General Mattis has just earned himself a job on CNN if he wants it, coming out with a blistering critique on Trump and his response to the Floyd protests:
YAHOO NEWS – President Trump’s first Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, who resigned last year, spoke out against his former boss for the first time Wednesday, saying he is “angry and appalled” at the White House’s response to the protests over the death of George Floyd.
“When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution,” Mattis said in a statement emailed to reporters. “Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens — much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.”
He continued: “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. “Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.”
It sounds like Mattis has completely bought into the media narrative about the protests in Lafayette Square, the ones that Barr ordered removed because of the rioting the night before.
Mattis continues:
“The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court,” Mattis wrote. “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 then decried the idea of using military force to police disturbances in American cities.
“We must reject any thinking of our cities as a ‘battlespace’ that our uniformed military is called upon to dominate,’” Mattis wrote, a reference to the call by Secretary of Defense Mike Esper for governors to “dominate the battle space” in the face of demonstrations. “At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict — a false conflict — between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them.”
Mattis says “we must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers”, but what exactly has he been watching? It’s not just a ‘small number of lawbreakers’. They are all over the United States looting and burning down buildings in multiple cities. And attacking other American citizens. If he thinks Trump should just stand around and ignore that he’s crazy. These riots are the very thing that has demanded a fierce response from law enforcement in cities around the country and in DC. If these were just peaceful protests you wouldn’t see the National Guard being used all over the country.
If anything Trump should be criticized for not acting quicker to restore order. I like Mattis and I respect his service to this country, but I completely disagree with him here.