You Are More Blessed Than You Realize (Video)

Read James Mattis’ full resignation letter

Politics Dec 20, 2018 6:21 PM EST

Defense Secretary James Mattis submitted a letter of resignation to President Donald Trump on Thursday, writing that the president deserves “the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours.”

Trump announced Mattis’ resignation on Twitter, saying that Mattis would retire “with distinction” in February after leading the Department of Defense for two years.

“During Jim’s tenure, tremendous progress has been made, especially with respect to the purchase of new fighting equipment,” Trump said, adding that Mattis “was a great help to me in getting allies and other countries to pay their share of military obligations.”

Trump said he would name a replacement for Mattis soon, but did not offer a timetable.

In his resignation letter, Mattis, a former four-star Marine general, appeared to point to his policy differences with Trump, who has frequently clashed with U.S. allies.

“We must do everything we can to advance an international order that is most conducive to our security, prosperity and values and we are strengthened in this effort by solidarity of our alliances,” Mattis wrote in the letter.

“Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position,” Mattis said.

Mattis joins several other senior administration officials who have recently resigned or announced plans to leave their jobs.

In October, in the run up to the 2018 midterms, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that she would resign. Last week Ryan Zinke resigned as secretary of the Interior Department amid several ethics investigations. Earlier this month Trump announced that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly would resign, and later named Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director, as his replacement.

https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2018/12/mattis-letter2.pdf#page=1

LeBron James Compares NBA to NFL with Harsh Comments About Owners

The Lakers superstar unloads on the NFL's power structure, and commends Adam Silver, during an episode of his HBO series

by Cody Benjamin 

Just because LeBron James is the face of his league doesn't mean he parses his words when talking about another.

More LeBron news

• James defends comment about playing with Davis
• James explains biggest difference between NFL, NBA

The longtime NBA superstar and Los Angeles Lakers centerpiece invited Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley to talk NFL on a recent episode of his HBO series, "The Shop," and it's safe to say he didn't hold back.  A previous clip of the episode showed James critiquing the NFL by comparing it to the NBA.

"The difference between the NBA and the NFL -- the NBA is, like, what we believe he can be, what we believe he can be, the potential," LeBron said. "And the NFL, it's like, what can you do for me this Sunday, or this Monday, or this Thursday? And if you ain't it, we movin' on."

As the Washington Post reported Saturday, however, James actually went much further than that.

"In the NFL, they got a bunch of old white men owning teams and they got that slave mentality," the three-time NBA champion said, per The Post. "And it's like, 'This is my team. You do what the [explicit] I tell y'all to do. Or we get rid of y'all.' I'm so appreciative in our league of our commissioner [Adam Silver]. He doesn't mind us having … a real feeling and to be able to express that. It doesn't even matter if Adam agrees with what we are saying, he at least wants to hear us out. As long as we are doing it in a very educational, non-violent way, then he's absolutely OK with it."
James' words shouldn't be entirely shocking to anyone who followed NFL players' very public dispute with team owners and league rules over social activism and on-field protests in recent years. But they still mark a profound stance for one of sports' biggest names.

James went on to suggest that both the NFL and NBA should acknowledge that it's the players -- not the billionaire owners -- who drive fans to their sports anyway.  "The players are who make the ship go," he said. "We make it go. Every Sunday, without Todd Gurley and without Odell Beckham Jr., without those players, those guys, there is no football."

Fox News Analyst Quits, Calling Network a ‘Propaganda Machine’

Ralph Peters appeared regularly on Fox News and the Fox Business Network after spending more than two decades in the Army, eventually specializing in Russian intelligence.

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Ralph Peters appeared regularly on Fox News and the Fox Business Network after spending more than two decades in the Army, eventually specializing in Russian intelligence.

By Michael M. Grynbaum 

March 20,2018

• • A longtime analyst for Fox News is leaving the network, saying that he could not “in good conscience” remain with an organization that, he argued, “is now wittingly harming our system of government for profit.”

In a searing farewell note sent to colleagues on Tuesday, Ralph Peters, a Fox News strategic analyst and a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, castigated the network for its coverage of President Trump and the rhetoric of its prime-time hosts.

“In my view, Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration,” Colonel Peters wrote in his message, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.

“Over my decade with Fox, I long was proud of the association,” he added. “Now I am ashamed.”

Without citing them by name, Colonel Peters, 65, wrote that Fox News’s prime-time anchors “dismiss facts and empirical reality to launch profoundly dishonest assaults on the F.B.I., the Justice Department, the courts, the intelligence community (in which I served) and, not least, a model public servant and genuine war hero such as Robert Mueller.” 

                                          I cannot be part of the same organization, even at a remove,” he wrote.

Fox News responded on Tuesday by saying it was “extremely proud of our top-rated prime-time hosts and all of our opinion programming.”

“Ralph Peters is entitled to his opinion despite the fact that he’s choosing to use it as a weapon in order to gain attention,” the network said in a statement.

Colonel Peters, who appeared He said he informed Fox News on March 1 that he did not plan to renew his contract, which expires toward the end of this month.  “As a retired military officer,” he said, “I simply could not continue with Fox in good conscience.” 

Fox News’s commentary shows, like “Hannity” and “Fox & Friends,” have become stalwart defenders of Mr. Trump and his administration, often criticizing Mr. Mueller, the special counsel, and law enforcement agencies that have been investigating possible ties between the president’s associates and Russian interference into the 2016 election.

Fox News remains the No. 1 cable news network despite recent changes in its prime-time lineup. Since 2017, the conservative pundits Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham have replaced Megyn Kelly, who left for NBC News, and Bill O’Reilly, who was fired after a harassment scandal.

Colonel Peters’s message to his colleagues, which was first reported by BuzzFeed News, included the caveat that not every Fox News host is “a propaganda mouthpiece — some have shown courage.” Colonel Peters also described his respect for colleagues at the Fox Business Network and reporters at Fox News, whom he called “talented professionals in a poisoned environment.”

An author of historical fiction and spy thrillers who writes a regular column in The New York Post, Colonel Peters gained notice in recent weeks after he called for an assault weapons ban in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Fla.