Top general apologizes for Trump's St. John's Church photo-op: 'I should not have been there'

[catbyte]

June 11, 2020
By Brad Reed



Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has apologized for taking part in President Donald Trump’s now-infamous photo op that required deploying pepper spray against peaceful protesters.

The New York Times reports that Milley made his apology in a prerecorded video commencement address to National Defense University.

“I should not have been there,” Milley acknowledged in the video. “My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.”

Milley also called his involvement in the operation a “mistake that I have learned from.”

snip

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/06/top-general-apologizes-for-trumps-st-johns-church-photo-op-i-should-not-have-been-there/

NYT live updates on George Floyd protests link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/us/george-floyd-protests.html

[empedocles]

1. A sign that milley is getting effective pressure from another side. Good.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. And Esper thought they were going to inspect a vandalized bathroom.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper insisted he did not know where he was going — no time to brief! — when he marched out of the White House with Trump. Or was it, as Esper also claimed, to inspect a bathroom that had been vandalized in the park, which we are supposed to believe warranted his appearance?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/03/cowering-president-his-men-are-playing-defense-its-not-working/

Their excuses and cover ups are getting more pathetic over time. I guess they've run out of plausible excuses for their subservience to Trump.

[lagomorph777]

3. These clowns are doing a lot of bathroom inspections.

Is that actually part of the job description for POTUS and SECDEF?

[leftyladyfrommo]

4. Military doesn't want any part of him anymore. nt

[Arazi]

5. Nobody believes his bullshit. Resign and go the fuck away

[Hotler]

6. Too late, you should have said this immediately the next day. nt

[Tom Rinaldo]

8. Late, yes. Too late, no.

It is still an important statement and apology that needed to be made, and it is still significant even though it should have come sooner. Can you imagine the state we would be in now had the military ultimately broken in the other direction, standing firm behind the "Commander in Chief" ahead of the Constitution? Top brass in the military try not to cause waves in the political sphere and tend not to say or do anything in public that could be seen as a challenge to their civilian leadership. It is amazing that Trump has brought them to this point.

[gratuitous]

7. You now think your presence "created a perception," General?

You're the fucking chairman of the JCS! What else were you there for except to put the military's imprimatur on whatever Trump had in mind? NOW you suppose you shouldn't have been there to be used as a prop? Did you recently come out of a coma, General? Have you not seen a newscast or read a newspaper in the last five years?

But okay, you apologized to the National Defense University. Bravo. Now how about an apology to 330 million Americans?

[catbyte]

9. +1000

[Kota]

10. Someone should apologize

for gassing peacefully protesting Americans. Trump needs to be held accountable for that. Tweeting today how easily the national guard handled protecting the white house. Sure cause they can always use tear gas again. And calling it pepper balls is the same thing, just as despicable. And criminal!

[world wide wally]

11. Well, at least you wore fatigues and not a helmet.

[obamanut2012]

16. He wore battle dress aka ACUs -- he was dressed for a combat zone

or garrison. He wasn't in a garrison, was he? Unless he considered DC a garrison town, which is really, really, really worse in many ways.

[soothsayer]

12. Guess it's time for this for Milley

Link to tweet

?s=21

I don’t think the prez likes this kind of thing.

[GusBob]

13. Is this the guy who said earlier he knew nothing about it?

He thought they were going to review the NG or something?

[UTUSN]

14. Hey, MILLEY, you pulled on those camouflage pants on your own!1

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

15. Kick