US Election 2020

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IN UNION THERE IS STRENGTH

I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. 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.

When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. 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.

We must reject any thinking of our cities as a “battlespace” that our uniformed military is called upon to “dominate.” 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.

James Madison wrote in Federalist 14 that “America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat.” We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law.

Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that “The Nazi slogan for destroying us…was ‘Divide and Conquer.’ Our American answer is ‘In Union there is Strength.’” We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis—confident that we are better than our politics.

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. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.

We can come through this trying time stronger, and with a renewed sense of purpose and respect for one another. The pandemic has shown us that it is not only our troops who are willing to offer the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the community. Americans in hospitals, grocery stores, post offices, and elsewhere have put their lives on the line in order to serve their fellow citizens and their country. We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. At the same time, we must remember Lincoln’s “better angels,” and listen to them, as we work to unite.

Only by adopting a new path—which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals—will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.

James Norman Mattis (General); Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq War Commander and Donnie's former SecDef.

www.theatlantic.com

James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution

In an extraordinary condemnation, the former defense secretary backs protesters and says the president is trying to turn Americans against one another.
www.theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com
 
Another one heading for the door because he understands his oath of office isn't to Trump.

edition.cnn.com

Pentagon chief on shaky ground with White House after breaking with Trump over protest response

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is on shaky ground with the White House after saying Wednesday that he does not support using active duty troops to quell the large-scale protests across the United States triggered by the death of George Floyd and those forces should only be used in a law...
edition.cnn.com edition.cnn.com
 
greg0205 said:
IN UNION THERE IS STRENGTH

I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. 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.

When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. 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.

We must reject any thinking of our cities as a “battlespace” that our uniformed military is called upon to “dominate.” 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.

James Madison wrote in Federalist 14 that “America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat.” We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law.

Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that “The Nazi slogan for destroying us…was ‘Divide and Conquer.’ Our American answer is ‘In Union there is Strength.’” We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis—confident that we are better than our politics.

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. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.

We can come through this trying time stronger, and with a renewed sense of purpose and respect for one another. The pandemic has shown us that it is not only our troops who are willing to offer the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the community. Americans in hospitals, grocery stores, post offices, and elsewhere have put their lives on the line in order to serve their fellow citizens and their country. We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. At the same time, we must remember Lincoln’s “better angels,” and listen to them, as we work to unite.

Only by adopting a new path—which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals—will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.

James Norman Mattis (General); Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq War Commander and Donnie's former SecDef.

www.theatlantic.com

James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution

In an extraordinary condemnation, the former defense secretary backs protesters and says the president is trying to turn Americans against one another.
www.theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com
Click to expand...
I am happy that Mattis finally found his own voice in this.

Hopefully it helps encourage other Republicans to examine their own cognitive dissonance and come out and do the same

But, let's be fair. Many of us warned of this and could have told Mattis that this is who Trump is from day 1.
 
What is happening that the The Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff has to write a memorandum to remind and reinforce the principle that the armed forces swear an oath to the constitution?

Interesting.
d41df5a2e6275ad1d69c72ec3cddfea9.jpg
 
buka001 said:
I am happy that Mattis finally found his own voice in this.

Hopefully it helps encourage other Republicans to examine their own cognitive dissonance and come out and do the same

But, let's be fair. Many of us warned of this and could have told Mattis that this is who Trump is from day 1.
Click to expand...

Yup. Past due.

I’d have preferred if he’d done it sooner, but I’ll take it.
 
Ai ai ai I was actually being sincere about what I said. I'm not trolling, i'm sharing my insight whether it be right or wrong. I'm trying to give my opinion on why these protests and the response is so severe. My position is that it is so severe due to the message being ignored by the type of people who we are debating with on this forum.

I suggest that you debate me on the merits of why that is or isn't the case instead of getting my posts deleted.
 
AlmightyBender said:
Ai ai ai I was actually being sincere about what I said. I'm not trolling, i'm sharing my insight whether it be right or wrong. I'm trying to give my opinion on why these protests and the response is so severe. My position is that it is so severe due to the message being ignored by the type of people who we are debating with on this forum.

I suggest that you debate me on the merits of why that is or isn't the case instead of getting my posts deleted.
Click to expand...

Most mayors and governors of these cities are leftist Democrats. They all agree with the protesters. They are all virtue signaling and encouraging it.

Nobody in the US protesting gives a shít about this forum.

This is like a typical ANC protest where people in ANC tshirt run around burning shít, blaming Jan van Riebeeck, only to vote ANC again.
 
rietrot said:
Most mayors and governors of these cities are leftist Democrats. They all agree with the protesters. They are all virtue signaling and encouraging it.

Nobody in the US protesting gives a shít about this forum.

This is like a typical ANC protest where people in ANC tshirt run around burning shít, blaming Jan van Riebeeck, only to vote ANC again.
Click to expand...
Not literally you Rietrot. And not literally the people on this SA forum. I'm referring to the people in the US that are like you.
 
AlmightyBender said:
Not literally you Rietrot. And not literally the people on this SA forum. I'm referring to the people in the US that are like you.
Click to expand...
Which is literally nonsense. The "systemic racism" is happening in Democrat controlled cities by Democrats controlled police.

I think it's political ideology and incompetence that's causing the problems in this areas. But sure I can entertain the idea that the Democrats are racist if that's your argument.
 
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