'We are a weakened nation': Dan Rather laments damage Trump has already done to US at home and abroad

Veteran newsman Dan Rather responded to Saturday's Twitter outburst by Pres. Donald Trump in a Facebook post in which he greeted the news with "deep and abiding sadness."

On Saturday morning, Trump took to Twitter to decry what he said were wiretaps on the phones in Trump Tower placed by former Pres. Barack Obama.

"It is understandable that Donald Trump's twitter attack on President Obama early this morning would immediately be consumed by the churning political hurricane that is America today. The deepening divisions that are pulling at the fabric of our nation are on raw display," wrote Rather, who said last week that the scandal of Trump's possible collusion with Russia is about to detonate like a bomb.

"On one side we see understandable outrage, with many questioning the mental fitness of our Commander and Chief. On the other side we see Trump's allies rallying under their shared hatred of our previous President," Rather said. "Perhaps it is my age or experience, but I feel no schadenfreude or eagerness to say, "I told you so." I feel only a deep and abiding sadness. This is my country that I love with all my heart. We are a weakened nation, in our own estimation, and that of the world."

He went on to say that if we were reading about our current situation happening in a far-off land, we would "thank our lucky stars" not to live there.

"But this nightmare is happening here, and we have no choice but to confront that disorientating truth," Rather said.

"My reporter's instincts make me wonder at Trump's actions. It has the feeling of a classic smokescreen. What is he hiding? Is this a kind of trap? Does he have something he is about to drop? Or does he know something else is about to drop on him and his administration, which is facing a withering crescendo of scandal?" he mused.

"It is long past time that we have a complete and independent bipartisan investigation, especially since the director of the FBI is under such a cloud of political manipulation. Now is the time to breathe the cool winds of impartiality and facts," Rather continued.

In conclusion, Rather wrote, "Our great nation is in a perilous moment, and the world is watching with great unease. We want the truth. We demand the truth. We can handle the truth."

Read Rather's full post, embedded below: