In light of Trump's 'veiled' threats re: military, police, bikers: reassuring Gen Dempsey tweet

[hlthe2b]

Link to tweet

Our military reflects, represents, serves, and defends their fellow citizens. They are compassionate or lethal depending on what we ask of them. They are tough in protecting America from external threats. They serve a democratic system never an individual. #Leadership

[rampartc]

1. thank you, general

i think we knew that, but it is good to be reassured.

[Larrybanal]

16. we knew it

and it is in the constitution but it is impossible to make the moron in chief understand he is not a king

[malaise]

2. This needs to be seen

Get thee to the greatest page

[Peace06]

3. General Dempsey

Thank you so much, Sir. We, as a nation, are sadly in need of your reassurance. These are frightening times in our fragile democracy. We are very uncertain and frightened of the situation we find ourselves in.

[sarge43]

4. Thank you, sir.

Our first fundamental order is preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution.

There we stand.

[MyOwnPeace]

15. Too bad

we don't have a Chief of Staff that feels the same way.........

[sarge43]

17. If you mean that spineless wonder and place holder, Mulvaney,

he probably doesn't have the IQ to understand the nuances of an oath of office.

If you mean the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, any evidence that they don't take their commissioning oaths seriously?

[MyOwnPeace]

24. Yep, wrong title!

I meant Commander in Chief!

[sarge43]

28. Understand.

The oath has words of two syllables or more, beyond Moron's comprehension. Even if it were, "I don't need to keep no stinkin' promises."

[rusty quoin]

5. The military reflects America. It has right wing thugs, but it's not a majority.

[watoos]

7. The vast majority of our military supports Trump.

I'm not just talking military officers I'm talking lower ranking personnel.

[rusty quoin]

9. Since when?

[hlthe2b]

12. Wrong...

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/10/15/support-for-trump-is-fading-among-active-duty-troops-new-poll-shows/

Support for Trump is fading among active-duty troops, new poll shows

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s approval rating among active-duty military personnel has slipped over the last two years, leaving today’s troops evenly split over whether they’re happy with the commander in chief’s job performance, according to the results of a new Military Times poll of active-duty service members.

About 44 percent of troops had a favorable view of Trump’s presidency, the poll showed, compared to 43 percent who disapproved.

The results from the survey, conducted over the course of September and October, suggest a gradual decline in troops’ support of Trump since he was elected in fall 2016, when a similar Military Times poll showed that 46 percent of troops approved of Trump compared to 37 percent who disapproved. That nine-point margin of support now appears gone.

During that same period, the number of neutral respondents has dwindled from almost 17 percent to about 13 percent, suggesting political polarization inside the military community has intensified in recent years.

To the extent he ever had overwhelming support, it was rank and file, not officers.

[dawg day]

26. What do you mean, "support"?

There are three military members in my family, and while each is true to the oath, none of them personally supports for Trump or voted for him. Anecdotal, but yours is just generalization.

[rwsanders]

30. Well in your defense, it may not be a majority (I couldn't say), but they are the loudest

and most willing to flaunt the rules by speaking out.
Been there, seen it. They certainly make you feel you can't speak. I held my tongue for 20 years, so I blew some minds at my retirement ceremony.

[getagrip_already]

27. Political support does not necessarily extend to following illegal orders....

Or illegally using military assets to try to overthrow the government and install a dictator.

For every soldier who tried to do that, hundreds would be there to stop them.

Now if the culture of the military were to shift, from command level down, the concept of illegal orders and dictatorship would blur and all bets would be off.

But at that point, a military coup becomes a reality, so trump may not win.

Right now, that culture doesn't exist. There are assholes, but they aren't a cohesive force in the military yet.

[FiveGoodMen]

31. "Necessarily" is the word that concerns me!

We can't say for sure what they'll do.

We wouldn't expect them to betray us, but we didn't expect one in three Americans would turn out to be Nazis.

[getagrip_already]

34. true, but remember...

The law of entropy still allows that every single atom in your coffee cup will all randomly move in the same direction at the same point in time, sending hot coffee into your lap just as that tractor trailer changes lanes and slows down in front of you.

It could happen.

[watoos]

6. Trump's hate Tweet was covered on msnbc and cnn,

I don't do Fox. I watched every Republican who was on to talk about Trump's Tweet, not one condemned it. We, misunderstood what Trump meant about "bad things" happening.

The Pittsburgh synagogue murderer channeled Trump, the NZ shooter channeled Trump. What will happen is that the Republican party, now the Trump party, will come to Trump's defense once again, will defend Trump's hate speech once again. Trump is just the symptom of the real problem, Republican politicians and those who vote them into office are the real problem.

[mountain grammy]

13. Exactly.

Armed and dangerous.

[Cha]

8. Thank you for some sanity, General

Dempsey.

Anyone who helped trump get in has blood on their hands.

[ecstatic]

10. Somehow I'm not comforted, but thanks, General.

It's the thought that counts.

[erronis]

23. Don't forget the prayers, as in "Thoughts and Prayers"

That's what the thieves who want to steal this democracy are hoping we'll do. Not stand up and fight, but close our eyes, meditate, and pray.

[Grokenstein]

11. Sworn to defend against America's enemies, foreign AND domestic

...or in the case of Putin's Puppet, the Combo Platter.

[Lonestarblue]

14. It's the citizen militias who would be a problem.

Thousands, if not a few million, of right-wing white nationalists belong to these self-appointed groups, and they’re armed to the teeth with assault weapons. Groups like the Oath Keepers, Posse Comitatus, Republic of Texas, and sovereign citizen groups are primed and ready to defend Trump anytime he puts out the call. And he just told them to get ready!

Groups like this have been active along the border for years, attacking and even murdering migrants who cross the border. Depending on the state and location, some local law enforcement just turns a blind eye to their illegal border patrol activities.

These groups are fueled by anti-government conspiracy theories, and they are dangerous. They have been tolerated far too long in this country, and they are vigilantes just itching to take the law into their own hands to administer their warped brand of justice.

Trump is a dangerous psychopath, and he has the bully pulpit. Unfortunately, Republicans will do nothing more than send thoughts and prayers if hundreds or thousnds of people are killed at Trump’s behest. I do believe the military would put down such attacks, but who would order the military to do so since they report to Trump?

[bigbrother05]

18. Trump's rhetoric is a signal to such groups and those that sympathize

The Obama years forced most of them to veil their activities, but inflamed their hate. Now they have tacit approval from the highest office in the land and we've been spiraling downward since to a level not seen since the days of Jim Crow.

Trump comes from a long line of authoritarians and cares nothing for anyone but himself and family.

[Joe Nation]

19. Trump is a chicken hawk

He wants everyone else to do his fighting for him. The military ain't buying it, the police will certainly protect the communities they live in, and the bikers I know love this country far, far more than they love that idiot. Trump is just desperate.

[Tom Rinaldo]

20. I had a customer in a recent former life whose company had major Pentagon contracts

Our own business relationship involved his personal rather than professional activities, but I got to know him fairly well. He's kind of centrist politically, probably a nominal Republican capable of voting for Democrats depending on the choices. Anyway, he told me that he talks to a lot of current and former top military brass, and that they frequently express real concern over the degree to which Trump is attempting to (and to some extent making progress at) politicize the military.

[mopinko]

25. yeah, out of the blue they might think about following the cic, but

he has been treating them like his little lethal pets for a while now.
they have had time to think about it, and i dont think they want to end up in the defendants box at the hague.

[Honeycombe8]

21. It's against the law for the military to "war" on American soil....

except in unusual circumstances. The closest we came was when JFK called out the Nat'l Guard in Alabama at the height of the Civil Rights movement and backlash, refusal to obey the integration laws.

[lark]

22. Sounds great, General, but I'm not buying it for one minute.

Tell me one time when American soldiers refused illegal orders from the president? Did they refuse to seceed (sp?) against the US, no, they fired at Fort Sumpter. drumpf will lie and say that an armed leftist militia is trying to undo his government and they will attack on that basis, regardless of the fact that drumpf lost an election or was convicted of a crime. He will order them to attack us and they will do so. I have seen zero evidence of soldiers standing up to their officers or especially to the CIC and don't believe it will happen. OH yeah, remember Kent State - they killed innocent college kids there and not one refused to shoot.

[BBG]

32. First Lieutenant Ehren Watada

A real hero who refused an illegal order.

[Lock him up.]

37. They will not follow illegal orders from INDIVIDUAL 1.

They took an oath to the Constitution, not to a mob boss who's only way to stay out of jail is to try to become a dictator for life like Putin. I hope you don't think they never discussed that with Gen. Mattis.

[lark]

38. I wish I had your faith in humanity.

I've been around the military for a lot of my life and I don't think they'd interpret what they do as a result of his orders as illegal. Not one of the Kent State Guardsmen refused their illegal order to shoot unarmed college students with live ammunition - not one! They will think they we are the criminals and traitors and they are protecting the country from us on the orders of their CIC. That's what I've seen and heard from most military folks, that's what happened at Kent State and at Tiananmen Square, in Nazi Germany and all over the world. If he gives the orders, we are toast because the military and cops will follow the Nazi who happens to have stolen the office of their CIC.

I hope you are right and I'm wrong, but you certainly did not see an exodus of officers after Mattis left did you? Nope! The military is not our friend and always backs the CIC.

[Initech]

29. What about protecting us from an internal threat?

[spanone]

33. K&R...👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[getagrip_already]

35. So what is he going to do?

Get police to assault protesters at the democratic convention in chicago with clubs, mace, and water hoses? again?

Get the national guard to shoot college kids in Ohio? again?

Get ICE/CPB to rip families apart and put babies in Jail?

Drop napalm and frag bombs on civilians in yemen?

Put razor wire along fencing on the southern border?

Use the DoJ and other agencies to investigate/harass political enemies and activists?

Ignore the constitution and enrich themselves at our expense?

What exactly is he threatening to do?

[billh58]

36. Comey quotes Henry II: 'Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?'

James Comey described his situation with President Trump by using a quote from Henry II — one that purportedly led to the assassination of a priest in the 12th century.

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, asked whether Comey interpreted certain phrases from the president of the United States, such as "I hope" or "I suggest," as directives.

"Yes. It kind of rings in my ears as, 'Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?'" Comey replied.

Comey was quoting a well-known saying from Henry II. Back in 1170, the king of England was years into a quarrel with Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, over the rights of the church. Henry II is often quoted as saying, "Will no one rid of me of this turbulent priest?" His men interpreted this as the king wanting Becket dead. Soon after, Becket was assassinated.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/06/08/comey-what-trump-thinks-him-no-one-rid-me-meddlesome-priest/102628176/

Trump's wannabe mafia code language at work...