May 16, 2017
Dear Mr. President,
Have you ever heard of the term lawful but awful? I heard it on NPR this morning and
immediately wrote it down because it sums up so much of what you have done as President this week. Was it legal for
you to fire James Comey? Sure. Should
you have fired James Comey? Absolutely not.
Was it legal to share classified information about ISIS with
Russia? Yes, technically. But should you have shared that
information? Definitely NOT.
When the news broke yesterday about your over-sharing with
your Russian guests, White House officials quickly went into damage control
mode. Such heavyweights as H.R. McMaster
and Rex Tillerson spoke publicly to affirm that you "did not disclose intelligence
sources or methods." This is a very
important distinction because sharing sources and methods would have been
illegal. By sharing classified
information you only did something stupid…not actually illegal (lawful but awful). They really did their best to cover
for your inadequacies and reassure the world that there are some people who
actually know what they are doing in charge (e.g. Them). But then you took to Twitter and completely un-did their work when you wrote:
"As
President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled WH meeting) which
I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline
flight
safety for humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up
their fight
against ISIS and terrorism."
So, I don't know how to tell you this, but Russia is never
going to step up their fight against ISIS and terrorism, just like China is
never going to stop North Korea from pursuing nuclear weapons. Honestly, you're naivete and falsely elevated
belief in the power of your Tweets will be the undoing of our intelligence
services. Just because you threw the
Russians a bone (which is really kind of obnoxious and condescending when you
think about it) does not mean that they will do something for you. At least, not if it's something they don't
want to do. And Tweeting about your
clever ploy to bend them to your will just makes you look stupid.
The irony is not lost on me (or the rest of the nation) that
during the campaign you repeatedly berated Hillary Clinton for her
"careless handling of classified information." I believe you said she should be "locked
up". I bet McMaster and Tillerson
are thinking the same thing about you right now.
Remember when we talked about that
how-to-be-a-president-leadership-handbook a few months ago? Well here's what you would find in Chapter
2: just because you can do something doesn't
mean that you should. So go get your
two scoops of ice cream, sit down in the corner out of the way, and SHUT UP.
Sincerely,
Amy Beaton
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