…Interpreters monitor the words they speak to make sure they correspond to the thoughts. Part of your concentration should always be focused on that. Alexander Haig often was sloppy in that regard, like hoping that someone “would impale himself on his own rope”, etc.
I agree with you that he felt it necessary to send a message to our adversaries. He was present in the White House, and he wanted to take advantage of that. Uncharacteristically for him, he was rattled and somewhat confused, a man whose intuition had occasionally been ahead of his calm analysis.
He should have said, “As I am right here in the White House, I am ready to take action on behalf of the president — should that become necessary — until the vice president or anybody else ahead of me in succession becomes available. So be calm. We are not in a vacuum.”
That would have taken care of it.
