The former Marine general is unlikely to succeed in his new job, even as his appointment contributes to the decay of American civil-military relations.
Donald Trump is not much of a man. He feels sorry for himself, he whines, he gropes women; he bullies the weak. He brags and he lies. As a young man, this self-proclaimed athlete collected five draft deferments rather than wear his countrys uniform. He doesnt even work out. The motto emblazoned on Trumps bogus coat of arms should probably be faithless, which makes it odd that he has picked as his chief of staff a general steeled in a service whose motto is ever faithful. (The Trump coat of arms wasreportedly liftedfrom another family, with the motto integrity replacedinevitablybyTrump.)
John Kelly, retired Marine four-star and new White House chief of staff, has been throughout his career everything Trump is not: He has endured more than Trump could imagine, and has displayed virtues that Trump may not understand and certainly has not exhibited, among them candor, courage, and discipline. Which is why some observers have welcomed Kellys hiring as evidence that perhaps the president is learning, that maybe now we will have a disciplined White House that will focus on the business of public policy. Maybe the early morning tweets will diminish or evenstop.
Trumps pick of Kelly is probably better understood in a broader and darker context. That includesa speechthat he gave the same day to New Yorks Suffolk County Police Department calling on cops to bang suspects heads into squad cars; the brusque, uncoordinateddismissalof transgender service personnel by presidential tweet; aspeecha week earlier at the commissioning of USSGerald R. Fordurging sailors to lobby their representatives; a harangue to 30,000 Boy Scouts that includeda rant about loyalty, and that earned him an astonishing rebuke from the head of the Boy Scouts of America; and a longer history of toying around the edge of inciting violence, to includethe assassination of his opponentin the lastelection.
As the coils of the Russia investigation grow tighter, as his failures in Congress mount, Trump reaches for what he knowsdemagoguery of the rawest sort. He reaches as well for what he thinks of as his base, which includes (he believes) the military, many of whose leaders are actually quietly appalled by what he represents. He has picked Kelly not because of his political or administrative skills but because he thinks of him as a killera term of praise in his lexicon, which is why he likes referring to his secretary of defense as Mad Dog Mattis, a nickname the former general rejects. Kelly will not organize Goon Squads for Trump, but the president would probably not mind if he did. More to the point, Kellys selection, and that of a foul-mouthed financier from New York as Trumps communications director, tells us not that Trump is planning on moderating his behavior, but rather on going to the mattresses. He just may have picked the wrong guy for that mission, thatsall.
Kellys decision to take the job lends itself to multiple explanations. It may be an irresistible call to duty by someone who thinks of the president mainly as commander-in-chief; it may be an act of deep, quiet patriotism by someone who intends to shield the country from Trumps lawless worst; it may reflect personal ambition, or mere hankering for as difficult a management challenge as one could imagine; or it may reflect a sneaking admiration for the boorish businessman who has successfully slapped around the politicians of left and right that many officers, and Marines in particular, despise as cowardly and corrupt. Kelly once handed a ceremonial saber to the President while unfunnily suggesting that he use it on the press. In April, hesaidthe following: If lawmakers do not like the laws theyve passed and we are charged to enforce, then they should have the courage and skill to change the laws. Otherwise they should shut up and support the men and women on the front lines. A less supine Congress might have noticed the discourtesy and reacted sharply to being told to shutup.
His occasionally contemptuous attitude towards the press and Congress, though, is only one reason why it is highly unlikely that Kelly will succeed. Trump will remain Trump, and the various denizens of the White House are unlikely to treat Kelly with much more deference than they treat one another. He will discover that he is no longer a general, or even a cabinet secretary, but a political functionaryneither more norless.
There was a reason why he spent 42 years on active duty rather than run for mayor of Boston. He probably already knows, but if not he will soon learn, that he will be as dispensable as his predecessor, that Trump hates any of his subordinates being too powerful or too visible. And worst of all, he will soon find himself wrestling with the moral corruption that being close to this man entails. You cannot work directly for Trump while adhering to a code of honesty, integrity, and lawfulness. Sooner or later Kelly will have to defend the White Houses jabber about fake news, alternative facts, and witch hunts. He will have to ascribe to Trump virtues that he does not possess, and deny the moral lapses and quite possibly the crimes that he hascommitted.
There is one further reason to find this appointment depressing. It contributes to the continuing decay of American civil-military relations. Those of us who were relieved to see James Mattis as secretary of defense, H. R. McMaster as national-security adviser, and Kelly himself as secretary of Homeland Security, felt that way partly out of appreciation for the virtues of all three men, but also, very largely, out of relief that their sanity might contain their bosss craziness. But it is inappropriate to have so many generals in policy-making positions; it is profoundly wrong to have a president regard the military as a constituency, and it is corrupting to have the Republican Party, such as it is, act as though generals have if not a monopoly then at least dominant market share in the qualities of executive ability and patriotism. It is unwise to have higher-level positions in the hands of officials who have openly expressed disdain for Congressnow a dangerously weak branch ofgovernment.
Trump, who has no idea how many articles there are in the Constitution, neither knows nor cares about any of the niceties of civil-military relations. To their credit, Kelly, Mattis, and McMaster have thought long and hard about these issues. But like any of us they have their individual limitations, and like any of us, their characters can be eroded by the whirlpool of moral and political corruption that is Donald Trump. The Marines live by a hard code, and John Kelly has endured tests of character more difficult than most of us can conceive. But his hardest tests lie ahead, and neither he nor anyone else can be sure that he will passthem.
Go here to read the rest:
The Downsides of John Kelly's Ascension - Defense One - Defense One
- Ascension (TV Mini-Series 2014) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb [Last Updated On: June 14th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 14th, 2016]
- Ascension (miniseries) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: June 19th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 19th, 2016]
- Ascension of Jesus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: June 19th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 19th, 2016]
- Ascension - Wikitravel [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2016]
- Ascension Of Jesus - Bible Story Summary [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2016]
- CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Ascension - NEW ADVENT [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2016]
- Ascension - Season 1 Reviews - Metacritic [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2016]
- Home - Ascension Parish [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2016]
- Ascension - Sal Rachele [Last Updated On: June 28th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 28th, 2016]
- Ascension [Last Updated On: June 28th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 28th, 2016]
- Welcome to our Parish! | Ascension Catholic Church [Last Updated On: June 28th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 28th, 2016]
- Ascension - Definition and Meaning, Bible Dictionary [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2016]
- Ascension - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2016]
- Coffee & Wine Bar | Ascension Coffee Roasters Dallas, Texas [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2016]
- Home - Ascension School [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2016]
- What is Ascension | Sandra Walter - Creative Evolution [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2016]
- Ascension News, Sports and Entertainment | The Advocate [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2016]
- Welcome to our Parish! | Ascension Catholic Church [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2016]
- Ascension - Guild Wars Wiki (GWW) [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2016]
- Ascension - SGCommand - Wikia [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2016]
- Ascension (TV Mini-Series 2014) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2016]
- Ascension Ministries and Norm Franz. A Torah Based End ... [Last Updated On: July 3rd, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 3rd, 2016]
- Ascension Energy Program [Last Updated On: July 3rd, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 3rd, 2016]
- Ascension with Mother Earth and Current State of Affairs [Last Updated On: July 3rd, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 3rd, 2016]
- Ascension of Our Lord [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2016]
- Clerk of Court - Home [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2016]
- 'Ascension': What Syfy Did Better Than Most TV Networks [Last Updated On: July 25th, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 25th, 2016]
- Orgone Radionic Machine | Ascension Energy Program [Last Updated On: August 16th, 2016] [Originally Added On: August 16th, 2016]
- Xcalibur Magnetic Field Generator | Ascension Energy Program [Last Updated On: August 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: August 29th, 2016]
- Ascension Symptoms & Signs of Spiritual Awakening [Last Updated On: August 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: August 29th, 2016]
- Ascension Catholic Community [Last Updated On: September 2nd, 2016] [Originally Added On: September 2nd, 2016]
- Crystal Ascension [Last Updated On: September 11th, 2016] [Originally Added On: September 11th, 2016]
- Freedom Resource Center - Ascension_151#151 [Last Updated On: October 11th, 2016] [Originally Added On: October 11th, 2016]
- Ascension (miniseries) - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2016] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2016]
- THE LORD OF ASCENSION - gotquestions.org [Last Updated On: October 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: October 29th, 2016]
- Ascension Parish | News from The Advocate | theadvocate.com [Last Updated On: October 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: October 29th, 2016]
- Ascension Church - Portland, OR [Last Updated On: October 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: October 29th, 2016]
- What is Ascension - The Secret Truth About [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2016] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2016]
- Ascension of Jesus - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: December 2nd, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 2nd, 2016]
- Stankov's Universal Law Press The New General Theory of ... [Last Updated On: December 7th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 7th, 2016]
- The Plan and Process of Ascension - Spiritual Evolution [Last Updated On: December 7th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 7th, 2016]
- Ascension Wikipedia [Last Updated On: December 7th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 7th, 2016]
- Monastery of Ascension - RuneScape Wiki - Wikia [Last Updated On: December 26th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 26th, 2016]
- Mythology of Stargate - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: January 5th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 5th, 2017]
- What is Ascension? Energetic Synthesis [Last Updated On: January 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 8th, 2017]
- Right ascension - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: January 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 13th, 2017]
- Ascension (TV Mini-Series 2014 ) - IMDb [Last Updated On: January 29th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 29th, 2017]
- Latest Ascension Parish Crime Briefs - Donaldsonville Chief - Donaldsonville Chief [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- Album Review: THE OMINOUS CIRCLE Appalling Ascension - Metal Injection.net [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- Former Ascension coaches make HOF - Donaldsonville Chief [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- 2 killed in crash Sunday afternoon in Ascension Parish - KLFY [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- Card Coming Together For Saturday's FIP: Ascension - FloSlam [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- Impairment suspected in Ascension Parish crash - Weekly Citizen [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Ascension opens first clinic under new unified name - St. Louis Business Journal [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Crime cameras go live in Ascension Parish with plans for more - WBRZ [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- TowerFall Ascension Review - TrueAchievements [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Ascension to move forward on street widening and intersection projects - WBRZ [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Mojo Rawley Works Dark Match, Ascension / Vaudevillians Note, The New England Patriots Celebrate With Their ... - Wrestlezone [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Harry Kane Reflects on Tottenham's Ascension and Mauricio Pochettino's Influence - HotspurHQ [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Complete Construction Contractors owner arrested on counts of post-flood contractor fraud in Ascension - The Advocate [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Governor likely in Tamil Nadu today, but may bide time over Sasikala's ascension - Times of India [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Tour Ascension executive director among leadership academy graduates - Weekly Citizen [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Girls soccer playoffs: Mount Carmel dominates East Ascension, moves to quarterfinals - The Advocate [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Ascension, Livingston, St. James parishes pick up pieces after tornadoes - The Advocate [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- FIP: Ascension Preview: What's Next From Uncle John's Friends? - FloSlam [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Contestants Chosen for 2017 Ascension Idol Competition - TheCreole.com (press release) (blog) [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office investigating fake Facebook page - WBRZ [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Ascension Parish arrest report - News - Gonzales Weekly Citizen ... - Weekly Citizen [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Tower Ascension Xbox One review enter the Dark World - Metro [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Ascension Announces New Album "Under The Veil Of Madness" - Metal Underground [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- The angels announce the Ascension; Angels: Day 203 - Patheos (blog) [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- Patricia Maryland, Dr.PH, to Become President and CEO of Ascension Healthcare - Michronicleonline [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- Boys basketball: East Ascension takes physical game against ... - The Advocate [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- The Shady Ascension of Luther Strange - New Republic [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- FIP Ascension 2017 live results thread: Yehi vs. Cage - Cageside ... - Cageside Seats (blog) [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- Regional sewer plans in Ascension appear headed for another set back - The Advocate [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- WWE News: The Ascension's Viktor responds to WWE excluding them in a video - Sportskeeda [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Chandler, East Ascension driving toward a higher goal as postseason arrives - The Advocate [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Elimination Chamber 2017 Results: American Alphas Defeats The Ascension - Business 2 Community [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Utah Jazz: Brad Stevens Praises Gordon Hayward's All-Star Ascension - Purple & Blues [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]