. . . and then there were no more generals.

President Trump used to brag about "my generals."    That always raised a huff in me, because it conjured in my mind a little boy playing with his toy soldiers and having fantasies of commandeering armies to act on his whims.

Unfortunately, the 72 years old Donald, who actually commands the combined military forces of the United States, is actuating that fantasy refusing to take the advice of his last remaining general about pulling our troops out of Syria, which has led to the resignation letter from Gen. Marris as Secretary of Defense.

First, there were four:   Gen. Michael Flynn as first National Security Adviser, whom President Obama had warned Trump not to hire.  Flynn proved Obama right and actually had to leave because of lying to the FBI.  We subsequently learned that this was not Flynn's only criminal activity. 

So Flynn did not quite fit the bill of what we, the public, imagined was the stability and honor that four generals brought to the White House and to Trump's administration.

Then there was Gen. H.R. McMaster, who replaced Flynn as NSA.   But he and Trump were so far apart in every way that he didn't last long.    They were on totally different wave lengths intellectually, morally, even as two men relating in a work place.  So Trump replaced him with John Bolton -- someone about as different from the brainy McMaster as imaginable.

That left Gen. Michael Kelly who moved over from his first administration job as Secretary of Homeland Security into the White House as Trump's Chief of Staff.    We all thought that, if anyone could impose some discipline on the White House Staff and guide President Trump toward listening to experts' advice, it just might be Kelly.

Didn't work.   Reports of shouting matches in the Oval Office, then reports in recent weeks that Trump and Kelly were barely speaking to each other.   Kelly announced that he would be leaving at the end of the year.    But, guess what?    Trump hasn't found anyone who wants to take the job.    So Kelly is still there with no definite departure date.

Then yesterday, after failing to be able to stop Trump from abruptly announcing the immediate departure of all our troops out of Syria, Sec. of Defense Gen. James Mattis handed in his letter of resignation.   Vox,com refers to Mattis as "the last adult in the room" -- a reference to the reassurance we gave ourselves that Trump did have some "adults" in his administration that we hoped would keep things from going off the rails.

Mattis' letter has also been made public.   Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking along with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, reads some excerpts and recommended that everyone read it.

Mattis is respectful but also firm and moderately candid about the differences in policy between him and Mr. Trump.   But he is also candid about some of the things he has disagreed with Trump on.    Much of it has to do with relations with our allied nations and Mattis' stressing how important maintaining these alliances is.   We can imagine how much he and Trump must have clashed on this subject.

In the Q and A part of the press conference, Pelosi -- in her blunt but gentle way -- got off the best line of the day.    Referring to the people who have left the Trump administration, said that those who were great leaders "left in despair;  others left in disgrace."

Ralph