Gen. Milley drafted scathing letter of resignation to Trump after Lafayette Square
Source: Yahoo News
After he was seen walking dressed in combat fatigues behind then-President Donald Trump across Lafayette Square after it had been forcibly cleared of Black Lives Matter protesters in June 1, 2020, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, drafted a resignation letter to inform Trump that he intended to step down.
The letter was published by the New Yorker Monday in an excerpt of an upcoming book by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser titled, "The Divider: Trump in the White House."
"The events of the last couple weeks have caused me to do deep soul-searching," Milley wrote, "and I can no longer faithfully support and execute your orders as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is my belief that you were doing great and irreparable harm to my country. I believe that you have made a concerted effort over time to politicize the United States military. I thought that I could change that. I’ve come to the realization that I cannot, and I need to step aside and let someone else try to do that."
-snip-
But Milley never submitted his letter.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/gen-milley-drafted-scathing-letter-of-resignation-to-trump-after-lafayette-square/ar-AA10rGyp
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NoMoreRepugs
(12,076 posts)some such BULLSHIT. Trumpism is a fucking virus that needs eradication.
Bernardo de La Paz
(60,320 posts)They think he is a China stooge because he phoned his counterpart in China to say tRump was not going to attack imminently.
maxsolomon
(38,729 posts)What a shameful era.
Lonestarblue
(13,480 posts)Trump would most likely have gotten someone like Mike Flynn or his traitorous brother installed as head of the Joint Chiefs.
maxsolomon
(38,729 posts)You stay to prevent the worst. I think it was even Mark Meadow's reason for staying through the coup plotting.
* is truly the worst person in America.
Escurumbele
(4,094 posts)that doesn't qualify him as fighting the buffoon from the inside, that qualifies him as fighting Democracy and the USA citizens from the inside, he is a traitor and a criminal.
Mark Meadows deserves no positive recognition, he is compromised, he must be made accountable.
maxsolomon
(38,729 posts)Or who straddled the two. Meadows appears like he was inside the Coup plotting, but he also doesn't appear to have worked very hard at making Trump's dreams come true.
I'm certainly not impressed by him, either way; he appears to have had a mental breakdown on 1/6 and 20-something staffer Cassidy Hutchinson had to snap him out of it.
I wonder what Cipollone would say.
Chellee
(2,300 posts)Sure, they want to consider themselves Team Normal, but I think the best they can say is Team Cowardly, Team Excuse Makers, Team Sniveling Toadies.
Normal went out the window when they applied for the job.
maxsolomon
(38,729 posts)Of course we can quibble, but I translated it as those still believing that their oath, and the rule of law, matters.
Or simply actual Administration Officials, versus the lawyer clown show surrounding Rudy Giuliani.
Evolve Dammit
(21,777 posts)
Hieronymus Phact
(745 posts)Evolve Dammit
(21,777 posts)
MarineCombatEngineer
(18,060 posts)the whole JCoS were ready to resign along with Gen. Milley if the Mango Menace attempted to pull off instituting the Insurrection Act, or declare Martial Law and the Military would have not obeyed such an illegal order.
Evolve Dammit
(21,777 posts)MarineCombatEngineer
(18,060 posts)of the different services, and the NCO's, who actually run the Military, that any order coming from
Christopher Miller should be resisted without it actually being resisted, there are ways to disobey an dubious order without making it seem obvious, things like the transportation suddenly being gummed, necessary equipment being delayed, etc.
I know this because I did it myself a couple of times.
Evolve Dammit
(21,777 posts)
choie
(6,906 posts)Everyone is brave AFTER the orange one leaves office.
iemanja
(57,757 posts)“All men and women are created equal, no matter who you are, whether you are white or Black, Asian, Indian, no matter the color of your skin, no matter if you’re gay, straight or something in between. It doesn’t matter if you’re Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jew, or choose not to believe. None of that matters. It doesn’t matter what country you came from, what your last name is—what matters is we’re Americans,” he wrote, adding that the colours of the US flag — the colours his parents fought for during the Second World War — “mean something around the world”.
“It’s obvious to me that you don’t think of those colors the same way I do. It’s obvious to me that you don’t hold those values dear and the cause that I serve,” he wrote.
Continuing, Mr Milley concluded by telling Mr Trump that he was also “ruining the international order, and causing significant damage to our country overseas” by disrespecting the work of the Greatest Generation that had fought that war. He concluded by suggesting that the president’s principles were closer to the Nazis who American soldiers had fought against than those of Americans.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/top-us-general-milley-said-trump-was-doing-great-and-irreparable-harm-to-us-in-undelivered-resignation-letter/ar-AA10r85T
That's one hell of a letter!
ultralite001
(2,551 posts)all the troops being recalled home would rally to his side???
The machinations of RTump's deranged mind leave no doubt...
RTump continues to be a danger to our nation...
That is all...
irisblue
(37,512 posts)Wishing he weren't.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/10/17/trump-insults-pelosi-over-meeting-photo-she-made-it-her-twitter-cover/
Talk is easy Miley, but you walked with apricothellbeast, shame on you and your name.
Wild blueberry
(8,295 posts)Like the rest of Team Complicit.
harumph
(3,278 posts)Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.
elleng
(141,926 posts)
James48
(5,215 posts)Go read it.
nowforever
(586 posts)What gutless wonders these Generals were...pitiful. If just one of them had the guts (not courage) to speak up imagine the possibilities. All were concerned about what...future job prospects?? So honour and duty is never even part of their decision making. Has Trump even had one book that doesn't point out what a total asshole he is and was.
mahina
(20,645 posts)I don't see him as you do.
Shipwack
(3,065 posts)Quitting would have been the easy way out. If he left, someone more pliable and willing to foresake their oath would have taken his place. Staying, though, meant working under a man who publicly disrespected you and your profession on a near daily basis, but you could keep close tabs on him and do damage control in case Trump tried to do something greatly dangerous or seditious, which happened at least once.
As for everyone complaining that the general (and by extension, the entire upper echelon of the armed forces) didn’t publicly oppose the President… that’s not how it works. Furthermore, you don’t want it to work that way. The military is under civilian control. As long as they aren’t being told to commit war crimes, they need to follow orders; the tail does not wag the dog.
As for orders that are stupid or wrong… there are ways to deal with that. Remember early in TFG’s administration how he commanded that the military immediately discharge all transgendered troops? Nothing happened. It was slow walked as long as possible as they hoped that someone would somehow stop that idiotic order.
MarineCombatEngineer
(18,060 posts)Done it myself a couple of times, there are ways to disobey a stupid/wrong order without actually disobeying a stupid/wrong order.
Tom Rinaldo
(23,187 posts)He's not perfect and he knows it, and he admits it. He makes mistakes, but then he chews on it and takes in the criticism and isn't afraid to apologize. When he does it isn't a chickenshit apology, it's real. t thank God he was head of the military under the final months of Trump. He gets the mission of the military in a constitutional democracy under civilian rule. He is conditioned to obey his commander in chief but knows he has a higher calling to our constitution and what it stands for. No doubt he struggled with that at times, but the thing is, he struggled with it. He didn't become a dependable yes man. He acted as our top military officer to remind everyone under his command that the military was obligated to be non-partisan and put the constitution above the self centered wants of any office holder, implicit in that he meant the President. He is a stabilizing presence, for all the right reasons, in an institution which it is critically important remain stable. The values he professes to believe in are core positive American democratic values. Honestly we are lucky to have him. Unstable military leaders are the bane of democracies world wide.
Pepsidog
(6,365 posts)what awful person Trump would have replaced him with. To those who say he is a coward for not quitting, resigning would have just played into Trump’s hands. It’s the media who have failed our country by not reporting current events as they happen but wait to make a buck off a book.
sybylla
(8,655 posts)If he couldn't bring himself to make a public chastisement and exit, then he should have found a way to shut this clown down.
Shipwack
(3,065 posts)then he should have found a way to shut this clown down.
Exactly how would he do that? Are you suggesting that he should have staged a military coup? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…
MarineCombatEngineer
(18,060 posts)The Mango Menace appoints one of his toadies that would follow his illegal orders?
Invoke the Insurrection Act and have his toady order the Military into the streets?
Invoke Martial Law and have his toady order the Military into the streets?
You really don't know what you're talking about.
sybylla
(8,655 posts)Gen. Milley starts recruiting all the people that needed to vote to remove the clown using the 25th Amendment. HE HAD MONTHS. Tell me what exactly he stopped?
Edited to add that this is just one of the things he could have done. Another was to work as an informant with Democrats to expose the horror show. I'm sure if you work at it, you could think of a couple more things a TOP GENERAL with a boatload of experience in government bureaucracy could have done.
MarineCombatEngineer
(18,060 posts)Gen. Milley was working to prevent the Mango Menace from using the Military illegally to usurp power and stay in office, that was his main concern.
AverageOldGuy
(3,835 posts)Because he knew if he did, Trump would appoint an ass-kisser like Flynn's brother and there would be no one to stop Trump. Milley likely realized he -- and a handful of others at the Pentagon -- were all that was standing between the nation and Hitler -- and I do not exaggerate by referring to Trump as Hitler.
peppertree
(23,343 posts)Thank goodness he understood just exactly that.
musclecar6
(1,884 posts)If left to his own devices, TFFG was and is hell bent to be a modern day Totalitarian megalomaniac dictator in the mold of all the worst in history. How half of this country can not see that, is totally beyond me. A two bit con man, liar and a cheat has bamboozled all these fools playing on all their selfish hateful bias’s.
Prof. Toru Tanaka
(2,926 posts)Milley had to stay even though he didn't really want to serve under Trump. Trump no doubt would have got himself a toady to do the dirty work he wanted Milley to do.
sarisataka
(22,695 posts)Should have quit en masse. That way on January 6 all command positions could have been filled with hand picked Trump loyalists.
But they would have made a statement...
Martin68
(27,749 posts)Coward.
sarisataka
(22,695 posts)Milley would have been out, a Trump picked general would have been Chairman and the letter would have been forgotten within 72 hours.
Do you believe there is the remotest chance Republicans would have called for Trump's removal?
Martin68
(27,749 posts)Last edited Tue Aug 9, 2022, 11:32 AM - Edit history (1)
Actions have meaning and they have consequences. Meekly resigning without telling the nation why was a failure to do his duty as an officer. Sarisataka, do you really believe the only worthwhile action would have to be related to a removal of Trump? Don't you realize that every cowardly member of the Cabinet and administration who knew Trump was a danger to the country could have and should have stood up and said something?
sarisataka
(22,695 posts)He did not resign; he is still serving as CJCS under Biden.
He likely decided to not resign because (speculation-) he knew Trump would have appointed an "acting" Chairman who would have been more amenable to using the military during the summer of 2020 and beyond.
MarineCombatEngineer
(18,060 posts)It would have resulted in the Mango Menace installing his toadies in positions to carry out his illegal scheme to use the Military to help him seize power.
But I guess that would have shown up the Mango Menace.
Warpy
(114,615 posts)He probably realized there was no one else willing to take that grifter and his rabid fan base on, that the rule was to go along to get along. He was in a shitty position.
I'm glad he felt safe enough to get that letter published. Something tells me he had a whole file full of them
dobleremolque
(1,121 posts)Trump is incapable of being "scathed."
LetMyPeopleVote
(179,869 posts)Martin68
(27,749 posts)MarineCombatEngineer
(18,060 posts)Easy for you to sit behind a keyboard and call him that, isn't it.
Martin68
(27,749 posts)who swore an oath to defend the constitution. Do you think that is meaningless? I still believe in oaths and honor. I'm sorry to hear a Marine Combat Engineer isn't.
Prof. Toru Tanaka
(2,926 posts)with Donald Trump, they were dealing with an absolutely amoral person with no scruples or respect for the law. Milley could have looked good resigning but who would have taken his place? At least Milley knew these actions were wrong and would not have followed through with Trump's orders. Another toady to Trump likely would have and we'd have been in truly deep shit then.
I am glad Milley ended up staying in his position.
MarineCombatEngineer
(18,060 posts)he, along with others, prevented what could have been a successful coup against the Constitution by the Mango Menace and his toadies by not resigning, on the advice of many, and keeping the Military from being used as a tool to a coup.
Please don't ever accuse me of not believing in my Oath of Enlistment or honor, that's inaccurate to say the least.
musclecar6
(1,884 posts)He was in an untenable position. The only good thing is Joe Biden did get to be President and the Orange Nazi failed. Thank goodness.
Evolve Dammit
(21,777 posts)
maxrandb
(17,428 posts)Looks, I don't consider myself noble, or altruistic, but I did serve in the Navy for almost 30 years.
I truly was a nobody. Had a couple of cool jobs, but nothing close to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
I want to believe that I would have sacrificed everything to stop that evil piece of shit.
I want to believe that I wouldn't have kept quiet. I have to believe I would have screamed his unfitness and fascism from the rooftops.
We ask junior Sailors to make the ultimate sacrifice. It's drilled into us from boot camp on, that we may have to make difficult decisions that might change our lives, or careers, or place our life and treasure at risk.
I want to believe that I would have risked it all to stop this clear and present danger to America, and I was nothing but a lowly Mustang Officer.
The fact that the most senior officer in the military was unable, or unwilling to risk the backlash and blowback to tell the truth to the American people is disgusting.
We expect more courage, honor and integrity from an E1 fresh out of boot camp than we do a fucking 4 Star General.
wiggs
(8,812 posts)I've heard includes a summary of ALL the cabinet members, former staff, former elected officials who have said essentially the same thing...'he's an idiot''...he's a moron....we have to keep him from doing illegal stuff all the time...
There's a lifetime of history here, but media focuses only on the current, never makes the entire case that he's incompetent, self-serving, limited...and that most everyone in contact with him have said the same thing.
The Milley letter if just another instance of a lifetime of similar accusations... but instead it is treated as an isolated scandal.
THIS IS WHO HE IS.
maxrandb
(17,428 posts)We expect 18 year old enlisted E3s to shut down the entire Flight Schedule of an Aircraft Carrier if they see something wrong.
He writes a "strongly worded letter", and doesn't fucking send it ANYWHERE"!???
This is nothing but Milley demonstrating "Profiles in Ass-Covering".
As we would say in the Navy; "He suffers from delusions of adequacy".
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)and the difficulty he admitted to of combatting it.
With tRump/Repubs out and the Biden administration in, Milley and others undoing this dangerous situation must have been a top priority from the beginning. I'm assuming traitors they haven't been able to oust yet are no more ready to give up on a coup d'etat than the traitors still in elective and appointed government offices, but we must be in significantly better position now than in January 2020. And at that time tRump did not have the military.