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Home Front: Politix
James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution
2020-06-04
[Atlantic] James Mattis, the esteemed Marine general who resigned as secretary of defense in December 2018 to protest Donald Trump’s Syria policy, has, ever since, kept studiously silent about Trump’s performance as president. But he has now broken his silence, writing an extraordinary broadside in which he denounces the president for dividing the nation, and accuses him of ordering the U.S. military to violate the constitutional rights of American citizens.
Perhaps the general would care to comment on, or explain the dynamic of the highly successful Trump rally.
"I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled," Mattis writes. "The words ’Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation." He goes on, "We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution."

This article contains a comlete transcript.
Posted by:Besoeker

#32  In the old days the best choices available on the Republican side were the country club lot we no longer support. But starting with the TEA Party years, the conservative Republican bench has grown deeper, broader, and younger, year after year. If Donald Trump is not reelected, we have plenty of others to choose from in 2022 and 2024, and they’ve seen how to fight effectively against Progressive games as well as the necessity of rooting out the Deep State.

The Democratic Party, much as they like to think of themselves as cutting edge revolutionaries, are actually the party of the elderly reactionaries, loudly and proudly demanding programs first proposed a century or more ago. “Learn to code,” they say to those who have lost jobs, because that is something they are not capable of, nor interested in, doing themselves, Meanwhile, all the Progressive coders at Facebook and Google and such have plenty of money with which to buy politicians, but completely lack the skills and outlook necessary to become politicians themselves. All they can become is Antifa, which doesn’t get them into the halls of power.
Posted by: trailing wife   2020-06-04 20:12  

#31  Well, this is another "who else are they going to back?" moment. If they really feel Joy Behar and Cool Bear are their constituency (they aren't elected, so constituency has nothing to do with it) well, "say when."
Posted by: M. Murcek   2020-06-04 19:20  

#30  #21 try Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, Candace Owens for starters.
Posted by: Lex   2020-06-04 19:03  

#29  #21 Concerned Conservative™
Posted by: Frank G   2020-06-04 18:17  

#28  /\MM. That is a little broad. I have agreed with damned near everything you have written today, but can't agree with that. NCO's, enlisted, company level officers are usually, but not uniformly (pun) have made no compromises other than giving up some of their rights as a citizen to protect the citizens of the United States. There was nothing to give but their service, to what I certainly thought was a greater good. Field grade, general officer grade, then your position is on firmer ground. It is more political in those grades, and the backstabbers do what they do. I find Mattis stomach-turning.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike   2020-06-04 18:09  

#27  Everyone wearing a uniform made many compromises to get there. The grow beyond that or grow comfortable with it.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2020-06-04 17:12  

#26  They turned on me. And I won't forget it.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2020-06-04 17:08  

#25  Thor Ebbilet4842, conservatives tend to put military leaders up on a pedestal but we do not believe anyone is beyond criticism. Cult of Personality is a thing of the left.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2020-06-04 16:09  

#24  We call it Draining the Swamp. Slowly but surely it is happening.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2020-06-04 16:05  

#23  You guys have turned on so many of your own; Bush, Romney, McCain, Mattis, Rubio, and on and on, in seven months when Trump is gone you're not going to have anyone left. You think you're bitter now? Just wait...

Bitch, ain't it? We got wise to them. If their allegiance is to Xi Jinping instead of our own duly elected, democratically elected president, we'll get rid of them.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2020-06-04 16:05  

#22  "How dare you not be grateful for being constantly backstabbed?"

Remember how Lincoln had no one left after he got rid of MacClellan (twice) Pope, Burnside, Hooker and Meade?

He really should have been nicer to them.

Posted by: charger   2020-06-04 15:44  

#21  You guys have turned on so many of your own; Bush, Romney, McCain, Mattis, Rubio, and on and on, in seven months when Trump is gone you're not going to have anyone left. You think you're bitter now? Just wait...
Posted by: Thor Ebbilet4842   2020-06-04 15:28  

#20  
#19 Just because a man wore a uniform, even if he was very brave while he wore it, doesn't mean he is fit to be a civilian leader.

Hopefully, a critical mass of people on the Right will finally figure this out.
Posted by: charger   2020-06-04 14:54  

#19  Just because a man wore a uniform, even if he was very brave while he wore it, doesn't mean he is fit to be a civilian leader.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2020-06-04 14:06  

#18  I thought former military were supposed to quietly fade away. What's up with Gen. Mad Dog that he finds himself in the news cycle dissing his former boss?
Posted by: jpal   2020-06-04 14:00  

#17  I hope so Lex, but this is not 1968. Trump might lose.
Posted by: Klem Kadiddlehopper   2020-06-04 13:32  

#16  M. Murcek, it will go that way.

The evil genious of Obamagate was that they were investigating Trump before he took office and any firings would have been seen as attempts to undermine the investigation.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2020-06-04 11:57  

#15  Methinks the Bradley Effect is getting more pronounced with each passing day.

The polls probably understate OrangeMan's real support by at least ten percent now.

Imagine you work for any one of the hundreds of companies whose CEOs are rushing to signal their sympathy for The Insurrection with their ridiculous weepy self-flagellating statements: are you really going to let anyone, even an anonymous pollster, know that you question whether it's wise to support anarchic violence?

If closet Trump Supporters were cowed before this madness, there must be twice as many now.

=> Gross up Trump's polling numbers by +10, +11 points
Posted by: Lex   2020-06-04 11:52  

#14  The day is coming where a newly elected President will just cashier them all and make them sign NDAs on the way out. One more good reason to not be tied up in forever wars.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2020-06-04 11:32  

#13  Let me see, was it Trump following the federal system and encouraging the locals to do something or was his bluff/threat that the Feds might do something if the locals didn't, or was it driving military vehicles through DC streets and using some in defense positions to secure monuments? Which of these actions threaten the Constitution?

Seems that without daily reports the General is a bit uninformed and if he just buys the liberal line on these things (especially after Obamagate has been exposed) he's got questionable judgement which makes me feel a bit better about his resignation.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2020-06-04 11:15  

#12  Looking forward to Mattis becoming a regular contributor on CNN. He should have his own show with Adam Schiff as co-host.
Posted by: jpal   2020-06-04 10:49  

#11  Surprised? Come on.

Since 1948 they've been employed as 'world policemen'. Its three generations on hand. They don't get to be senior officers if they're not globalists. Don't you recall the push back on using troops on the border?

Its that decision in '48 that has trashed the Constitution, not Trump. It was set up as a union of states, not a global enterprise and its structure was never intended to accommodate that.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2020-06-04 10:44  

#10  Somewhere in that Oath is something about enemies foreign and domestic...if you are going to fight them and they don’t wear uniforms but are have clearly stated they want to overthrow the government force and violence, tell me General, do you really want to counsel playing the mutiny card?
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2020-06-04 10:42  

#9  Sad to see Mattis go the way of Murtha.
Posted by: gorb   2020-06-04 10:31  

#8  Is it a pill all of them are forced to take ?
Posted by: Besoeker   2020-06-04 09:13  

#7  Lovely. Another political general.
Posted by: Mercutio   2020-06-04 09:12  

#6  I don't want to hear anything about what a hero he is or how much we owe him for "service to his country. Not. One. Damn. Word.

Put McBastard, McChrystal and McRaven on that list too. Throw in Stavridis and Wesley Clark while you are at it.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2020-06-04 06:42  

#5  Mattis is a has-been. What a tool.
Posted by: Clem   2020-06-04 04:44  

#4  name one person whose rights the military has violated during this riot season?

I can find thousands of people whose rights, lives, businesses and property have been violated by Antifa Communists, Black Lives Matter racists and criminal opportunists. How Does Mattis propose to restore their rights, health, property and dignity?
Posted by: Chosh Sforza6156   2020-06-04 04:16  

#3  In 1861 a lot of generals, some of the best, went 'south'.

The Donks picked Gen. McClellan to run against Lincoln in 1864.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2020-06-04 04:06  

#2  I, ___________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me

If he denounces the Commander in Chief who was/is elected by the people, he also denounces his oath of allegiance. Perhaps it is time for the general to find residence elsewhere.

It would appear that millions of American voters and hundreds of thousands of Trump political rally attendees disagree with the general's assessment.

The Deep State cadre would rather have you concentrate on the external threat, the Russian hoax, China virus, etc. The 'internal threat' is the Deep State's private playground.

Emphasis added by me.
Posted by: Besoeker   2020-06-04 03:31  

#1  Even if Biden will get elected, mi hineral, they won't offer you a job.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2020-06-04 03:27  

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