Empty barrels

John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, was supposed to instill discipline and integrity as White House chief of staff. Those expectations are proving hopelessly optimistic.

It was distressing enough that Kelly invoked some Trump-like pettiness last week in condemning a Florida congresswoman as “an empty barrel” for claiming the president disrespected the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, who was killed in an Oct. 4 ambush in Niger. Kelly then went a Trump-like step further in alleging that Rep. Frederica Wilson tried to claim credit for personally securing funding for an FBI building in Florida.

Kelly said he attended the event and was offended by her remarks that were “in the long tradition of empty barrels making the most noise.”

There was a big problem with Kelly’s account: A video of Wilson’s remarks, released by the Sun Sentinel, showed no such thing. She said nothing about her role in the funding. She did, however, tell of her efforts in getting the building named after two fallen FBI agents — and was lavish in crediting the roles of Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio and John Boehner, then the House speaker.

It gets worse for this credibility-challenged White House. Asked at Friday’s news briefing whether Kelly could take questions on the discrepancy, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders replied, “If you want to get into a debate with a four-star Marine general, I think that’s something highly inappropriate.”

Highly inappropriate? Not in a democracy, where no person in power, no matter how distinguished his or her background, is allowed to make statements without challenge or accountability.

Ever so predictably, Trump piled on via Twitter, calling Wilson “a wacky congresswoman” who is the “gift that keeps on giving” for Republicans. It’s clear who is setting the tone in the White House. It isn’t John Kelly, or at least the John Kelly who arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. with a reputation as a straight shooter.