Pentagon document contradicts Trump’s Gold Star claims. Donald Trump is rush-shipping condolences to military families. Grief and grievance: What a botched condolence call reveals about President Trump. Here are the four-star generals Donald Trump has publicly bashed. Army vet Richard Allen Smith on why Trump disrespects the military. Trump makes himself, John Kelly and everyone around them look rotten yet again. Ryan Lizza on John Kelly and the dangerous moral calculus of working for Trump. John Kelly has become a field commander in Trump’s culture war. “and this, America, is what’s wrong: that actual video and audio proof to the contrary exists, and yet the WHITE HOUSE stands by the story”.
Quinta Jurecic on John Kelly’s politics of grief in the public sphere. It didn’t just start now: John Kelly has always been a hard-right bully. The mythological past embraced by John Kelly: The worldview of folks like Kelly is not just toxic, it’s depressing. “John Kelly lamenting days when women were held sacred while launching an attack on an outspoken congresswoman really sums the whole thing up”. #IBelieveFrederica tweets that show the viral hashtag is about more than opposing Trump. “The tl;dr seems to be that Kelly stood up at the podium and lied about a member of congress in order to discredit a grieving widow’s story”. Calls intensify for John Kelly to apologize for lying.
I’m saying, “Oh, just fuck off” to John Kelly for a couple of reasons. “Tbh America should question its generals much more and faux deference suppressing valid criticism has caused a lot of problems”. The necessity of questioning the military: Honoring the sacrifice of servicemembers requires understanding why they were put at risk, and demanding that those who did so hold themselves to account.
Let’s not staff a White House with generals ever again. For some veterans, John Kelly’s remarks add to a worrying military-civilian divide. Masha Gessen on John Kelly and the language of the military coup. I used to think that a militarized United States government was impossible. John Kelly is a present danger to the Republic.
