could savage and undermine the precarious stability in the world, the president remained inflexible and fixated on a trade war with China.

Why Aren’t We Killing More People
Another time the president abruptly stopped a high-level meeting dealing with Iran, Afghanistan, and North Korea. With Iran’s nuclear energy program, a program which included UN inspectors and wasn’t in violation, the only thing he wanted to discuss was decertifying the Iranian deal and how terrible a president Barack Obama was. With Afghanistan, he seemed inattentive, refusing to listen to differing viewpoints or discuss other geopolitical strategies. He finally asked why they weren’t killing more people in Afghanistan and then suddenly blurted out: “Pull the f##king thing out! I don’t give a s##t!” He had already flipped to North and South Korea. Believing South Korea was subsidizing the “hell out of us,” he wanted to withdraw all U.S. forces.

Commander-in-Impatience and -Inattentiveness
This wasn’t the only time however that Trump got up and walked out of a meeting with his most trusted advisors and those in the national security realm. There were many others. By then, Mattis probably agreed with Rex Tillerson, the president’s former Secretary of State, who told him Trump was “a fucking moron.” They agreed the president was, in fact, going backward, more manageable in the first months when was a novice and new to the job of being president. Trump was not only showing signs of distrust and paranoia, but his erratic nature, his relative ignorance, his simplistic thinking, his cognitive inattentiveness and inability to learn, as well as his dangerous views of the world and tribalism, was threatening America.

Zero-Sum Game Tribalism
For all intent purposes, human nature holds constant as the world changes around us. This is one reason humans lived in small, often wandering, groups. This means that all human politics, religion, and economics was personal and tribal, imbued with a very strong “coalition instinct” that helped us forge alliances based on loyalty and reciprocity. As an overly tribalistic president, Mattis thinks the president is leading the world’s most powerful nation down a dangerously wrong path. As he promotes his new book, it may not only include how Trump’s leadership is diminishing the U.S., but how his erratic behavior requires impeachment. From trying to dismantle NATO to inciting hatred and violence, Trump is in it for himself-a zero-sum game.

Corrupting Power of Tribal Politics
Mattis considered respect for allies as a central pillar of American global power and influence. The same went for America’s democratic system and political parties. Without respect and alliance building, or understanding and cooperation, violence wins instead of the enlightened views of equal rights, freedom, and justice for all. Just as worse is what Mattis saw: the growing evidence for the corrupting power of tribal politics and Trump’s cult of personality. His biggest supporters didn’t care about hypocrisy. They moreover appear trapped in the siren call of glory, greatness, nationalistic fever, and tribal redemption-or vengeance. It too, tribal vengeance, is just as seductive as tribalism, alienating individuals and ultimately groups and even nations.

Not Fit to Serve
Mattis realized it didn’t matter what you said. Trump had already reached a simplistic conclusion, and he wasn’t listening. More dangerous was how the president had zero psychological ability to feel or recognize empathy or pity in any way. With this and failing the President Lincoln Test, or putting a team of political rivals or competitors at the table and treating with honor and respect, Mattis didn’t want to be associated with the Trump Administration. An administration not of rivals but of tribalistic predators. Like their president, they will do anything to win-to slay, crush, demean, and demonize. It includes using nationalistic and racist sentiments to divide Americans, which is why Mattis believes the president isn’t fit to serve four more years.

Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John’s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.WN.com. You can read more of Dallas’ writings at www.beverlydarling.com and www.WN.com/dallasdarling.