The Skeeter Daddle Diaries

The acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan stepped down this morning, apparently to spend more time with his family. A lot of Trump folks seem to crave family time these past couple of years, but this one is a bit more interesting, given that reports of his withdrawal for the nomination were the result of investigations into a couple of family disturbances many years ago. Police reports indicate a squabble in an affluent section of Seattle that ultimately led to a backyard brawl. Patrick seems to have lost the bout, nose bloodied, hand bleeding, after what his now ex-wife claims was precipitated by his punching her in the stomach. Seattle, a tough town, all right. She grabbed the kids and lit out for sunny Florida. Couple years later her boy beat her with a baseball bat. Family life, I guess, isn’t what it’s cracked up to be by the folks exiting the Trump White House.

Now that he was officially nominated as Sec. of Defense, the FBI began to do the background checks. Lots of ghosts in that family closet so Mr. Shanahan decided maybe to drop out. Good timing, Mr. Secretary. You just sent 1000 troops over to Iran, what you called a defensive maneuver, and now you want to throw in the towel. Sure, the country’s in good hands, Trump and Bolton taking turns at the wheel and all, but geez, maybe you might’ve seen this coming. Obviously you need some martial arts training. That, or the mizzus was teaching you a lesson you needed learning. It is called Defense Secretary.

Of course, there’s always the slim possibility that Trump decided to dump his latest Cabinet Crew. I know, doesn’t seem likely, given his loyalty to those who serve. No doubt whatsoever that he has someone lined up to take Shanahan’s place in these perilous times. It’s what makes him the greatest Commander-in-Chief of the last couple years, and I mean that as a Yuge compliment.

From my viewpoint in steerage the boat seems completely rudderless. The Commander is now starting his campaign run and given his notorious lack of attention span, this should suck up all his available time when he’s not rerunning Fox and Friends. Some of my cohorts were heartened back in the good old days of this Administration when the Donald hired on generals to run the country for him. Adults in the room, my colleagues sighed in great relief. They, like most of his picks for Cabinet, are long gone now from the sandbox, most of them followed by taunts of ‘Loser!’ from the boy who hired them in the first place. I’m sure, and I’m sure you are too, his next pick to run the military will be a thoughtful one.

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