Good grief. Not sure what’s wrong with the US military retired, all the way from Generals down to Field Grade Officers. I think it’s pretty safe to say that the grunts–the enlisted–the sad sacks, the jarheads, the squids, etc. don’t suffer from this foolish nonsense, but honestly!
LTC Vindman. General Mark (I’m in China’s Corner) Milley. General (TBC, this isn’t a military rank) Dynamics Board of Directors , and former US Defense Secretary) General John Mattis (super sad, given his heroic and almost legendary status among the troops. Seemed like such a very good idea at the time).
And now, and worst, General Lloyd Austin.
Did Trump break some of these guys?
Perhaps.
And yet.
But, Austin?
He was Biden’s choice. “Led” the military through Covid. Managed the 2021 “stand downs” so that the military could disavow (somehow) the events of January 6. And, in recent years, has overseen the spectacular failure of US military branches to meet their expected recruiting requirements at the same time as each branch finds ways to insult and minimize the contributions of demographic sectors who’ve made it successful over the past century or so.
Imagine my surprise.
I know this is–when it comes right down to it–an institutional failure.
Still, I can’t help recognizing those I’ve known in my own life (and there have been many), from General Officers to Field Grade Officers, to Company Grade Officers and below, and how I’ve come to wonder in the past few years if a person such as myself would ever trust them or follow them into battle, given their sometimes idiotic narcissism and selfish proclivities after the fact.
Sadly, again. Hard. No. All the way up the chain.
I simply couldn’t involve myself.. That some of these folks were once in charge of (at a minimum) battalions or squadrons, and of life-or-death situations, and if they now can’t manage any such scenarios without narcissistic self-involvement is disturbing and baffling, Maybe they need help. Pray God that–one day–they’ll get it. That’s my hope.
Meanwhile, I’m out.
That the US Secretary of Defense–the man in charge of over a million-and-a-half men and women putting themselves in harm’s way at a time of exceptional global instability–is so embarrassed of his prostate cancer diagnosis that he tells no-one about it, even his immediate deputy who’s sunning herself on a beach in Puerto Rico when she suddenly discovers she’s instantly in charge (apparently for no known reason) of the previously-mentioned million-and-a-half men and women–that such a man doesn’t find his negligent and ludicrous action worthy of immediate retirement or firing–sorta speaks for itself.
It would be bad enough, were Lloyd Austin some sort of DEI hire along the lines of Claudine Gay–an unaccomplished, plagiaristic, inarticulate, lying, moron.
But this is a guy whose responsibilities–over the years–have included sending men and women into battle to die.
For God’s sake. Welcome home, if you’re ready to come home.
And when you do come home, don’t–like Lloyd Austin–act like a fucking jerk.
Lord. I hope I’m clear.
To absolutely no-one’s surprise, lantern-jawed Lieutenant John Kerry, USN, Retired and former US Secretary of State, has once again stepped up and entered the competition.
Following his precipitous announcement that he’s leaving his post as Joe Biden’s “Climate Czar,” it’s again being widely reported that Kerry has been feeding Iran details on Israel’s covert military operations for years (a story that has been bubbling around ever since the Trump administration). Kerry’s office strenuously denies such allegations.
Trouble is, this is a guy who’s also spent years lecturing us on how best to live our own miserable little lives while flying around the world in one or another of his private jets, hanging out on his yachts and at his estates around the world, eating ruinously expensive bug-free gourmet meals, and wearing only the finest high couture.
If his entire life wasn’t a double standard, I might be more inclined to believe him on this.