administration, and you speak out publicly against j you can bet that gates privately gave his best shot. and he has -- >> -- thought of quitting. >> maybe he should have quit rather than saving it for the book. >> obviously came to the conclusion it was better for him and the american people and the military for him to stay there than walk. now, eric, you seem to be a little blaize about this thing. your philosophy on this thing is we don't justify bad behavior by pointing to other bad behavior. so i'm trying to get is there damage to the nation because as howard says the president can't trust anybody anymore is he not going to get good advice or are the people being served by these kinds of revelations? take that, please. >> well, you know i think considering what the obama administration is doing spying on august of us with the nsa, there is a deep bit of irony in that the president is going to get candid at vice for people. going into this there is expectation books may be written short of signing people into nondisclosure agreements i'm not sure he