That’s kind of my point, though–the after-the-fact communique is all well and good (really, it’s the right thing to do, so I don’t want to minimize it), but I expect the Chairman of the Join Chiefs of Staff to make that judgment in real time, especially in a situation in which no actual danger was present.
This wasn’t a battlefield situation where a split-second decision was needed when lives were on the line–these old men were all sitting in comfy chairs in air-conditioned rooms with no one in any danger.
I agree both with commenters who say this is a big deal, & those who say it’s not big enough. I’d like to see a more public apology, in dress uniform, with press present, on the steps of St. John’s, addressed to the clergy, peaceful protestors, & medics who were tear-gassed, as well as to the American people.
Wow. It seems like a fairly high percentage of active military have done one or more of these forbidden things.
(Cue my frustrated rant about the selective enforcement of laws that are supposed to apply to all.)
Thanks for the reference, tho. Handy.
ETA, just reading through it again, and realize I need to do some research into who’s considered “active.”
Yeah, this contrition feels like a response to the revelations that the military, alarmed by Trump’s demands, foresaw a potential “US military opens fire on peaceful American demonstrators” situation, which they responded to very badly, seemingly more worried about the blowback on themselves more than the actual potential violence.
The awkward thing about Milley is that Trump appointed him Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman in 2019. The post has a term of four years, so he is nowhere near retiring—though, in accordance with his powers as commander in chief, Trump could fire him. In a recent article in the Atlantic, Eliot Cohen, dean of Johns Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies, wrote about the Trump era’s growing crisis in civil-military relations, concluding, “The real demonstration of military courage by a general in such a position is … the willingness to be fired.” Milley may soon face that test.
Right, like he just so happened to hang out with Trump in his combat uniform - probably he was just taking a well-deserved break from combat - and agreed to walk over to the Church for quick prayer and phono, oblivious all the people who were teargassed out of their way.
A high profile act would have been to tell the “President” on that fucking spot that this is not right, at the very moment he noticed people were teargassed, or that this was just a fucking photo shooting to make Trump look good.
Because that would have been shown on Fox News. His apology will go unnoticed.
So many things have been hailed as the beginning of the end of Trump, and here he is, still fucking things up for everyone.
Hey, it’s combat fatigues! That’s french for tired. He was just so tired, so he slipped into them. It’s like this other word form a different language, how was that again? Ah, I know. Pyjamas! He was in his pyjamas! He was sleepwalking into it! You can’t blame a person for what he does in his sleep! Some even pee themselves.
Did he notice people were teargassed? I thought the entire Trump crew were far from this activity when it was happening and insensitively walked through the aftermath. From other things Milley said before and after, it doesn’t sound like he knew what had happened until some time later.
