Sound Retreat: Secretary of Defense James Mattis yesterday gave President Trump a blistering letter of resignation that basically said, “I can’t work for you anymore.”

Mattis said it was an honor to serve the United States, but didn’t mention the President.

The vehemence of the Mattis letter was stunning and may have repercussions that can’t be predicted. One of the last adults in the room couldn’t take it anymore.

Trump announced Mattis’s departure as a retirement, but it is clearly a resignation of principle. It came a day after Trump surprised the Defense Department with the announcement of an abrupt  military withdrawal from Syria, where the US has been fighting the Islamic State. He did it without consulting the Pentagon or his national security team.

Later in the day news broke that the administration is pulling out half the 14,000 American troops in Afghanistan.

Reports out of Washington say Mattis went to the White House to ask Trump to reverse his decision, and when he refused, the former general handed over his letter.

In the letter, Mattis said the US under Trump has courted dictators and disrespected allies. He said, “My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues.”

He said, “Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position.”

Mattis told Trump that the US depends on its allies. “We cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies.”

And he said the country needs to be wary of its adversaries. “It is clear that China and Russia, for example, want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model – gaining veto authority over other nations’ economic, diplomatic, and security decisions – to promote their own interests at the expense of their neighbors, America and our allies. That is why we must use all the tools of American power to provide for the common defense.”

  Read the Mattis letter here

A No Good Very Bad Week: The Mattis resignation came in a week in which the Russia investigation tightened its noose, the Dow Jones fell 1,700 points, and the government faces a partial shutdown at midnight because the President can’t get his border wall.

  He tweeted this morning, “Shutdown today if Democrats do not vote for Border Security!”

  Under pressure from his core voters and right wing talking heads, Trump reversed himself once again, once again demanding billions of dollars for border security and his wall.

Among the critics who got to the President, right-wing valkyrie Ann Coulter tweeted, “GUTLESS PRESIDENT IN WALL-LESS COUNTRY.”

Trump tweeted that when he signed a spending bill earlier in the year, “I was promised the Wall and Border Security by leadership. Would be done by end of year (NOW). It didn’t happen!” It appears unlikely that he will get the $5 billion he’s been demanding.

Republican leaders were called to the White House yesterday and left vowing to devise something the President will sign. Speaker Paul Ryan said, “We just had a very long, productive meeting with the president,” which probably means shouting was involved.

The House later voted to provide funding for the wall, but it will likely die in the Senate.

Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “We protect nations all over the world, but Democrats are unwilling to protect our nation. We urgently need funding for border security and that includes a wall.”

Now think about that — “Democrats are unwilling to protect our nation.” She said that.

Tired of Your Poor: Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced that the United States has told Mexico that South American asylum seekers who cross the border illegally will be sent back to Mexico to await their immigration hearings.

The practice until now has been to let them stay in the US.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, people “trying to enter the US to claim asylum will no longer be released into our country, where they often disappear before a court can determine their claim’s merits.”

Nielsen told Congress the asylum seekers will be sent to Mexico to wait, vowing “‘Catch and release’ will be replaced with ‘catch and return.'”

Econ 101: With investors increasingly worried about the economy slipping into a recession, stocks took another slide yesterday. The Dow Jones closed down 462 points, just shy of 1 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.6 percent, leaving it down 19.5 percent from its late-August peak.

But Hey!: Merry Christmas!