"Official Washington" Is Donald J. Trump

He may be a President (and unless this is merely a horrid nightmare, he is) but he's no Commander-in-Chief.

That is the case, if one is to believe Trump TV's Tucker Carlson, though he'd hardly admit it.  Upon confirmation Thursday night by Baghdad that U.S. forces had assassinated in an airstrike Qasem Soleimani, who had led Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary General Corps, Carlson maintained (at 4:47 of the segment)

So my sense of it is the President does not seek war and he's wary of it, particularly in an election year. But I think he was elected on the promise that he would avoid wars except when absolutely necessary. But there are a lot of people around him, certainly in the city of Washington, who have been preparing for this, agitating for this.

(Former National Security Advisor John) Bolton is one of many for an awfully long time and you wonder if it's possible that he might be out-maneuvered by them. We might find ourselves moving toward war despite what the President wants.

So when Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution reads "[t]he President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States," the framers did not mean even serving officials, currently the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, or National Security Adviser. They were referring to a private citizen, one forced out of government by the President.

Steve M. argues "Carlson won't get away with being a war skeptic for much longer" because the latter's lucrative gig at Fox News requires him to be a supporter of Trump. Additionally, however, Carlson has laid the groundwork for a pivot toward supporting the war. He has blamed the Iran/USA hostilities not on the Commander-in-Chief or even his advisers. He assigns responsibility to an individual no longer directly associated with the President- but also to the longtime conservative bugaboo, "Washington." Earlier in the segment (beginning at 1:13 of the video), Carlson had claimed

And we have to say it's one official Washington has wanted for decades.   For example, disgraced National Security Adviser John Bolton has made it his life's mission to start a war with Iran. This night, Bolton may be finally getting his wish.

Bolton did work for many years in the federal government, serving Presidents Reagan and HW Bush before Trump. However, those are all Republican Presidents. Miraculously, "Washington" made it through 16 years of Democratic administrations, eight of Bill Clinton and eight of Barack Obama, without war with Iran.

President Trump has shown weakness in numerous areas. But this attack, with colorful, dramatic optics, big things exploding, and no American casualties thus far, has his fingerprints all over it. That John Bolton, potentially a very damaging impeachment witness against Trump, is undoubtedly pleased is a bonus for the President. It will end badly for the USA, the Mideast, and the world, which for Donald Trump is a fringe benefit.

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