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In an impassioned and at times furious speech, departing Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley defiantly proclaimed that the US military does not swear an oath to a “wannabe dictator.”

It was a bitter and pointed swipe that appeared unmistakably targeted at former President Donald Trump, who has in recent days accused Milley of “treason” and suggested that he should be put to death for his conduct surrounding Trump’s bid in 2021 to remain in office despite losing the presidential election.

“We are unique among the world’s militaries,” Milley said. “We don’t take an oath to a country, we don’t take an oath to a tribe, we don’t take an oath to a religion. We don’t take an oath to a king, or a queen, or a tyrant or a dictator.”

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[-] Pratai@lemmy.ca 110 points 1 year ago

• Trump- a twice/impeached treasonous draft-dodging rapist coward is accusing a decorated military general of treason.

THAT is how stupid this guy is.

• close to half of America is voting for a twice/impeached treasonous draft-dodging rapist coward.

THAT is how stupid America is.

[-] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 33 points 1 year ago

close to half of America is voting for a twice/impeached treasonous draft-dodging rapist coward.

It's more like a third that has an outsized influence due to gerrymandering and disincentivizing voters. Still, the fact that it is that many and Trump actually stands a chance of re-election shows what a dumpster fire the country is.

[-] SoylentBlake@lemm.ee 27 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

While I question the intelligence of the MAGA crowd as well, I feel like I have to constantly remind people that the other half of the people who would vote for him are really voting against neoliberalism, even tho they can't describe it as such.

They'll say globalism, they might even take a swipe at wall street or corporations. NAFTA, "Elites" etc etc.

They're struggling just like everyone else due to late stage capitalism and they don't care how it ends, just that it does.

Mind you theyre also statistically white and think they'll be in the in group when our money becomes less valuable than toilet paper and weather it all fine, which is delusional.

There's the haves and the have nots. Even security for the rich, after the walls fell, will still be servants, not equals.

I say all this so those inclined can see there is actually a good amount of material we all agree on, and if you can approach it without instigating their pearl clutch reflex, some can even be brought into the light.

[-] Pratai@lemmy.ca 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

They deserve nothing less than ridicule and shame for their beliefs. They have the same access to information as everyone else, and they CHOSE to be ignorant to it. They CHOSE to ignore it. I have no sympathy or compassion for these nitwits.

And for the record- they’ll clutch their pearls without the need of anything to initiate a reflex. It’s their default stance to everything.

Fuck them. The gloves are off. They deserve nothing more then to be drowned in the swamp their beloved leaders created to drain.

[-] SoylentBlake@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That's not a solution and you know it. I feel ya my man, I do.

You don't need sympathy for them. You don't need to forgive anyone for them - you do that shit for yourself, so you'll be free of the negativity of their weight and move forward clear of them.

Don't let them define the limits of your virtues. Don't let anyone tell you who you are (which is essentially the same thing). That's for you to tell them.

Most are probably a lost cause. Not all, for sure. Look at them like you would a wounded animal and for reasons we don't know they blame us. It's much easier to understand and anticipate, therefore mitigate the pain they're choosing to propagate. But over generations...we can teach their children tolerance. And patience. Hence their war on education (the ones showing up at PTA meetings, not the ones trying to loot the budget).

I'm one of the first to respond to fascist violence with violence. Fighting nazis is a great family tradition of mine, going back 80 years. I'm no Gandhi, MLK. I'm much more aligned with Malcolm and Hampton. I'll let the Gandhi's have the mic and lead from the ideals, but while theyre sheparding the high road, I'm defending on the low road.

I say that because if the answer is to just damn half the population, then you've got to put more effort into your answer. Or just do what I do, which is let others more eloquent elucidate. I don't need to sway anyone's opinions, hell sometimes I'm the last person who should have the mic. Knowing this is a strength, not a weakness.

What I do know is that Hate isn't the way. Every spiritual or moral teacher in history has said the same thing. But I don't need hate to fight, simply resignation to the task at hand, like putting down a wounded animal. If anything it makes me more cognizant in the moment.

[-] Pratai@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago

I’m cool with hate thanks. They have earned it.

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[-] Cabrio@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Malicious ignorance is the real pandemic.

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[-] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 year ago

well technically between a fifth and a quarter of America voted for Trump last time.

[-] vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 1 year ago

THAT is how stupid America is.

Democracy as usual. The real problem is that they either vote for personalities or for policies, while it should be both - a wrong personality plainly won't deliver, a wrong policy is wrong no matter the personality.

People who were voting for him after Obama's time voted against weakness, hypocrisy, establishment, general perceived progress slowing down (in the 90-s and early 00-s there were many cool things on TV, in computer industry, in space, in art etc, while during Obama's years it was all the same, boring and corporate, and the Web among other things was enshittened in that time period).

Now the second time I guess it's as good as protest voting, and some are really just stupid.

[-] linearchaos@lemmy.world 108 points 1 year ago

That's why he wants to get back in, to finish the job and become an actual dictator.

[-] psycho_driver@lemmy.world 35 points 1 year ago

From Limp Dick Potato to Dictator - The Donald Trump Story

[-] ohitsbreadley@discuss.tchncs.de 27 points 1 year ago

From 'tater Dick to Dictator - Donald Trump's Tumultuous Struggle to Get It Up

[-] psycho_driver@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Damnit yours is way better.

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[-] blazeknave@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Decades from now, I'll think of this comment with regret for not heeding your warning, as I breathe my last breaths hiding in some steampunk cave, hunted by stormtrooper drones, starving and without any resources, the last outpost of hope.. then the lights dim as the power runs out. "Fucking potato.." final breath.. eyes close.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I hear it was more of a mushroom dick.

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[-] agent_flounder@lemmy.one 33 points 1 year ago

President Donald Trump, who has in recent days accused Milley of “treason” and suggested that he should be put to death for his conduct surrounding Trump’s bid in 2021 to remain in office despite losing the presidential election.

no u.

It's comically simple how transparent fuckheads like him become once you tune into the pattern. Accusations are confessions, gaslight, obstruct, project, and all that

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[-] flossdaily@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

... We'll see. There's a lot of anti-American MAGAts in law enforcement and paramilitary organizations.

We have an infestation of Republican fascists, and no one can say how that's going to play out over the next couple of years.

[-] Comment105@lemm.ee 17 points 1 year ago

Trump's military followers don't give a shit about the constitution, they believe America and it's government is about what they as Americans (the real ones) want.

They act like they believe the constitution is a magical document able to agree with them no matter how they charge their opinion, adapting to internal inconsistencies and all. And if the constitution agrees with them no matter what, it doesn't matter beyond being an authority to appeal to for the sake of controlling others.

[-] SoleInvictus@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago

They act like they believe the constitution is a magical document able to agree with them no matter how they charge their opinion, adapting to internal inconsistencies and all.

Hey, that's also exactly how they treat the Bible!

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[-] downpunxx@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago

I still vividly remember watching the Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Miley personally escorting Donald Trump through peaceful protesters being beaten and gassed to a Church Trump had never been to, to hold up a bible Trump had never read. Don't try selling me Mark fucking Miley, that fucking fascist enabler can go straight to hell.

[-] BaroqueInMind@kbin.social 131 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
[-] Nougat@kbin.social 64 points 1 year ago

Milley has been very clear about his regrets for having been there, and understands that what he did was wrong. It's a lot easier with hindsight to think "Well, as soon as he realized what was going on, he should have left," or "He should have made these kinds of strong statements against his being dragged into that photo op much earlier."

That all happened on June 1, 2020, long before the election in November of the same year, and long before the events which Trump and other have now been indicted for in Georgia and the DC Circuit.

There must be a way for people to be redeemed for their past actions, and I believe that Milley's statements go a very long way in that direction.

[-] CapgrasDelusion@kbin.social 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I couldn't agree more. I'll just add:

"Well, as soon as he realized what was going on, he should have left"

He did.

Milley realized too late that Trump, who continued across the street to pose for a now-infamous photo while standing in front of a vandalized church, was manipulating him into a visual endorsement of his martial approach to the demonstrations. Though Milley left the entourage before it reached the church, the damage was significant. “We’re getting the fuck out of here,” Milley said to his security chief. “I’m fucking done with this shit.” Esper would later say that he and Milley had been duped.

"He should have made these kinds of strong statements against his being dragged into that photo op much earlier."

He said this within a week, if that counts:

The week afterward, in a commencement address to the National Defense University, he apologized to the armed forces and the country. “I should not have been there,” he said.

As far as I'm aware, any comment he has ever made regarding the incident he has said it was a mistake.

Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/11/general-mark-milley-trump-coup/675375/

[-] Nougat@kbin.social 14 points 1 year ago

Excellent. There is nothing wrong with Milley in the context of that event; in fact, there is everything right about his actions. Thank you for fact checking me.

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[-] blazeknave@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Mf was the only reason I had any hope the military would stand against fascism. I didn't know we were debating his merits.

[-] Nougat@kbin.social 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

... to hold up a bible Trump had never read.

~~Upside down.~~

Huh, I had no idea I was wrong about that.

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A true patriot would have snapped his neck and taken the punishment in service to the greater good.

[-] DigitalTraveler42@lemm.ee 15 points 1 year ago

That's the type of person Trump thought Mad Dog Mattis was, because the nickname isn't indicative to who Mattis is, Trump was put off with Mattis's "warrior philosopher" schtick and Mattis in turn was put off when he realized Trump's fascist strongman persona wasn't an act.

As a former Marine who respects Mattis, I was deeply disappointed that he couldn't see through Trump's bullshit earlier on.

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[-] cmbabul@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Dude could've made himself into a folk hero

[-] mosiacmango@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago

Nah, that shitbrick would have been a perpetual martyr. Better that he gets publically kicked in the dick over and over instead.

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[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 5 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


In an impassioned and at times furious speech, departing Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley defiantly proclaimed that the US military does not swear an oath to a “wannabe dictator.”

And his tenure as chairman has provoked fierce debate among military experts: Was Milley too willing to wade into the realm of domestic politics, or did he stand in the breach to protect a democracy in peril?

On Friday, as he handed over the reins of the chairmanship to Gen. CQ Brown, the embattled Army general gave a fierce defense of his view of the military’s defining ethos: to defend, if necessary with the life’s blood of those in uniform, the Constitution of the United States.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy appears to lack the votes to pass a last-ditch stopgap bill to extend government funding beyond Saturday.

Two days after the attack on the Capitol, Milley – concerned that Trump “had gone into a serious mental decline” and might “go rogue” – instructed senior operations officers from the National Military Command Center not to take orders from anyone unless he was involved, according to Bob Woodward and Robert Costa’s book, “Peril.”

He also made a now-controversial phone call in the days following the attack intended to reassure Beijing that the United States was stable and that it was not considering a military strike on China.


The original article contains 962 words, the summary contains 225 words. Saved 77%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

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this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
683 points (98.6% liked)

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