Michael Morell, ex-CIA deputy director, is confessing in a New York Times op-ed that he is all-in for Hillary Clinton.
“I am neither a registered Democrat nor a registered Republican,” Morell begins. “In my 40 years of voting, I have pulled the lever for candidates of both parties. As a government official, I have always been silent about my preference for president.”
“No longer,” he continues. “On Nov. 8, I will vote for Hillary Clinton. Between now and then, I will do everything I can to ensure that she is elected as our 45th president.”
Morell gives two reasons he made this decision, summarized here: Clinton is “highly qualified” and will keep our nation safe. On the other hand, Donald Trump is “unqualified” and poses a threat to national security.
He reflects on his time working with Clinton:
I spent four years working with Mrs. Clinton when she was secretary of state, most often in the White House Situation Room. In these critically important meetings, I found her to be prepared, detail-oriented, thoughtful, inquisitive and willing to change her mind if presented with a compelling argument.
I also saw the secretary’s commitment to our nation’s security; her belief that America is an exceptional nation that must lead in the world for the country to remain secure and prosperous; her understanding that diplomacy can be effective only if the country is perceived as willing and able to use force if necessary; and, most important, her capacity to make the most difficult decision of all — whether to put young American women and men in harm’s way.
Morels adds that Clinton really pushed to get Osama Bin Laden and always proved “aggressive” with terrorists which “might have prevented the Islamic State from gaining a foothold in Syria.”
“I never saw her bring politics into the Situation Room,” he said. “In fact, I saw the opposite. When some wanted to delay the Bin Laden raid by one day because the White House Correspondents Dinner might be disrupted, she said, ‘Screw the White House Correspondents Dinner.’”
As for Trump, Morell doesn’t see positive character traits and believes he would make “a poor, even dangerous, commander in chief.”
He lists the negatives:
[H]is obvious need for self-aggrandizement, his overreaction to perceived slights, his tendency to make decisions based on intuition, his refusal to change his views based on new information, his routine carelessness with the facts, his unwillingness to listen to others and his lack of respect for the rule of law.
Morell goes on to suggest that Trump is already damaging our national security with how he has interacted with,and commented upon, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
And those are the reasons why he’s voting for Hillary:
My training as an intelligence officer taught me to call it as I see it. This is what I did for the C.I.A. This is what I am doing now. Our nation will be much safer with Hillary Clinton as president.
