When National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, a former Army lieutenant general, resigned from his post on February 13^th, it was a shock, but not a total surprise.

After all, he had resigned from the administration of a US President once before. Serving as President Obama’s director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 to 2014, Flynn was essentially forced out of office for his chaotic management style and policy differences with those in the upper echelon of the Obama administration.

The crux of all this? Michael Flynn is a registered Democrat.

Now I know that doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. Donald Trump himself was a Democrat as recently as eight years ago. However, the Flynn issue is indicative of a problem with the man, not necessarily with the ideology.

The controversy swirling around Flynn stems from talks he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislayk, in December. In the conversation, Flynn had been reported to have discussed the possibility of lifting sanctions against Russia that stemmed from the 2014 Ukraine Crisis. Initially denying these claims, and initially defended by public figures as prominent as Vice President Mike Pence, Flynn later backtracked on his statements, saying that he “couldn’t remember” whether or not the issue of sanctions had been discussed.

What’s the big deal about Flynn, a foreign policy official, discussing sanctions? Nothing, that is, if he had actually been a foreign policy official at the time of the discussion. As it were, the Obama administration was still in its lame duck period, thus Flynn had no standing to discuss any change of foreign policy with foreign officials. His doing so may even in fact violate law.

Michael Flynn’s resignation was the correct move. While various conservative voices have rallied to his cause, focusing their attention on the way in which the story was delivered to the news media as opposed to the actual content of the story, I for one am glad this came to light. I am a strong believer in the concept of “one man at a time”, in that the United States can only have one official policy head at a time. While there are many different voices behind the scenes that debate, bargain, and compromise, official policy is presented as one unified voice.

Until January 20, 2017, that voice was still Barrack Obama’s.

How the Flynn story was broken is a bit disconcerting. It certainly seems to point towards a mole in the Trump White House, potentially members of the Obama administration that have yet to be replaced. Leaks of this magnitude are concerning in being a double-edged sword: while this time an issue was brought to light that much needed it, what if next time it’s an issue that is only detrimental to America and helpful to our enemies?

The same can be said of the leaks made by Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. The incredibly partisan reactions to both of their leaks and the morality of leaking classified information at all is a debate for another time. What is at hand here is the alleged improper relations that Michael Flynn crafted with the Russian ambassador and Russian officials in general.

Members of the Trump administration, while praising of Flynn’s service, have stood behind their move to call for Flynn’s resignation, with Vice President Pence even claiming disappointment with the retired general. I too stand behind the move. Whether or not Flynn is criminally guilty will be for the courts to decide, but as National Security Adviser one cannot hold even a semblance of a conflict of interest, and Flynn was growing closer and closer to Russia every day.

On Monday February 20^th, Donald Trump finally found Flynn’s successor, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, a well-respected military strategist of the Gulf and Iraq Wars. While similarities can inevitably be drawn between McMaster and Flynn there are two notable differences: McMaster has kept his nose largely out of politics until now (Flynn was an early and ardent supporter of Trump) and McMaster is not noted as “controversial” or “chaotic” by any stretch of the imagination.

Goodness knows the White House could do with a little less controversy.