re: Trump rattling the cage like a 5,000 pound gorilla with us in it then walking away...

Guys, the President is the Commander-in-Chief. As such, he is the highest ranking commander of the U.S. Armed Forces -- the supreme commander of our military. As such he can't just make the claim that there is a foreign government working with domestic traitors in our nation to overthrow democracy and then just walk away. His duty at that point becomes to protect the nation and defend the Constitution at all cost. Instead of that happening, his own supporters will now apparently be charged with sedition. Why? Because some of them believed the claims he made and were, in their minds at least, willing and ready to defend democracy. It seems more than reasonable for people to believe and trust the President. The office is the nation's highest civilian and military authority. IMHO, they shouldn't be held responsible for anything because the highest office in our country made such extraordinary claims and their actions were a natural consequence of those statements, but instead the President gets to go play golf while some of these people will obviously face serious consequences.

There is an astonishing level of tone deafness on some here to realize the seriousness of Trump's abdication of his duties as Commander-in-Chief in light of everything that has been said. To make such a serious, historic claim and then walk away casts an extraordinary dark cloud of all our most basic political institutions. This is no less the capitulation of the American Republic when he clearly possesses the powers under the Constitution to prevent it.