I thought I was done with Mr. Mattis, but then I received an email with an attachment from a gentleman who writes for several magazine. I was moved by his article and asked if he minded I use it on the blog and he enthusiastically endorsed the use of it. So, here it is. Enjoy one last spit balls at Mr. Mattis. In case you cannot pick it out, he is a Marine, albeit, a poor one in my eyes, but he is still a Marine.
A Mad Dog’s Lament
By: G. Maresca
When Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis was nominated as President Trump’s secretary of defense, he needed a congressional waiver to be confirmed because federal law prohibits former military officers from serving as secretary of defense within seven years of retiring. That waiver came without restraint as Mattis was well-known and respected throughout Capitol Hill.
Many veterans were pleased Mattis would be serving again especially Marines, as one of their own would be at the pinnacle at the Department of Defense. Those who follow the Corps were well acquainted with Mattis and many anticipated he would eventually be named commandant. That was not to be as Mattis’ days were numbered when he rightfully disagreed with President Obama’s dreadful multi billion dollar Iranian nuclear deal.
That only endeared Mattis even more.
Being a hero is no guarantee that one day your ego will not get the best of you. History is littered with such individuals like Alcibiades, Napoleon, and even Benedict Arnold.
Throughout the Corps’ storied history, no Marine has ever served as president, or vice president and only two have been appointed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since that rank’s inception in 1949.
Over the past half century, Mattis is likely the most recognized Marine since the legendary, Chesty Puller.
In the latest issue of the Atlantic, a magazine that has scaled the leftist alps for over a decade, Mattis lives up to his Jarhead moniker of “mad dog” going on the offensive criticizing President Trump.
Mattis condemns Trump’s walk to St. John’s, an historic church that was torched the night before that the Washington D.C. mayor refused to stop, “as a bizarre photo op.” Trump’s appearance underscored religious liberty that is enshrined within the Constitution that Mattis once swore to defend against all enemies both foreign and domestic.
Mattis continued: “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.”
For eight years Barack Obama fanned the flames of racial enmity in such a way that the media and apparently Mattis advocated.
We are now agonizing through its consequences.
Speaking after the launch of NASA/SpaceX Trump declared: “The death of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis was a grave tragedy. It should never have happened. It has filled Americans all over the country with horror, anger, and grief. Yesterday, I spoke to George’s family and expressed the sorrow of our entire nation for their loss. I stand before you as a friend and ally to every American seeking justice and peace and I stand before you in firm opposition to anyone exploiting this tragedy to loot, rob, attack, and menace. Healing, not hatred, justice, not chaos, are the missions at hand.”
Divisive?
Where is Mattis’ condemnation of the Democrats’ condoning riots that has killed and destroyed the businesses of hundreds, if not thousands? Where is his disapproval of the politicization of federal law enforcement agencies arranging clearly false plots against political opponents, including a fellow Gen. Michael Flynn, and a sitting president?
Where is the outrage about such seditious, if not treasonous acts that continues to divide the nation that threatens the constitutional order Mattis professes to revere?
Mattis went on to denounce Trump’s threat to use the military to restore order. Perhaps Mattis is not the historian he claims to be possessing a personal library of over 7,000 books, or that he has no qualms about ignoring how prior presidents utilized the military to quell riots in order to serve his own political agenda.
After all, generals are inherently political as all senior officers are congressional appointees.
Mattis is revealing himself to be another covered and concealed member of the D.C. swamp, who doesn’t want to participate in its demise, maintaining what the last general who called the White House home (Eisenhower) dubbed, “the military industrial complex.”
Mattis resigned as Secretary of Defense because he objected to Trump removing our troops from Syria where Mattis believed the Kurd’s would be decimated, but weren’t.
It appears Mattis and Trump are probably more alike than not with a dominating personality.
Mattis’ diatribe does nothing to heal the nation. Perhaps these former high-ranking military officers need to continue the tradition of self-censorship to maintain the reputation of the armed forces as non-political.
However, it is certainly Mattis’ First Amendment right not to abide.
Mattis might want to undertake Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s advice and “just fade away”. If not, then he needs to stop with the political pontificating, and book writing, and throw his cover in the ring and run for public office.
Bottom line in November: Trump or Biden.
If Mattis believes Biden is the answer, the general has more than his crossed rifles – crossed.
Originally posted 2020-06-11 15:48:46.
Colonel Bathhurst
Thanks for creating your blog. Very interesting.
I agree with your advice to start a blog and have started many. It is high time for all of us to tell our stories. If you don’t it is lost with you. And some of you other guys are not getting any younger!
I collect stories from military guys. If you want to share your story email it to me and I will post it on the blog below. And pictures are worth a 1,000 words. Read what other people have written and if you want to share your story, send it to me. Free and easy.
https://www.militarystories.us
I have numerous other Marine Corps blogs for different units. You can find them on the first page of this blog
http://marines10.blogspot.com
From another Private to Colonel Marine – not as impressive as Col Jim
My chief claim to fame in the Marines was 100 days of mess duty – I think it must be a record. I hope there is no one out there who beat me.
Semper Fi
Craighullinger@gmail.com
100 days of mess duty. Ouch! I hope it wasn’t all in the pot shack. LOL No, I can’t beat that one and I don;t think anyone else will either! Thanks Craig
Semper Fi, Jim
Amen
Colonel Jim and all the other commentators here have the right to express their opinion. Enshrined in our Constitution. Freedom of speach.
Serving military officers cannot comment publicly on a number of officals including the President. They can be court martialed if they do.
The UCMJ also applies to retired officers, which could put us all in trouble. But only one retiree has been court martialed in the past 100 years and he was acquited. So we are probably OK. DOD could court martial some of us for comments made, but likely any action would be overturned by the Courts and/or Congress.
Military Officers spend all their careers suppressing their political speach during their active carreers. We all did that and some of us continue.
But we have had a very unusual situation where many of our senior Generals and Admirals are openly criticizing our President. These are Officers who rose to the very top of our profession. Why would they do that when they know they will be villified by many people? Takes some courage, with no gain.
I think they did it because these see what what is happening in this country is very wrong and they believe that the President is very bad. I believe they are right.
It would better if we made our comments in a civil way, without rancor and personal attacks. That of course is not going to happen.
The old joke about how it takes an act of Congress to make us an officer and an act of God to make us a gentleman applies here.
And a lot of us have forgotten that, including me.
Go, and sin no more.
OK, OK, I will bury my head back in the sand.
Semper Fi
LOL, love it Jay for once
My memory may have escaped me, however when President Kennedy lost his life the military were called upon to protect the Federal Buildings, including the Capital, in D.C.. MB Washington Was formed and trained as a rifle company and was attached to a battalion from Quantico. Commanded by a Army General. Whats the boo ha about mobilizing troops to quell the violence from looters?
That also happened five years later in 1968 when that great leader Martin Luther King was killed. I was the drill team platoon cmdr at the Barracks at the time and we were on the front step of the Capitol manning M-60’s And yes the barracks fee under the SDT Bn at Quantico, which I was a part of as a Pvt and again a few years later as a sergeant.
The correct sequence of action is that the local and state police handle the situation. If it gets out of hand they ask their Governor to send in the National Guard, who work for the Governor and train for this kind of thing. If they can’t handle it the Governor asks the President for help and he sends in active duty troops, most of whom don’t have training for this kind of thing. Of course they are US Military and the train quickly.
In 1967/68 I was a LCpl getting ready for Vietnam. The country was becoming unglued at that point. We were warned to get ready for riot duty in San Francisco. We would wear gask masks and put our bayonets on our M-14’s, marching around in a slow shuffle formation swiping our bayonets up and down in step, slowly moving forward.
They did not have to send us. A good thing.
The US Military is now very popular. That was not the case during Vietnam. Part of the reason is that most of the American people trust us, at least a lot more than politicians. And the Police are unpopular – they deal with lots of criminals and they feel threatened and are angry – it only takes the actions of a few to anger minority neighborhoods. A brutal police killings on video enrages lots of people and it is easy to see why.
In 1969 I was at Quantico getting ready to go to Vietnam. There was a very big protest in DC in November – the biggest ever I think. Four of us Lt’s went up there – big strong guys with short hair and deep tans. It was a very pleasant deal. Everyone was happy, no one was mad at us, and the National Guard troops seemed to be enjoying themselves as well.
Semper Fi
Hmm, Me thinks you may have some confused memory cells Jay. First, I will grant you the comments reference the 1967-68 time frame; I was very much involved in all that training. And you are right, the military is certainly looked upon as a very different group of society than we were in the 1960’s, albeit that is the result of some subsequent incidents. However, the “actions of a few to anger minority neighborhoods.” A few? I don’t think so. You need to read my current post.
The biggest ever protest in DC in 1969? Hmm, I don’t seem to remember that one as being so big, I was stationed in DC at the time. Where where were you in 1968 when MLK was killed? That my friend was a huge one. Anyway, I’m done with the Mattis fiasco and have moved on to other horrific subjects.
On Nov. 15, 1969, the Vietnam Moratorium Committee staged what is believed to be the largest antiwar protest in United States history when as many as half a million people attended a mostly peaceful demonstration in Washington.
Nov. 15, 1969 | Massive Anti-Vietnam War Demonstration …
learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/nov-15-1969-anti-vietnam-war-demonst…
1/2 million? No where close to the year before, and it was not peaceful
Years ago, living in Texas, I played golf with a neighbor. He was a Marine wounded in combat. He was missing one arm and a leg. Even with prosthetics, he could not stand erect. I have no doubt that he was in pain for all his remaining days. Damn good golfer, too. Now in my view, this is how we should define a bona fide American hero.
Mattis had a distinguished career as a Marine officer. He began getting political when it was announced that he had been selected for major general. That’s the nature of that game. We get it. But let’s stop saying he was a hero. He wasn’t. Like me, he still has all his body parts. Field commander, yes … and from every account, a good one. But hero? No. Far from it.
Please remember that not all wounds suffered in service are body parts.
Amen and Amen.
We applaud General Mattis’s service, but we support the President… now, more than ever.