General Mattis' Statement

"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction) 06/04/2020 at 11:33 • Filed to: None

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In Union There Is Strength

I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation.

When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens—much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.

We must reject any thinking of our cities as a “battlespace” that our uniformed military is called upon to “dominate.” At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict—between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them.

James Madison wrote in Federalist 14 that “America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat.” We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law.

Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that “The Nazi slogan for destroying us…was ‘Divide and Conquer.’ Our American answer is ‘In Union there is Strength.’” We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis—confident that we are better than our politics.

Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.

W e can come through this trying time stronger, and with a renewed sense of purpose and respect for one another. The pandemic has shown us that it is not only our troops who are willing to offer the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the community. Americans in hospitals, grocery stores, post offices, and elsewhere have put their lives on the line in order to serve their fellow citizens and their country. We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. At the same time, we must remember Lincoln’s “better angels,” and listen to them, as we work to unite.

Only by adopting a new path—which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals—will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.

gettingoldercarguy > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 06/04/2020 at 11:48

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A lot of officers respect the he ll out of Mattis.

DipodomysDeserti > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 06/04/2020 at 11:49

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Word.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > gettingoldercarguy 06/04/2020 at 11:50

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I’m hopeful that enough Americans respect him that his words will hold sway in November. This man can not be given 4 more years.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 06/04/2020 at 11:52

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Well said, and I think this is a large part of the problem:

Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 06/04/2020 at 12:02

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Of course, now Trump’s denouncing him, saying he was a bad leader in the military and that he asked him to resign. Nothing to me suggests what Mattis said will sway Trump’s base any amount. Denouncing Trump was still the right thing to do.

DipodomysDeserti > gettingoldercarguy 06/04/2020 at 12:02

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My friend’s (retired Marine) kid’s middle name is Mattis.

DipodomysDeserti > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 06/04/2020 at 12:05

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boredalways > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 06/04/2020 at 12:05

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Unfortunately for us to come even close to that happening is that Fox News allows him to  speak his mind at length, live on air.  The only generally respectable person that I can think of to host is Chris Wallace.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > DipodomysDeserti 06/04/2020 at 12:07

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Respect.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 06/04/2020 at 12:10

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Of course. His disciples won’t believe anything except what comes from Trump’s own mouth at this point. But hopefully this will sway independents, and those that were just barely holding onto their support for Trump at this point.

Saracen > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 06/04/2020 at 12:17

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The Gaslighter-in-Chief must be voted out of office.  He is poison.

DipodomysDeserti > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 06/04/2020 at 12:18

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He’s a sheriff deputy and SWAT member now, so hopefully this resonates with him.

fintail > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 06/04/2020 at 12:44

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I like how this guy can see the shitstorm that laypeople have been seeing since the start of this darkest dumbest regime, if not before.

Hopefully those who reported to him feel likewise.

BigBlock440 > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 06/04/2020 at 14:01

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It’s tough when the other option is “shoot ‘em in the leg” “you ain’t black” Biden.  Maybe Vermin Supreme?

WilliamsSW > BigBlock440 06/04/2020 at 14:22

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Can we just draft Mattis and move forward?  He e can pick whatever party affiliation he wants, IDGAF.

WilliamsSW > gettingoldercarguy 06/04/2020 at 14:25

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With statements like that one, it’s not hard to see why.  

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > gettingoldercarguy 06/04/2020 at 14:33

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Mattis is respected the hell out of across the enlisted ranks of the USMC, as well.  

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > BigBlock440 06/04/2020 at 14:33

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I’m no fan of Biden, either. Regardless, Trump must go.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 06/04/2020 at 14:38

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James Allen also published a statement yesterday highly worth reading. Beyond the content of the statements, no one should overlook the fact the fact they’re being made at all. Recently retired officers from the highest ranks of the DOD and NATO publically commenting not only on a political matter at all, but directly rebuking both command decisions and political actions of a sitting administration is a thing that just isn’t done.  Pretty much ever.

Derpwagon > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 06/04/2020 at 14:59

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This Army soldier respects the hell out of Mattis as well. I'm far, far from the only one.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 06/04/2020 at 15:40

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Yup. I hope a good number of people understand this, and realize there’s nothing about these statements that’s political. These are about the health and security of our nation.