Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Thursday, June 4, 2020

"We Can Unite Without Him"





Jim Mattis blasts Trump in message that defends protesters, says president ‘tries to divide us’

“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us,” Mattis wrote in a statement published by the Atlantic. 

 “We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership," he continued. “We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”

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Mattis wrote that he has watched events this week “angry and appalled," and said protesters are right to demand equal justice under the law. 

 “It is a wholesome and unifying demand — one that all of us should be able to get behind,” he wrote. “We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values — our values as people and our values as a nation.”



I wonder what the usual Trump cultists/apologists will have to say about this from retired General Jim Mattis. The GOP has always been in love with the military and always supported them in all ways.

What do Trump's cultists think of this? Will they denigrate the general? Will they call him a "Never Trumper?" Will they ignore his statements about a man he watched day in and day out destroy and debauch America?

Will they take Trump's side against a man who devoted his life in service to his country? Who fought and served America?

I'm betting they will ignore it. Ignore once again an American who puts country above party -- Trump who pretends to be a president. And failed at even pretending.




22 comments:

skudrunner said...

For a narcissist it would be a sign of weakness to admit others may be right and that is not in trumps playhouse. At least joe will be a neutral force in the country but I doubt even he can unite the country because there are to many extreme factions both right and left.

It is also unfortunate people have to riot and loot to get a point across that it was an unconscionable act because of a racist police office. If we did not have the protests this it would have just gone away and the cop would still be employed. It is also unfortunate many felt this was a time to loot, burn and riot.

Les Carpenter said...

General Mattis speaks the truth and has more integrity in his pinky finger than the entire GOP and the trump administration combined. While there has been some denunciation of trump's antics the past week or so it has been far too late and far too little.

Dotard donnie, his entire administration, and the lions share of the GOP up fo reelection MUST GO!!

Dave Miller said...

You can be sure the usual suspects will be dismissing Mattis. Indeed, Pres Trump already has.

But what I would like to see from Trump, Skud or any others, is a defense in the affirmative. Just cite the evidence where Trump, contrary to Mattis' words, has worked to bring us together, to unite us.

Don't involve Biden, Obama or anyone else.

Just show us how Pres Trump has tried to united our multicultural, diverse nation with his words, actions and deeds.

Go ahead... I'll wait.

skudrunner said...

Rev, He just carried forward the attitude of his predecessor of divide the country to meet your goals.

The hate is driven by the media who cannot report any good news and if there is not enough bad news they will make something up.

RN I like your broad brush approach to blame everything on one party when the corruption is shared by both.

Dave Miller said...

Skud... you bring up a good point as to whether Joe Biden, or in my opinion anyone, will be able to unite us. Perhaps all a president can do is create an atmosphere where that can happen, and then it is the work of the American people. Because we have to want to be united, with people with whom we differ. We have to be okay being in relationship with people different from us.

I doubt we can do that.

Maybe America was not built for a globally connected populace where we know more about our neighbors then ever before.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Notice how skud again tries to blame Mr. Obama for Trump’s failures. Once and for all, give me EVIDENCE for your claim that President Obama divided us. So far all we have is nothing.

Anonymous said...

DC's Mayor Muriel Bowser had BLACK LIVES MATTER painted on 16th Street, which leads to the White House! LOVE IT!!!

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/d-c-mayor-bowser-has-black-lives-matter-painted-street-n1225746


Possumlady

Shaw Kenawe said...

Possum lady, I saw that!! Good for her!!!

Dave Miller said...

Shaw, in fairness, the election of President Obama did divide us. Between the racist types who denied not just his electability, but his right, as a black man born to a woman from Kansas, to even run for president. And it is that dividing line, still present today that continues to exacerbate our division.

Change is difficult. Especially for people accustomed to getting their way.

Think of it like this.

When I first started working in Mexico, no had ever seen a Toyota car. Essentially, Nissan owned the small car market, garnering over a 90% share. In the early 2000's, Toyota was allowed to sell there for the first time. Over night, Nissan lost their 90% share market, tons of profits and still today, are struggling there with this new reality.

All of a sudden, earlier than many had thought, America elected a black man. Of course his policies would be different from many past presidents, informed by different lived experiences and the sting of racism. But he spoke of those policies all along the campaign trail. America heard those policies and overwhelmingly said yes! Twice.

So while the differentness of President Obama and his policies, did in fact bring lead to divisiveness, it is the minority, whom he defeated, that has fanned the flames with personal attack on President Obama, using racist tropes, maligning his wife, kids and mother in law.

Rather than enter into the political arena to stand alongside Obama and shape his policies to something better for all, they stonewalled, trying to block every substantial policy proposal.

Never before had we seen something like this. Minority parties always opposed, yes, but also looked for ways to shape policies and agendas and worked in a bi-partisan fashion to improve laws sometimes passed hastily, think Medicare Part D, and make them better. But with the election of Barack Obama, no more.

We must ask why. What was different about this president. Surely it wasn't his partisan attacks. Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton and others were all partisan too. Sometimes brutally so. And yet the opposition worked with them.

We are left with one reason and one reason only.

President Barack Obama was black.

Les Carpenter said...

skud, I wo 't argue that I paint a picturd with a btoad brush stroke. So what. If you were to bother to go back 10, 9, 8 years ago and review my ppsts you would be reading much diferent rhetoric from me. I supported more conservative positions. But something happened. The GOP and the conservatives sold their souls to the devil and then along came Dotard donnie. At that point I ascertained that I could no longer support a valueless hypocritical party. The GOP is not the greater of two limited evils skud, it has become the parsonification of evil ltself IMO. That does not mean I think dems are the new panacea. They are not. But in my opinion they provide the best alternative at our current crossroads.

Now skud, I'd love to hear your evidence that Shaw has asked for several times which you always never provide. Thanks in advance.

skudrunner said...

Ms Shaw and RN, I will be very careful about naming names because you find that offensive so I will just use TSG to as the subject. TSG tried to divide the country according to his leftist beliefs without regards to what makes America a success. His statements of we are not a christian nation, the government created your business not you, rich is anyone who earns over 250K a year, The US is not exceptional, we need to take from the working middle class and give it to the I don't want to work class, make 325 million pay for insurance for 9 million, drop everything to make a speech about a minority incident as long as the minority was the victim but ignore any incident that was either black on black or black on white. Yes he was a racist which he proved on numerous occasions. TSG referred to pro-life groups as war on women, opponents of same sex marriage as bigots, anyone who called for immigration reform racist. These are very divisive attitudes and pitted people against other because they feel threatened.

Yes TSG started the division of the country that trump has continued. TSG did it because that was his agenda to help the poor and mega rich, trump does it because he is a bully and thinks he is doing it for all the American people.

Not one thing did TSG do for All of the citizens of this country.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Skud, President Obama’s ACTUAL words were that America is not JUST a Christian nation. And of course he’s correct. We are a nation of many religions and a nation of people with no religion.

You have your presidents mixed up. It was America’s second President and one of her founding fathers, John Adams, who declared that America is not a Christian nation:

As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen [Muslims],—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan [Mohammedan] nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

Since you falsely stated that President Obama said America is not a Christian nation, and failed to check the veracity of that claim, please tell me why I should believe the rest of your statements, which you fail (again) to back up with evidence.

The rest of your comment is filled with stuff that either you read somewhere on a anti-Obama or found in a blast email. None of the rest of your comment is true.

You claim our first bi-racial President is racist? Prove it. Then explain why people are marching in the streets after trump’s pathetic and weak response to what happened to George Floyd. May I remind you that Mr. Obama NEVER had to hide from Americans in a bunker or build a barricade against them at any time during his presidency.

I hear your anger and resentment against Mr. Obama in every comment you send here. And I don’t here that same emotion when you write about trump, a president who has lost the support of vast numbers of his own party, of righteous Christians, a majority of white men and women, independents, a crushing majority of African-Americans, and now even honorable military men who served him. Do you ever wonder why? And do you ever wonder why that NEVER happened to Mr. Obama?


Dave Miller said...

Skud... as usual, you provided no links to where TSG ever said those things. Since if they said them, the quotes should be readily available, but I can't find them for some reason. Maybe as is claimed at the Mother Ship, they were taken down by Google in service to our savior.

But I doubt it.What I think really happened is that you, like that crowd and others, heard what you wanted to hear. About the only canard you left out was the "apology tour" bit.

You're slipping...

possumlady said...

“The government created your business, not you.” Seriously?

Some context:
Obama made his remarks at a July 13 campaign appearance in Virginia. The president was speaking against Romney’s proposal to retain the Bush-era tax cuts and cut federal tax rates an additional 20 percent across the board for all taxpayers. Here is his quote:

“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.

The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires.”

If all you get out of that is that he’s dissing you if you have a business, you truly have ODS.


Les Carpenter said...

And the beat goes on.

You must be on of the one the most vacuous people I've ever had occasion to know skud. On line or otherwise.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Thanks for your input possumlady, Dave, and RN.

Like trump, stud changed the subject because he can’t defend what Trump has done. So he makes it about Mr. Obama.

Anonymous said...

Shaw could you please ask scud if Obama ever had so many top military generals come out against him gassing his own people and hiding in a bunker. Thanx.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Well, there’s this.

U.S. Marine Corps Issues Ban on Confederate Battle Flags
The directive, which was announced on Friday, details what is prohibited in Marine installations, office buildings and work spaces.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Anon, skud will never address that. He’d rather talk about Mr. Obama’s 57 states as proof that he hates America.

Les Carpenter said...

And former SoS and Head of the JCS General Colin Powell has now spoke out saying trump has strayed from the Constitution. Indeed. Continue on trump. It's beginning to look a lot like trump is giving us exactly what we need to defeat his tyrannical un American ass.

The Prophet Dervish Z Sanders said...

Barack Obama has birthed by a White mother and brought up by 2 White grandparents. To suggest he is racist is utterly ridiculous. As ridiculous as saying he was born in Kenya and that Michelle Obama is a man. btw, I would not characterize Obama as a "Leftist". He's a moderate, which is the same (accurate) criticism levied against Joe Biden. Why I voted for Bernie Sanders in the primary (a TRUE Leftist).

Barack Obama reached out and tried to work with republicans repeatedly. They could have easily worked with Obama to shape legislation more to their liking, but they refused. It certainly was not because he is a Leftist (because he isn't). IMO it isn't simply a coincidence that the next republican potus is not just a racist but a White Nationalist. Also not a coincidence that they nominated a misogynist and admitted sexual assaulter to run against a woman.

They're really "owning the libs" now. Retribution for electing a Black man to lead our nation... twice.

skudrunner said...

Rev, I have tried to post facts substantiating my claims but they somehow don't appear.
Ms Shaw is being disingenuous by saying I will never address something because I do and if it says something not favorable about an ex-president it doesn't appear.
I am still waiting for someone to give an example of one thing he did for all Americans not just special interest groups.