As an Old Corps combat, Vietnam Marine, I am terribly disappointed in General Mattis. One would expect such insubordinate comments that puked out of his mouth from army officers or officers from the other lesser and even more pussified American military services but certainly not a Marine General. It seems that standards have, indeed, been lowered. In fact, this turd is single-handedly responsible for lowering standards in my beloved Corps for the sole purpose of accommodating the notion of women in combat. He is truly a disgrace to the uniform and the notion of: "once a Marine, always a Marine."
I agree brother. Mattis brings disgrace to our Corps. It seems like working in the Pentagon requires one to be emasculated to get ahead these days.
Semper Fi, brother - he has shamed us all.
I am just offering a possibility here, since I don't know the man's real military record and or success in the field; a chest full of ribbons does not necessarily tell one much except that the man has been around a long while, but because of his recent actions he strikes me as one of those officers that rise to high rank by being a good politician and brass polisher. Just one mans opinion and probably not worth much on this subject.
This is interesting, and I have to say that it brought me up short when the schism between Mattis and the President began. And it got me wondering...
Not unlike, say, Fauci, no...I won't go there, yet. Fauci may be a putz, but I don't think he's a bad guy.
Ah...not unlike Mueller, Mattis was universally hailed as a guy who knew his stuff, was a badass, and would bring adult leadership to his posting. I never heard of "Mad Dog Mattis" until, all of a sudden, people that I thought knew about these things were hailing him as the fiercest and most competent military guy on the planet. Then, as they always do, events unfolded.
I have no doubt that the General loves the country. I'm just not sure he loves it enough. We just had the head of the Joint Chiefs make a very big deal about not wanting to be implicated w/ the President's walk to church, because of our rules about civilian leadership of the military. Any thinking person would have appreciated the mildest of explanations from Milley, rather than his wrapping himself in the Constitution to make his point. No doubt he's had his finger in the wind to check direction, but no matter.
On the other hand, you have Mattis acting out in exactly the opposite direction, but again, in accord w/ the wishes of the Swamp.
I never served. I listened to people who had (and some still do), and all I can say is, anybody can be played. May as well turn the page on this one.
Buchanan thinks Mattis is just trying to protect his "place in history." Boggles that someone so erudite would feel the need to piss on Trump at this time. But Trump has zero loyalty, and at the end of the day, it may just be Mattis' bruised ego needing to settle a perceived score.
Affirmative. There are potential consequences for him however. ‘Once a Marine, forever a Marine’ is more than some catchphrase. Insubordination during or after service is not accepted under penalty of the law...
I hope you're right.
I'm with you Marine. (I never served. I'm grateful that you did to protect us all.) There are a bunch of possible reasons Mattis could have lost his bearings, right? Including dementia, and possibly being co-opted by the Deep State, including threats to his family. The Marines I know would never be insubordinate like that.
Good to know someone agrees with me. Your reasons are all possible. However, I believe it all has to do with self-serving expedience.
@pigfarmer. Hate to think so, but you would know better than I.