Author Topic: Mattis says divisiveness is the biggest threat to U.S. democracy  (Read 221 times)

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Offline Night Hides Not

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Mattis says divisiveness is the biggest threat to U.S. democracy
« on: September 02, 2019, 04:50:57 pm »
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mattis-says-divisiveness-is-the-biggest-threat-to-us-democracy/ar-AAGHsjK?ocid=spartanntp

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"Divisiveness inside this country is probably the biggest threat, the lack of respect, the lack of listening to one another and accepting that people who disagree with us might be right once in a while," Mattis said in an interview with "CBS This Morning" Monday. Mattis, who resigned from the Trump administration amid disputes over the presence of U.S. troops in Syria and the treatment of U.S. allies, would not say if that divisiveness was a byproduct of the Trump presidency.

"This is not about one person or one administration. This goes back awhile," he said. The partisan atmosphere is not really a function of who's sitting the White House, he seemed to argue. It stems from the process by which we put people into government — elections.

With all due respect, General, you're full of it. To some extent, I agree with what he's saying, i.e. lack of respect, listening to each other, etc.

How often did he hear "disagreement" from his subordinates when he was a general?  Puh-leeze.

Americans have always been a rowdy bunch. It's part of our DNA. Divisiveness is not our biggest threat, it's failure to enforce laws and educate our children are two of the biggest problem as I see it.

You can't return to governing by the Constitution today, not when most of our Congress is blithely saying "let's get rid of the Electoral College".

Remember this is the same General Mattis who publicly supported transgenders in uniform...Mad Dog, indeed.
You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.

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Offline jafo2010

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Re: Mattis says divisiveness is the biggest threat to U.S. democracy
« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2019, 02:17:31 pm »
Mattis...did he not rise under Obama?  Enough said. 

Offline TomSea

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Re: Mattis says divisiveness is the biggest threat to U.S. democracy
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2019, 02:45:57 pm »
He has 40 years plus military service, he beat ISIS back, others might have been able to but we don't know for certain. He got screwed under Obama, fired and had his differences with Trump. He was not going to go down in history as a Secretary of Defense who lost to ISIS. Good. 'Nuff said.... and I see that  the decision by Trump of withdrawing troops from Syria was fairly quickly backpedaled away by Trump. 'Nuff said.

Offline Maj. Bill Martin

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Re: Mattis says divisiveness is the biggest threat to U.S. democracy
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2019, 02:48:42 pm »
He has 40 years plus military service, he beat ISIS back, others might have been able to but we don't know for certain. He got screwed under Obama, fired and had his differences with Trump. He was not going to go down in history as a Secretary of Defense who lost to ISIS. Good. 'Nuff said.... and I see that  the decision by Trump of withdrawing troops from Syria was fairly quickly backpedaled away by Trump. 'Nuff said.

Right.  In the end, after all the blustering, Trump did listen to his military advisors.  Obama/Biden did not, and we paid for it in blood in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Offline edpc

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Re: Mattis says divisiveness is the biggest threat to U.S. democracy
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2019, 03:25:04 pm »
He’s not completely wrong, but the left-right chasm has grown so much that there’s less common ground upon which to stand. Another former military officer expressed his views on this, about 7 years ago.


The Balkanized States of America

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/3/the-balkanized-states-of-america/
I disagree.  Circle gets the square.

Offline Maj. Bill Martin

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Re: Mattis says divisiveness is the biggest threat to U.S. democracy
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2019, 03:41:20 pm »
Remember this is the same General Mattis who publicly supported transgenders in uniform...Mad Dog, indeed.

No, he didn't.  He supported getting rid of them after conducting a policy review that would help that decision withstand legal scrutiny.  Trump tweeted it off the cuff, before the revie had been conducted, and that decision was then overturned by courts.  Mattis then came up with another means of doing so via requiring that troops/recruits be in deployable status (which basically means no hormone treatments) or be discharged, and that is working.

Offline jafo2010

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Re: Mattis says divisiveness is the biggest threat to U.S. democracy
« Reply #6 on: September 04, 2019, 05:49:05 pm »
Beat ISIS back?  Really?

Let's say he took out a lot of them, and many of them moved to other theaters to continue their bullsh*t.

If you think ISIS is defeated, you are not paying attention.  Why, when Bush left office, they were well established in six provinces in Afghanistan.  I am sure they have become stronger.  And of course, they are in many countries as we speak, and like al Qaeda, they are very much a future threat to western civilization.

Until the west develops a total vanquish policy for any country harboring these radical muslims groups, they will continue to pop up like whack-a-mole.

I know it will not be appreciated, but what the USA needs are military folks that had Patton's mindset of total annihilation of the enemy.  He used to say the only good German was a dead one.

Admiral Halsey in a speech said, 'the only good Jap, is a Jap that has been dead for six months or more.  In a country like Japan, where the civilian population supports the military as they do, the only good Jap civilian is a Jap civilian dead for six months or more'.  Said this in a speech in 1943 in San Francisco, CA.

Fact is, until we develop that vanquishing mindset for radical islam and ALL who harbor them, they will continue to kill us in the civilized world, hellbent to destroy western civilization.

I say Mattis was too tea and crumpets for my liking.