Excerpt:
"The bigger question is … why?

At an age when most Americans re-discover the soapy drama of daytime television, the politicians and generals venture deeper into the jungle.

Taking one more free trip.

Looking for one more big payday.

Something short of the law should restrain their greed. Call it shame, stigma, patriotism, or even self-discipline. Call it common morality.

The generals and military bigshots are most troubling. They made their names in an institution that demanded fidelity to the military ethos. Duck your duty to stand post, and you betray your comrades. Lie to your commanding officer, and you perhaps put an operation at risk. Sit back at the command post while your troops walk patrol, and be labeled a coward by yourself and others.

When Allen, Mattis, McMaster and the rest served as officers, much of what they could have done, they didn’t do. Their restraint enhanced their character. Their high moral standards made them leaders, and formed the basis for their credibility to ask young Americans to kill or be killed in combat.

But as generals transition to civilian life, apparently, they discover what can be gained by switching sides and corrupting into your opposite. The opportunity to become sandwich-board twirlers for foreign governments is turning once-virtuous leaders into human directionals for money, attention and other regime goodies."