MAGA voters had plenty of warning about Trump's intention to model authoritarians

Although it is heartbreaking to realize how voters chose to ignore the horrible danger waarnings about a second Trump administrtion, the fact is, many did not hear General John Kelly's interview in The New York Times. Among the people I spoke with, many were unfortunately unaware of his first hand experience working in the first failed Trump administration.

Donald Trump  and Russia's President Vladimir Putin on July 16, 2018

This opinion letter publishd in The New York Times is a retrospective about what General Kelly said because, given the reality of a second Trump administraation, we must remember how we were forewarned.

Dear Editor: America, please listen ⚠ to and heed the warnings of John Kelly. This is real, Donald Trump is not bluffing — he will rule like a dictator.

Some of the many examples that back this up: Look at how Trump so viciously treated John McCain and Mark Milley, showing how he has no respect for our military. Look at how Mr. Trump demands absolute loyalty to him.

Remember when he stood with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki and believed Mr. Putin over our own intelligence and security services. Recall the articles we have read about Mr. Trump’s advisers continuing to look for ways to expand presidential powers.

And perhaps most dangerous of all, look at all the Republicans in Congress who continue to remain silent as Mr. Trump takes even more actions and makes statements that indicate his favoring an authoritarian regime. These Republicans will play a giant role in ushering in such a regime.

The writing is on the wall; General John Kelly* has put it there. Believe him.

From Howard Herman in Skokie, Illinois

*General Kelly was born and raised in Boston, MA. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1970, and was discharged as a sergeant in 1972, after serving in an infantry company with the 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, NC. Following graduation from the University of Massachusetts in 1976, he was commissioned and returned to the 2nd Marine Division where he served as a rifle and weapons platoon commander, company executive officer, assistant operations officer, and infantry company commander. 

John Francis Kelly (born May 11, 1950) is an American former political advisor and retired U.S. Marine Corps general who was White House chief of staff for President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019. He had previously been Secretary of Homeland Security in the Trump administration and was commander of United States Southern Command. 

Donald Trump is a terrible and dangerous choice to be America's commander in chief

Echo opinion by ML Cavanaugh published in the Los Angeles Times:  Trump proved himself unfit to be commander in chief.

Trump is an architect  of Project 2025 is not qualified to be president

As an officer in the U.S. military, I abstained from voting in national elections, one small way to keep the armed forces nonpartisan. Now, to uphold that same value and prevent the military from becoming a political tool, I believe that in November, everyone — civilians, service members, veterans, everyone — should vote for whoever has the best chance to keep Donald Trump out of office.

This is not a political statement. This is a strategic judgment based on fitness to lead — both to defend the United States and to protect the civilian-military balance that has enabled our nation to become the greatest in history.

Today’s U.S. military is the world’s most powerful weapon, and in the wrong hands it could become a potent political tool as well. This weapon must not be placed under an unfit commander in chief, as the former president showed himself to be during the previous administration and as he has vowed to be again if he regains power.

I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican, but an American who has fought in the forces that guard our country and our way of life, in the words of our military’s Code of Conduct. I fought in Iraq, earned two Bronze Stars and taught military strategy at West Point. My commitment to military values and nonpartisanship hasn’t changed since I rejoined civilian life. What’s changed is the choice presented in American politics. There really isn’t one, because one of the two major-party presidential candidates is clearly, demonstrably, irredeemably unfit to serve as commander in chief.

Only one candidate has suggested the execution of a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Only one candidate has called our war dead — specifically, the Marines who fell at Belleau Wood in France during World War I — “suckers” and “losers.”

Only one candidate has suggested putting NASCAR drivers and college coaches in critical national security positions now held by lifelong military professionals who serve as generals and admirals.

All those are awful enough. But, what settles the question altogether is the certainty that former guy President Donald Trump would end the military’s bedrock contract with the American people: nonpartisanship. He tried last time and came dangerously close.

Nonpartisanship isn’t simply a nice tradition. It’s the two-factor authentication that’s been at the heart of our nation’s defense for decades. The former president instead wants military leadership that mimics the Nazi high command.

“You f— generals, why can’t you be like the German generals?” Trump complained to his chief of staff, retired General John Kelly, in 2018. Trump clarified that he wanted generals who were “totally loyal” and “yes-men,” like the Nazi commanders under Adolf Hitler.

Since America’s founding, there’s been a tension between the military and the rest of the nation’s leadership. The monopoly on violence is necessary. But monopoly means placing immense lethal power in a small, select group.

James Madison worried that “armies kept up under the pretext of defending, have enslaved the people.” But the Revolution persuaded George Washington that a competent standing military was necessary for the country’s survival.

Over time a bargain solidified. America permitted a professional military, not loyal to a party or a president, but to all the people through an oath to uphold the Constitution. The country even granted a certain amount of autonomy in strategic matters. In exchange, the military would remain nonpartisan. It would work to earn the nation’s trust and subordinate itself to civilian leadership. Military leaders engage in an “unequal dialogue” with their civilian superiors, in scholar Eliot Cohen’s phrase. This preserves the best military advice possible while staying deferential to America’s civilian leaders. 

Of course, occasional friction occurs between presidents and generals (Think 🤔— President Truman and General MacArthur....President Obama and General McChrystal, who tendered his resignation, which the president accepted).  

Well worth it to maintain this pillar of national defense.

Trump wanted to destroy that pillar. Given a second term, he probably would. In its place he would enforce a subservience that would end the ability of America’s military to provide its best (or much of any) advice on peace and war. Trump would deploy the military as a political prop in service of his own brand, as he already tried to do. And he would reshape the military and the national security apparatus so that Trumpists would rise and others would not. His second term would be staffed by those prepared to “rigorously review all general and flag officer promotions” based on pro-Trump partisan qualifications, as described in the Project 2025 playbook.

This very same mistake was an enormous Nazi failure: Hitler broke the German generals, and so his decisions went unchecked and included some of the worst strategic moves in the history of warfare.

The immediate threat of a modern commander in chief who favors the Nazi approach would be the inappropriate use of military force on America’s streets (and perhaps even at polling places). The longer threat for this kind of recklessness is unknowable but foreseeable: eroding remaining trust in the military, eviscerating the civilian-military balance, ending America’s centuries-long success story.

“It is easy to destroy an organization,” wrote retired Adm. William McRaven, former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, “if you have no appreciation for what makes that organization great.” McRaven penned those words five years ago, during the former president’s first term in office, and ended by suggesting that if nothing were to change, someone else must serve as commander in chief.

Nothing about Trump has changed. There is only one choice on Nov. 5.

ML Cavanaugh recently retired after 25 years in the U.S. Army. He co-founded the Modern War Institute at West Point. @MLCavanaugh

President Biden proudly appeared in support of American veterans during visits to war cemeteries in France

Echo report published in Yahoo.com by Josh Marcus:

President Joe Biden concluded his five-day state visit to France on Sunday, June 9, 2024, by touring an American cemetery home to 2,200 US soldiers who fought and died in World War I. (Aisne-Marne American Cemetery)

The president, who has used the visit to praise US alliances in Europe and reiterate support Ukraine in its war for Russia, laid a wreath at the chapel of Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau, France, outside of Paris.

“These soldiers were heroes, just as every American who has served this nation,” Biden said during the visit, adding, “The best way to avoid these kinds of battles in the future is to stay strong with our allies.”

Many observers saw the visit as a rebuke to Donald Trump, who skipped a planned 2018, visit to the cemetery and reportedly called the servicemen buried there “suckers” and “losers.”

Trump reportedly snubbed a planned commemoration at the cemetery for the 100th anniversary of WWI, fearing his hair would become disheveled in the rain, The Atlantic reported in 2020.

“At the time, he reportedly told those on the trip with him, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.”

Trump denied making the comments about the French cemetery.

John Kelly, a former Marine Corps general and Trump chief of staff, later told CNN Trump indeed mocked the dead American soldiers there.

'God help us': GeneralJohn Kelly issues scathing statement on Trump
https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2023/10/02/john-kelly-donald-trump-exclusive-trump-us-service-members-veterans-tapper-pkg-lead-vpx.cnn

The alleged remarks echoed Trump’s past controversial remarks about Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam who endured years of torture, about whom Trump said, “I like people who weren’t captured.”

Senataor John McCain's headstone in the US Naval academy cemetery in Annapolis (L'Heureux photo)

The Biden campaign, facing an extremely tight race against Trump in November, has sought to emphasize Trump’s comments about the military.

A recent campaign ad cuts footage of dead American servicemembers returning home in coffins with Trump’s past remarks about soldiers.

Elsewhere during the state visit, Biden commemorated the 80th anniversary of D-Day, when Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy in Nazi-occupied France.

“They knew ... beyond any doubt that there are things that are worth fighting and dying for: Freedom is worth it,” Biden said of the soldiers. “Democracy is worth it. America’s worth it, the world is worth it, then, now and always.”

He also said the success of D-Day proved “the unbreakable unity of allies.”

President Joe Biden provides highly respectful support Gold Star families

Biden treated fallen service members with dignity

Echo opinion letter published in the Orlando Sentinel:

Let us compare our current and the former guy citizen Trump's feelings towards our military service members who were killed while serving in hostile areas.

Concerning the three servicemen recently killed by an enemy drone, NSC spokesman John Kirby reported President Biden’s communication with the families of the fallen: “He was grateful for their time. He expressed how proud we all are of their service.” Kirby said of Biden’s calls with the families, “We mourn and feel sorrow for their loss.”

Compare those compassionate words to Trump’s (callous and idootic) remarks about servicemembers buried at the Aisne-Marne World War One American Cemetery in France in 2018, calling them “losers” and “suckers.” 

Or, the former guy's statement to his chief of staff, retired Marine General John Kelly, as they were standing at Kelly’s son’s graveside in the Arlington National Cemetery, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”  At this point, I am simply beyond words. 

Carter (Curley) Bowman Maitland

America has one General who performs at his senior officer rank

Maybe, General McMaster, the head of the National Security Council (NSC) will save America by speaking truth to power.  Americans need to see White House leadership.

General McMaster is the head of the National Security Council. He is behaving like a senior officer by defining the Russia interference in the 2016 election.

On the other hand, former General John Kelly, the White House Chief of Staff, is behaving like he's become a victim of the Donald Trump "Stockholm Syndrome". Rather than showing leadership, Kelly appears to be following the stupid directives, indiscriminately blurted in Tweets, by the erratic, and unbalanced president. But, there might still be hope for General McMaster, to act like a leader. 

Donald Trump is clearly incapable of responding to the Russian invasion of the 2016 election. Yet, he is the person who said, "Russia if you're listening", because, in fact, he knew that they were helping his campaign. Otherwise, Donald Trump would be denouncing Russian interference in the 2016 election. Instead, he looks for embarrassing ways to discredit US intelligence. 

McMaster: Evidence is 'incontrovertible' that Russia interfered in 2016 election ~ reported in The Hill by Brandon Carter

White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster said a new round of indictments in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation show “incontrovertible” evidence that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, McMaster said “with the FBI indictment, the evidence is now incontrovertible” that Russia interfered in the election, according to The Associated Press.

The consensus of the U.S. intelligence community is that Russians did seek to influence the 2016 presidential election, although the investigation has yet to reach a conclusion on whether Russia influenced the outcome.
McMaster also reportedly dismissed a question about future U.S. cooperation with Russia on cybersecurity.
“We would love to have a cyber dialogue when Russia is sincere about curtailing its sophisticated form of espionage,” McMaster said.

McMaster spoke at the conference immediately after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said the new Mueller indictments were “just blabber,” the AP reported, according to a translation.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the slew of indictments at a press briefing Friday. Thirteen Russian nationals and three Russian groups were charged with multiple counts of attempting to interfere in the 2016 election.

The indictment alleges the goal of the Russians was to support then-candidate Donald Trump and hurt Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

Some of the Russians allegedly posed as U.S. people and communicated with “unwitting individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and with other political activists to seek to coordinate political activities.”

Rosenstein noted that there is no allegation in the indictment that Americans had any knowledge of the operation.

Trump has (MaineWriter ~ Donald Trump has lied) repeatedly, to cast doubt on Russian interference in the 2016 election, calling it a “hoax” crafted by Democrats. 

He’s also falsely labeled Mueller’s investigation as a “witch hunt.”

In a tweet following the release of the indictments, Trump claimed the indictment showed his campaign “did nothing wrong” and that there was “no collusion” with Russia.

General McMaster reported what he knows to be true! In so doing, he is trying to demonstrate confidence and leadership while Donald Trump is wasting his time by trying to re-define the truth about Russia.  (Donald Trump continues to defend Russia, even in the face of his National Security Advisor.) 

Immigration: Donald Trump and the Jesuits

Jesuit Network Mobilizes in Defense of DACA and Dreamers

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals 

It's a terrible title- a bunch of words strung together to deliberately trip people up about the intention of this important immigration program. In other words, those five sterile words mean this: 

Thank you Jesuits! Stand strong for immigrants rights and support for DACA.

Those covered by DACA were brought here as children. 

The U.S. Bishops are also pressing the administration and Congress to not depart the dreamers. Senators Graham and Durbin have introduced the DREAM Act (S.1615) to protect these 750,000. Unfortunately, only seven senators are sponsoring the legislation at this time.

      

It's a cruel five words immigration status with no value attached to the people who are affected by the rule. Republicans, who preach about being "pro life" should scrap this ugly title.  What the program should be called is "welcome children- we love you."

In fact, no "pro-life" person can claim to be against abortion and the death penalty, but support deporting children who were born in the US, while their parents were immigrants.

Now, the Jesuits, the religious congregation of priests and educators who were founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1540,  are taking a stand in opposition to Donald Trump's proposal to remove the DACA protections, for children who were born in the USA when their parents were immigrants. It's cruel enough to consider deporting the parents of these children; but let their children stay here (and their parents, too).  Thank you Jesuits and those who ar following your lead in this campaign to save DACA.

Aug. 30, 2017 — In advance of an anticipated Trump administration reversal of a critical program protecting young immigrants who came to the U.S. as children from deportation, Catholic educators have mobilized forcefully. More than 1,400 educators at Catholic institutions are calling for the protection of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a policy that has protected approximately 750,000 young people known as “Dreamers” since its 2012 inception by the Department of Homeland Security. While DACA does not provide legal status, it offers recipients with a temporary reprieve from deportation and a work permit. 

In a letter sent this week to General John Kelly, current Trump administration Chief of Staff and former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the educators said, “We stand with our students who are DACA beneficiaries. Their perseverance, hard work and hopefulness is an example to us as teachers. We witness the obstacles they overcome each day as they pursue their dream of a better life for themselves and their families. In facing adversity and uncertainty with grace and hope, they embody the best of our schools, our country and the Catholic tradition.”

Among the letter’s signatories are more than 1,200 educators from Jesuit institutions. On a conference call for media yesterday, Fr. Timothy Kesicki, SJ, president of the Jesuit Conference, the organization that represents U.S. and Canadian Jesuits, said, “There is no greater witness we can give as Jesuits, particularly in the United States, than in defending the Dreamers and the DACA program."

“The Dreamers are woven into our schools, and we've seen firsthand the challenges and the adversity they have faced. But we've also witnessed their great faith and courage, which propels us to act at this time …We call upon the Trump administration to maintain DACA until a longer-term solution is achieved by Congress. We ask Congressional leaders to respond to the urgent call to work together toward real and lasting solutions that protect Dreamers and their families.”

DACA’s cancellation could come as early as this week. Pressure has been building since late June when 10 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit calling for the Trump administration to end the DACA program.

DACA students are part of the fabric of Jesuit schools across the country — from kindergarten through graduate school. Nearly half of the DACA students enrolled in medical school in the U.S. are students at the Jesuits’ Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago. Mark G. Kuczewski, PhD, a professor of medical ethics there said, “It would be devastating to our communities and to us as a society to not make use of the incredible gifts that these students bring us …We urge our legislators and the Trump administration to think about what we would be throwing away if we didn't enable these students to go on and serve our communities. These are people who want to contribute and who have worked hard to contribute.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has also expressed its strong support for maintaining DACA. Bishop Joe S. Vásquez, Chair of the Migration Committee and Bishop of Austin, Texas, recently said, “DACA youth are contributors to our economy, veterans of our military, academic standouts in our universities and leaders in our parishes. These young people entered the U.S. as children and know America as their only home. The dignity of every human being, particularly that of our children and youth, must be protected."

Advocating on behalf of Dreamers — and their families — has been part of the Jesuits’ and the U.S. Catholic bishops' long-term vision of comprehensive immigration reform that recognizes the dignity of all immigrants. 

To join in voicing your concern, please click here. (I have followed the link and voiced my concerns.)  Thank you Jesuits!

Three Generals minding the White House

Has anybody else noticed?

I'm just thinking, is this high level of military presence deliberate and for a specific reason!

 

Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster

Chairman of the National Security Council (NSC)

Three American Generals are minding the White House.

Marine General John Kelly USMC-Ret

White House Chief of Staff

Ya'think?  Maybe this high level of military scrutiny has something to do with Donald Trump's propensity for communicating with Russian President, Vladimir Putin?

Secretary of Defense General James Mattis USMC-Ret

It's difficult for me to believe that the intellectual General James Mattis can get along with the street ignorant and compulsive television watching mentality of Donald Trump. In fact, General Mattis grew up without television and he is reported to be a well read scholar.

Speaking at a conference sponsored by The Heritage Foundation in Washington in 2015, Secretary Mattis stated that he believed that Russian President Vladimir Putin's intent is "to break NATO apart."

Mattis has also spoken out against what he perceives as Russia's expansionist or bellicose policies in Syria, Ukraine and the Baltic states. In 2017, Mattis said that the world order is "under biggest attacks since World War Two, from Russia, terrorist groups, and China's actions in the South China Sea."

In my opinion, Donald Trump's compulsive love affair with Vladimir Putin, who was a former KGB operative and Cold Warrior, is the subject of intense scrutiny by three generals.  

These three generals speak together as colleagues and as masterful leaders. They know that Donald Trump is unworthy of holding the office he occupies, because of his weird temperament and labile personality; but they can't allow him to make any fatally flawed mistakes that threaten national security.