ClosedCaption
Diamond Member
- Sep 15, 2010
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- #61
I have no problem at all with a general advising a clueless civilian on the proper way to console the widow of a fallen soldier. None at all.John Kelly and the Language of the Military Coup
Consider this nightmare scenario: a military coup. You don’t have to strain your imagination—all you have to do is watch Thursday’s White House press briefing, in which the chief of staff, John Kelly, defended President Trump’s phone call to a military widow, Myeshia Johnson. The press briefing could serve as a preview of what a military coup in this country would look like, for it was in the logic of such a coup that Kelly advanced his four arguments.
Argument 1. Those who criticize the President don’t know what they’re talking about because they haven’t served in the military.
2. The President did the right thing because he did exactly what his general told him to do.
3. Communication between the President and a military widow is no one’s business but theirs.
4. Citizens are ranked based on their proximity to dying for their country. Kelly’s last argument was his most striking. At the end of the briefing, he said that he would take questions only from those members of the press who had a personal connection to a fallen soldier, followed by those who knew a Gold Star family. Considering that, a few minutes earlier, Kelly had said most Americans didn’t even know anyone who knew anyone who belonged to the “one per cent,” he was now explicitly denying a majority of Americans—or the journalists representing them—the right to ask questions. This was a new twist on the Trump Administration’s technique of shunning and shaming unfriendly members of the news media, except this time, it was framed explicitly in terms of national loyalty. As if on cue, the first reporter allowed to speak inserted the phrase “Semper Fi”—a literal loyalty oath—into his question.
Before walking off the stage, Kelly told Americans who haven’t served in the military that he pities them. “We don’t look down upon those of you who haven’t served,” he said. “In fact, in a way we are a little bit sorry because you’ll have never have experienced the wonderful joy you get in your heart when you do the kinds of things our servicemen and women do—not for any other reason than that they love this country.”
Kelly stood up there and pretty much tried to lecture everyone else on what it means to serve and that he and others that serve feel sorry for the rest of us. And that anyone who dares question anything they do is in effect a shitty person because, as mentioned, he served in the military so he's beyond question.
That is not even in the same fucking UNIVERSE as a military coup, retard.
Did I mention anywhere at anytime that advising Trump was a bad thing? Did I mention anywhere at anytime that advising him was the same as a military coup?
If those answers are no, then my question is...are you talking to me?