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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJames Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/I have watched this weeks unfolding events, angry and appalled, Mattis writes. 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 demandone 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 valuesour values as people and our values as a nation. He goes on, We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.
-snip-
When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, he writes, 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 citizensmuch less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.
He goes on to implicitly criticize the current secretary of defense, Mark Esper, and other senior officials as well. 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 conflicta false conflictbetween 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.
-snip-
Much more at the link, including the full text of Mattis's statement.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)Pachamama
(16,884 posts)highplainsdem
(48,917 posts)DrToast
(6,414 posts)This is massive.
malaise
(268,717 posts)indeed
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)Four months after the Senate acquitted Trump, Mattis finally wanders out to speak his piece. He's the guy standing there watching his buddy get clocked by an errant frisbee and three seconds after he goes down, Mattis says, "Look out!"
highplainsdem
(48,917 posts)underpants
(182,629 posts)Here come the Trump attack dogs.
highplainsdem
(48,917 posts)but now I think Trump will focus on Mattis instead.
kysrsoze
(6,019 posts)Arkansas Granny
(31,507 posts)I wonder what effect this will have on military support for Trump.
I can hardly wait for Trump's reaction.
highplainsdem
(48,917 posts)Link to tweet
.
Do you really want 4 more years of this?
sop
(10,106 posts)highplainsdem
(48,917 posts)Link to tweet
Scathing and overdue.
Link to tweet
On the other hand, his silence to date makes his scathing statement land heavier now.
DrToast
(6,414 posts)The fact that he waited this long shows he did everything he could to give Trump a chance. This would have much less of an impact if he said something in the first year, for example.
highplainsdem
(48,917 posts)highplainsdem
(48,917 posts)Link to tweet
fishwax
(29,148 posts)years, and of course it's always been easy to dismiss that as fiery rhetoric on my part. But of course James Mattis is harder to ignore or dismiss.
Cha
(296,868 posts)TY, hpd
highplainsdem
(48,917 posts)manhattan123
(302 posts)If he had blasted Trump when he resigned, it would already be forgotten by now in our short-attention span country, overridden by the virus, the Floyd murder and unrest, and the general passage of time.
Now, closer to the election, as Trump is melting down, it packs a wallop that can be more effective.