Ex-military generals America’s best hope
To be a Cold War boomer was to grow up in between two masterful political thrillers, “Dr. Strangelove” and “Seven Days in May.”
Both films explored the chilling notion of mealymouthed Washington pols being replaced by generals whose chests were blanketed with medals and ribbons.
Compounding this stereotype was the southofborder vision of an “El Presidente” in aviator shades and scrambled eggs on his shoulders, holding sway over a banana republic.
But here in America, we could always take comfort in knowing there was a clear separation of powers between our elected leaders and the generals who oversee our military. That is, until the rise of our first constitutionally elected banana president, Donald J. Trump.
Now, many of us find ourselves instinctively turning to former generals like John Kelly, H.R. McMaster and James “Mad Dog” Mattis to provide some balance and reason to an otherwise chaotic White House.
Shortly after becoming chief of staff, Kelly immediately got rid of Anthony Scaramucci and hastened the exit of Trump’s puppet master, Steve Bannon.
And it was also Kelly who quietly hung his head in disappointment as Trump babbled on about “the very fine people” who marched with the KKK in Charlottesville.
Lately, the qualifier “embattled” has appeared before the name H.R. McMaster. After all, this was a seasoned general who didn’t embrace The Donald’s loose-lipped talk about possibly using military force against Venezuela.
And most recently, attention was focused on Mattis, Trump’s secretary of defense, after the president summarily announced his transgender military ban.
Mattis’ genius was to placate Trump without really endorsing his off-the-cuff proclamation that the former general knew could result in a logistical nightmare for the military.
Unlike “Dr. Strangelove,” or “Seven Days in May,” these days many of us view the trio of generals surrounding Trump as a crucial safe harbor, one that provides a kind of buffer between our president and ... well, I’d rather not think about it.
“Unlike President Trump,” said former Navy captain and Medal of Honor recipient Tom Kelley, “who came from a for-profit business world, what you have with John Kelly, H.R. McMaster and Jim Mattis are three men who’ve devoted themselves to serving their country, who believe in the rule of law and the Constitution, along with the kind of unity and cohesion that is such a necessary part of success in the military. I do think people recognize that.”
Trust me, Tom, we do. We really do. We just have a hard time seeing that in the reality TV star who’s now running the show.