John Kelly has long been a mystery to me. His military career was stellar. His dedication to the United States cannot possibly be questioned. He's made sacrifices none of us should have to make.
He was interviewed back in 2019 on the Naval Institute Proceedings Podcast. It's very much worth the listen:
John Kelly has long been a mystery to me. His military career was stellar. His dedication to the United States cannot possibly be questioned. He's made sacrifices none of us should have to make.
He was interviewed back in 2019 on the Naval Institute Proceedings Podcast. It's very much worth the listen:
His work in Latin America on combatting the drug trade is particularly interesting in light of his service in the Trump Administration. John Kelly knows the truth about what's going on in Central and South America. He knows the sacrifices the militaries and police forces in those countries are dealing with, the risks they taken when they burn a field or mess with the cartels. He understands these things on a level most of us don't. Yet he stood by as Trump did what he did, ignorant of even the most basic facts.
I'm sure he was in the "if not me, then the next guy will be worse" camp and he was probably right about that. He's also, at his heart a US Marine, which means something, including when the President of the United States asks you to do something, you do it.
But now ... how? I don't know what the right answer is, but it seems to me John Kelly's got one more mission to complete and it's waking the MAGA horde up to the truth of what Donald Trump really is.
I suspect a lot of Cassandras told John Kelly not to take the job because Trump is a sucking black hole of character, but he didn't listen to them. And now he's a Cassandra himself. He could talk to the people who warned him and figure out where he went wrong, but I'll place a $100 bet he's not going to do that. Better to let the country detonate than admit liberals were correct about one thing.
It’s galling. Patriotism only goes so far. But you’d think someone who sacrificed a son to the country would feel standing up to Trump to be insignificant by comparison. And yet.
"I was silent.Then they came for me" This quote is very shortened.I don't remember who said it.But it is chilling(regarding WW2) It kind of sums up today, doesn't it!
It does sum up today’s political environment. The people who know that quote aren’t the ones who need to know it, as usual. If Trump gets voted in again, there will be some very unhappy Trump voters once the sh*t hits the fan and they get fouled along with everyone else. Sarah’s recent Focus Group with Bill Kristol and a gaggle of Jewish Trump voters comes to mind, as but one small example among a big pool of stooges.
Steven Colbert interviewed Jonathan Karl not long ago.Karl said Trump has been a total failure.Why Colbert asked? Because everybody who comes in contact with Trump has had their life up ended or ruined.(but not Trump) Trump succeeds while all others fail. Thats really sums up Trump perfectly.And his view of success.
The failure of Trump sycophants to notice this obvious trend line is baffling. Still they persist. If we make it out of this, future social psychologists will be studying the Trump phenomenon for decades. Eons even.
I have trouble understanding the Kelly reaction too. The best I can come up with is that deep down in most every senior military officer's DNA is a complete dedication to serving the chain of command even when you may not agree with it. Of course, there are many other factors regarding them being a bit insulated from the outside world (i.e. not really knowing what it looks like for the ordinary citizen), plenty of their own problems to do deal with (i.e. day-to-day stuff), not sure how you would address it successfully and finally...the specter of the shix-storm created by revealing the truth and how that would play out for him personally, professionally and for the country.
Not saying any of that's right...but that's my take on why Kelly, like Frank Sinatra, did it his way...
John Kelly has long been a mystery to me. His military career was stellar. His dedication to the United States cannot possibly be questioned. He's made sacrifices none of us should have to make.
He was interviewed back in 2019 on the Naval Institute Proceedings Podcast. It's very much worth the listen:
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/the-proceedings-podcast/episode-108-gen-john-kelly-looks-back
His work in Latin America on combatting the drug trade is particularly interesting in light of his service in the Trump Administration. John Kelly knows the truth about what's going on in Central and South America. He knows the sacrifices the militaries and police forces in those countries are dealing with, the risks they taken when they burn a field or mess with the cartels. He understands these things on a level most of us don't. Yet he stood by as Trump did what he did, ignorant of even the most basic facts.
I'm sure he was in the "if not me, then the next guy will be worse" camp and he was probably right about that. He's also, at his heart a US Marine, which means something, including when the President of the United States asks you to do something, you do it.
But now ... how? I don't know what the right answer is, but it seems to me John Kelly's got one more mission to complete and it's waking the MAGA horde up to the truth of what Donald Trump really is.
I suspect a lot of Cassandras told John Kelly not to take the job because Trump is a sucking black hole of character, but he didn't listen to them. And now he's a Cassandra himself. He could talk to the people who warned him and figure out where he went wrong, but I'll place a $100 bet he's not going to do that. Better to let the country detonate than admit liberals were correct about one thing.
It’s galling. Patriotism only goes so far. But you’d think someone who sacrificed a son to the country would feel standing up to Trump to be insignificant by comparison. And yet.
Its galling that anyone thinks that those who sacrificed their lives in every war are "saps and suckers".
That alone should have given Kelley the spine he needed to speak out. His “honor” is mysteriously MIA.
"I was silent.Then they came for me" This quote is very shortened.I don't remember who said it.But it is chilling(regarding WW2) It kind of sums up today, doesn't it!
It does sum up today’s political environment. The people who know that quote aren’t the ones who need to know it, as usual. If Trump gets voted in again, there will be some very unhappy Trump voters once the sh*t hits the fan and they get fouled along with everyone else. Sarah’s recent Focus Group with Bill Kristol and a gaggle of Jewish Trump voters comes to mind, as but one small example among a big pool of stooges.
Steven Colbert interviewed Jonathan Karl not long ago.Karl said Trump has been a total failure.Why Colbert asked? Because everybody who comes in contact with Trump has had their life up ended or ruined.(but not Trump) Trump succeeds while all others fail. Thats really sums up Trump perfectly.And his view of success.
The failure of Trump sycophants to notice this obvious trend line is baffling. Still they persist. If we make it out of this, future social psychologists will be studying the Trump phenomenon for decades. Eons even.
In the history books this could parallel the 1850 s
I have trouble understanding the Kelly reaction too. The best I can come up with is that deep down in most every senior military officer's DNA is a complete dedication to serving the chain of command even when you may not agree with it. Of course, there are many other factors regarding them being a bit insulated from the outside world (i.e. not really knowing what it looks like for the ordinary citizen), plenty of their own problems to do deal with (i.e. day-to-day stuff), not sure how you would address it successfully and finally...the specter of the shix-storm created by revealing the truth and how that would play out for him personally, professionally and for the country.
Not saying any of that's right...but that's my take on why Kelly, like Frank Sinatra, did it his way...