it's trump being trump but it's really bad for that sense to get out that these generals work for the president personally somehow. including ones who left the military years ago as mattis did. when i tried to get mattis to run as an independent and we spent time together, he didn't -- one reason he didn't is because he was worried about the impact on civil and military relations. they start thinking about their military career in political terms. he's always been scrupulous about that anyway. he told people a week before he resigned that he intended to stay off all four years. he thought he was doing some good and carrying out some things that were good policy, good build-up of the military but also stopping president trump from doing certain things. and he thought he could play an important role there. he left a week later because he felt the situation had become intolerable. that's what stan mcchrystal was talking about. someone who knows mattis and talks to him. he knew mattis didn't want to leave. he wasn't looking to make money giving speeches. it wasn't like someone like