President-Elect Donald J. Trump showed excellent judgment in appointing Marine general James N. Mattis to lead the Department of Defense for two independent reasons. First, General Mattis is eminently qualified to lead the government's largest and most expensive bureaucracy.  The general has led the United States Joint Forces Command and the United States Central Command and as such can be said to know the Pentagon like the back of his hand.  General Mattis will hit the ground running on day one.  His status as a four-star means that the Joint Chiefs will quickly accept him as their peer. Second, the president-elect was absolutely right to first appoint a secretary of defense rather than a secretary of state.  This is the right priority order, because it is our military strength that qualifies our country as the world's top superpower.  Soldiers win battles; diplomats sometimes (Vietnam) lose the war.  State telling Defense what to do, which...(Read Full Post)