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2021-09-18 Home Front: Politix

I respected Mark Milley ⁠‐ but he has damaged our democracy

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Posted by Frank G 2021-09-18 06:47|| || Front Page|| [11 views ] Top
File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats

#1 "He is an advisor who executes the commander in chief’s commands, not the other way around."

As the chairman he's not part of the chain of command though:

"the Joint Chiefs of Staff do not have operational command authority, either individually or collectively, as the chain of command goes from the president to the secretary of defense, and from the secretary to the regional combatant commanders."

In addition to the China call allegations it is claimed that Milley pressured certain military officials to promise not to act on certain orders without informing Milley and getting his approval.

If I'm interpreting this correctly it would have been a direct violation of the Goldwater–Nichols Act if Milley had laid claim to and exercised any such command authority even in concordance with the President's wishes.

Posted by Elmerert Hupens2660 2021-09-18 07:32|| 2021-09-18 07:32|| Front Page Top

#2 My hunch is Milley did not act without backstopping and cover from the SECDEF and powerful members of congress. There is much more to this story. Will it ever be told? Not likely.

Posted by Besoeker 2021-09-18 07:41|| 2021-09-18 07:41|| Front Page Top

#3 The Donald Trump Pile on, according to Bob Woodward:

Then-CIA Director Gina Haspel said Trump's post-election behavior was 'insanity' and he was 'acting out like a 6-year-old with a tantrum,' book says

Then-CIA Director Gina Haspel told the US's top general that former President Donald Trump was "acting out like a six-year-old with a tantrum" in the wake of the 2020 election, according to a new book.

In addition to refusing to concede the 2020 election to President-elect Joe Biden and pushing groundless claims of election fraud, Trump fired (or tried to fire) a number of top officials — most prominently, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on November 9.

"Yesterday was appalling," Haspel said in a November 10 conversation with Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to Bob Woodward and Robert Costa's forthcoming book "Peril."

"We are on the way to a right-wing coup. The whole thing is insanity. He is acting out like a six-year-old with a tantrum," Haspel, a 35-year veteran of the agency, said, with the authors writing that she, too, was afraid of being canned.

Milley assured Haspel that "we're going to be steady," according to the book. "Steady as a rock," he added. "We're going to keep our eye on the horizon. Keep alert to any risks, dangers. Keep the channels open."

Posted by Besoeker 2021-09-18 07:54|| 2021-09-18 07:54|| Front Page Top

#4 ...A couple of observations:

*Fox is reporting that Milley cleared his conversations with the office of the SECDEF. That seems to be parsing things just a bit - not cleared with SECDEF, but 'with his office'. Curious.
*During the last days of the Nixon Administration, SECDEF James Schlesinger sent out a quiet order that no 'unusual' military orders from the White House were to be executed without his approval. THAT is how this should have been done, if it was necessary at all.
*A lot has been said about 'if' this is true.

I say we absolutely have to believe it, because that nice Mister Woodward fella wrote a book about the Trump Administration a few years ago that had some outrageous things in it...and we were told then that we HAD to believe it.

Milley broke about a dozen or so rules, and if the Chinese had taken that moment to hit something, they would have been crowing to the heavens that America said they wouldn't attack...and that khaki-suited idiot would have had the blood of thousands on his hands. All I have to say is this: in the movies, when someone betrayed his oath, his traditions, and his country like this, they would give him a pistol with one round in it and tell him to do the right thing.

Not like he would.

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2021-09-18 08:22|| 2021-09-18 08:22|| Front Page Top

#5 /\ Yes, I suspect the General slipped the bounds if not the intent of legal "Foreign Disclosure" AR 380-10 and possibly more.

Posted by Besoeker 2021-09-18 09:07|| 2021-09-18 09:07|| Front Page Top

#6 "Esper requested his deputies use back channels to ensure the Chinese knew we knew what their intelligence said and that their intelligence was wrong. Esper further ordered a postponement of some American naval activities in the Pacific so the Chinese did not get spooked. Gen. Milley was one of the people who worked back channels to defuse the situation." (from Swan via Erickson)

Posted by Glenmore 2021-09-18 10:44|| 2021-09-18 10:44|| Front Page Top

#7 Resign or be fired. Either way, credibility, honor, and trust is GONE

I agree with the sentiment, but credibility, honor and trust are no longer in play. It is all about the will to power now.

#2 My hunch is Milley did not act without backstopping and cover from the SECDEF and powerful members of congress. There is much more to this story. Will it ever be told? Not likely.

That pretty much sums it up, IMHO. Milley may be the visible face on this mess, but he is not the only rat in the cellar. I hate to be pessimistic, but I can't help wondering if the American Experiment is over.

Posted by SteveS 2021-09-18 11:11|| 2021-09-18 11:11|| Front Page Top

#8 He's got Pigeon all over his Chevy Chase.

Posted by swksvolFF 2021-09-18 11:46|| 2021-09-18 11:46|| Front Page Top

#9 Meanwhile Milley has had breast implants to increase his chest for his new ribbons foor Treason and Valor in AFG

Posted by Gluter Mussolini5141 2021-09-18 14:04|| 2021-09-18 14:04|| Front Page Top

#10 "This is the time in Sprockets when we vest."

Posted by swksvolFF 2021-09-18 14:06|| 2021-09-18 14:06|| Front Page Top

#11 Someone should whip up a photoshop of Milley's new 'chest enhancements'.

Posted by CrazyFool 2021-09-18 15:53|| 2021-09-18 15:53|| Front Page Top

#12 "Milley earned his commission as an Armor officer through Princeton's Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps program in 1980 and spent most of his career in Infantry assignments." Wikipedia

Princeton. Hard to believe the same institution that gave us Ted Cruz also gave us Thomas Woodrow Wilson, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Gen. Mark "The Quisling" Milley.

Posted by Anomalous Sources 2021-09-18 21:06|| 2021-09-18 21:06|| Front Page Top

#13 I hate to be pessimistic, but I can't help wondering if the American Experiment is over.

Phase I is over.

Soon to begin is Phase II, in which the patriotic and freedom-loving ("normie") states and counties separate from the post-modern, globo-homo, "1619 Project" Woke-Fascist blue counties.

We just need to accept reality and go our separate ways now.

Posted by Brutus 2021-09-18 22:15|| 2021-09-18 22:15|| Front Page Top

23:33 Mad Eye Pholuting8771
22:26 Besoeker
22:24 Brutus
22:23 Besoeker
22:15 Brutus
22:10 Cato
22:09 Marxman
22:02 Byronic
21:39 Anomalous Sources
21:06 Anomalous Sources
21:05 Skidmark
20:29 Silentbrick
20:27 SteveS
20:00 SteveS
19:57 Frank G
19:56 Cesare
19:49 Vortigern de Medici9432
19:28 SteveS
19:27 Dale
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18:51 Angstrom