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>>179968Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius - Video: RE: DC Politics and Senior Military Officers
After the Vietnam War, America felt collective guilt over how it had treated our servicemen and women, so as a result the “yellow ribbon,” “Thank you for your service” culture has flourished for decades, with the US military consistently ranking near the top of America’s most respected and trusted institutions in public polling. That is a good thing. However, that does not mean we do not still have some rotten apples in uniform, many of whom reach very high ranks as generals or admirals.
It’s time that those very senior generals and admirals not be given automatic, reflexive deference with zero scrutiny by the public. It’s time the public hold them to the same standards we hold our elected officials. What have you done for me lately? Are you honest? Who comes first, your ego or the nation?
And you know what? It’s kind of sad that we have come to this point, but the generals and admirals only have themselves to blame.
You see, at the level of elected officials, senior political appointees and career senior executive service members, the DC infighting that occurs on a routine daily basis is like Game of Thrones without the dragons and the literal beheadings. DC politics are Machiavellian. They are bloodthirsty. It is a take no prisoners war for power, using all manner of underhanded and devious methods.
Many decades ago, the generals and admirals knew these fights were not their domain. Mostly speaking, they were above all of that. But—thanks in large part to Goldwater/Nichols and our unholy addiction to the “interagency”—as we fostered generation after generation of officers with deep experience in The Swamp, those same officers came to believe that the Machiavellian rules of their civilian bosses were theirs to play by too. Slow-rolling initiatives you disagree with? Yup. Playing the Georgetown cocktail party game of scurrilous rumormongering? Check. Running around your chain of command to Congress to get what you want? Absolutely. Being the “anonymous source” in an anonymously-sourced Washington Post article that was nothing more than outright lies and libel? Roger that.
The problem is this: WE HAVE GENERALS AND ADMIRALS WHO THINK THOSE GAME OF THRONES RULES APPLY TO THEM. Not only do they think they apply to them, they consider it to be standard operating procedure and a literal requirement of their DC duty position.
Well I got some news for you, general. You too, admiral. You are UNIFORMED MEMBERS OF OUR MILITARY SERVICES, and your oath is to the Constitution, not your ego. We expect more from you than we do sleazeball civilian lawyers in positions of power. We expect your integrity to be impeccable, and by playing by DC Game of Thrones rules, you sacrifice that integrity entirely. (See: Courtney Massengale; use your search engine of choice if you do not know.)
Pete Hegseth has been given a Herculean task to clean out the Augean Stables at the Pentagon. He has been doing it, slowly but surely, and he is eradicating that corrupt culture at the top of the military food chain bit by bit, piece by piece.
So the next time you see Hegseth fire a general or an admiral, consider that one of two things might be true:
1. The general/admiral refused to be a “sycophant” (as the Democrat/Media Complex will claim) and got fired by a meanie SecWar as punishment.
-or-
2. The general/admiral didn’t like a lawful order because it went against his/her personal politics, so he/she decided to go around the electoral will of the American people and satisfy his/her own ego to play Daenerys Targaryen DC games, got caught, and got righteously fired as a result.
Consider the difference.
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