The deafening, devastating sound of John Kelly's silence [View all]

[brooklynite]

Washington Post

Kelly is no Trump fan, not in the wake of his unceremonious firing and Trump’s derisive assessment. (“He got eaten alive,” Trump said Friday, suggesting Kelly might be a Goldberg source. “He was unable to handle the pressure of this job.&quot

But does anyone beyond the most reflexive Trump supporter really believe that a career Marine, a four-star general, a Gold Star father, would invent such a story — however it managed to make its way to Goldberg? Goldberg describes Trump’s visit with Kelly to Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day 2017. They stood at the grave of Kelly’s son Robert, killed at 29 in Afghanistan when he stepped on a landmine leading a platoon of Marines. “Trump, while standing by Robert Kelly’s grave, turned directly to his father and said, ‘I don’t get it. What was in it for them?’” Goldberg writes.

Does anyone believe that Goldberg — an experienced and well-regarded journalist, with a track record of scoops and a deep bench of military sources — would make this up or run it without fully checking? Full disclosure: I’ve known Goldberg for more than 30 years, since he was an intern at The Post, and I have complete confidence in his professionalism. A credibility contest between Trump and Goldberg is no contest at all.

Not to mention: Every damning incident in the story is consistent with what we already know of Trump’s character and attitude toward military service. His avoidance of the Vietnam draft, with seemingly bogus claims of bone spurs. His public derision of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), “I like people who weren’t captured.” His 2016 belittling of a Gold Star father who appeared at the Democratic convention.

So what should we make of Kelly’s silence? Ingrained habits of stoicism and convictions about duties of confidentiality and loyalty to a commander in chief, even this one, seem to be at work here. This is perplexing, to say the least. There are persuasive arguments on the other side about countervailing duties, including to warn the country about the man seeking a second term. But heroes are scarce among those who chose to serve Trump. Kelly’s tenure in “Crazytown,” as Bob Woodward quoted him in describing the Trump White House, included overseeing the implementation of the administration’s cruel policy of separating migrant children from their parents.