By Quin Hillyer at the Washington Examiner;
The “senior official” of the Trump administration who anonymously wrote a New York Times op-ed to assert that “the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic” is no coward. Indeed, the writer may be a hero.
To be clear, loyalty to one’s employer, especially in politics, is a virtue. In most cases, that loyalty should apply not just during the tenure of employment but forever.
When a person works at a high level for a president, they understand they have been hired to further that president’s agenda — and, in most cases, that includes his political position. The public voted for the president, and the official’s job is to serve the public by serving loyally at his direction. If you’re not rowing in the same direction, then get off the boat.
The conceit of this week’s anonymous piece, however, is that this is no ordinary presidency, but instead that President Trump is so extraordinarily bizarre and even dangerous that normal loyalties don’t apply….
[Later in the column] In short, the anonymous author claims to be serving the president’s own best interests while saving both the president and, more importantly, the country, from Trump’s own emotional instability.
It is an audacious and arrogant claim. In effect, Anonymous is putting personal judgments of a few senior officials above the judgments of the voters who duly elected this president. Only in the most extreme circumstances should the president’s underlings even consider such an approach.
But an observer can, within reason, imagine circumstances so extreme…..
[To be clear: I almost certainly would not have done what Anonymous did. I’m more of a “publicly fall on my sword” (and resign) guy. But for the rest of the explanation of why this anonymous writer is no coward, read here.]