THOMAS PAINE-TRUMP'S CHOICE FOR SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

Dear Reader,

President-Elect Donald J Trump has a history of promoting the right people when he is directly involved. After all, he turned a $1 million dollar loan into $10 Billion. That's a 10,000% increase. Bet you wish your broker was so skilled. At any rate, he strikes again showing his brilliance in recruiting with tapping Marine General Mad Dog Mattis for our Secretary of Defense. Mattis has a history as a fighter. Just Trump's kind. What I will share with you about a marine's thoughts on Mattis remains anonymous as to the respondent, but know this, he is quite qualified to speak about the issue. He had 3 tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is now a retired USMC Lt. Colonel who is highly decorated and most importantly, a thinker as well as a doer. Not much of that around these days.

Here's our text messages on the subject today.

Thomas: What do you think about Mad Dog Mattis for SECDEF?
Colonel: I think he will focus on improving our war fighting capabilities and less on social issues like women in the infantry and transgender facilities. I've met him several times. The first time was in Iraq, 2004 when he was the 1st Marine Division's general. He is very much a warrior general and is highly regarded among the Marines.

Thomas: I like that. My only thought is a military SECDEF instead of civilian, but I've wondered if it might be better to have a military SecDef.
Colonel: I personally think he would do a great job in restoring our military readiness. He understand the shortfalls that the military is facing, not just the Marine Corps but all the services. He understands where we need to focus our efforts to be prepared for the next war.

Thomas: That is key. What I like is he'll give Trump reasoned and experienced advice. I like that he's a Marine with all that entails. I like that his nickname is Mad Dog...which will give our adversaries pause.
Colonel: I don't know who gave him that nickname but for most of the time his nickname was Chaos.

Thomas: Poor leader?
Colonel: No. HIs nickname was Chaos because he would embrace the chaos. He was given that nickname in reverence.

Keep in mind that the Marine I've been in contact with came back to DC to work on readiness. He was troubled by the FACT that our equipment, Humvees, Tanks, Personnel Carriers, etc., were used up by the sand. He was concerned that the readiness was reduced as a result of repairs and refitting not being done. This would have compromised our troops in the event of deployment.

He also pointed out that Mad Dog's old nickname of Chaos came from Mattis embracing chaos. Little on the battlefield goes as planned and when fighting insurgencies, you rarely have military order as we'd define it coming from our enemies. Consequently embracing Chaos reduced the chaos on the battlefield. When the head of division isn't flustered, the troops have more confidence and we lose fewer men and women.

Of course DC could as easily stand for Distinct Chaos as opposed to District of Columbia, so he will fare well there. He might even show enough grit to stand up to the fraidycat liberal left. You know, the ones who hate police until they are robbed or assaulted. On Capital Hill, we need a warrior general to handle the lunatic left in the Houose and Senate.

So what do you think of General Mattis now? Reply with your comments below.

"He who dares not offend, cannot be honest."

Yours in the Constitution,
Thomas Paine