A respected national security professional I follow on Twitter retweeted the announcement of something calling itself “National Security Action—a new organization committed to restoring principled American leadership at home and abroad.” As one in favor of principled American leadership but skeptical of new organizations with bland names, I clicked over to their website and its Who We Are page. It turns out that they’re not so much new as a reunion of the Obama Administration’s natsec team, under the august leadership of none other than everyone’s favorite whipping boy, Ben Rhodes.
There are many names that I respect and admire along with a few who I don’t much care for. But, despite the promising epigraph, the remaining tweets in their stream make it clear that they’re simply going to be a voice for the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party to issue talking points against Trump Administration policies. That’s fine insofar as it goes. But, frankly, this was a missed opportunity to put together a principled, bipartisan group to advocate for a sane foreign policy we can all get behind. As it stands, their views will be much easier to dismiss.
