"Bannon veered from "Mad Dog" Mattis--the retired four-star general whom Trump had nominated as secretary of defense--to a long riff on torture, the surprising liberalism of generals, and the stupidity of the civilian-military bureaucracy. Then it was on to the looming appointment of Michael Flynn--a favorite Trump general who'd been the opening act at many Trump rallies--as the National Security Advisor. "He's fine. He's not Jim Mattis and he's not John Kelly ... but he's fine. He just needs the right staff around him." Still, Bannon averred: "When you take out all the never-Trump guys who signed all those letters and all the neocons who got us in all these wars ... it's not a deep bench."