We still don’t know if the accounts in Bob Woodward and Bob Costa’s new book “Peril” of Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley working to undermine Donald Trump toward the end of his presidency are entirely accurate. But it seems safe to say that, if they are true, Gen. Milley is the bad guy in the scenario and should face consequences.
Some in the media don’t seem to see it that way.
No, Milley was not “just doing his job.” His position was advisory. He was not head of the military or keeper of the nuclear codes. He had no right to collude with Democrats or to conduct his own foreign policy. He acted as a military dictator. If you support that, own it.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) September 15, 2021
Apparently Tom Nichols supports that. And — credit where it’s due — he’s owning it:
Here's what I think – so far – about the Milley business.
– Calls for him to resign are stupid.
– Calls to fire him are stupid.
– The call to China was a *good* thing
– It's a legit question about whether he was preemptively countermanding possible orders from the CINC./1
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 15, 2021
Bad-faith calls from craven opportunists like Rubio mean nothing. And no CJCS has ever had to deal with a mentally ill president who was actively trying to overthrow the constitutional order. But before we cheer any of this, let's remember that everything becomes precedent.
/2— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 15, 2021
Milley, I think, was trying to steady the ship in case Trump called in some more junior guy and said "Get me Xi on the phone and bring the football." But you don't want it to become a thing where CJCS can say "ignore POTUS orders unless you clear with me." That's dangerous. /3
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 15, 2021
Thank you for conceding that point, Tom. Good Lord.
But if you have an unhinged President and a mob that has just attacked the Capitol, you also cannot say "all the laws must go unexecuted but one." Seems to me that Milley found a middle ground here of saying "procedure" that would give breathing space to other officers. /4
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 15, 2021
And none of this, not one moment of it, would have happened were it not for the fact that Donald Trump was a mentally unstable sociopath who was backed by a party whose leaders, as George Will notes, hate their own voters and are terrified of them.
/5x— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 15, 2021
Welp.
“Milley found a middle ground here”
Too bad he didn’t find it in the Constitution. https://t.co/SZRdty8Jkv
— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) September 15, 2021
To be fair, though, Tom Nichols hasn’t concerned himself with the Constitution for several years now.
In case anyone still took him seriously. He doesn’t care about norms or the constitution. https://t.co/YWHWkpqSAw
— Golden Ratio FTW (@phikickspisbutt) September 15, 2021
Maybe he never did.
lol
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) September 15, 2021
You sound like an idiot https://t.co/mDGy0RSuyC
— Drew Shirley Speaks (@DrewShirleySpx) September 15, 2021
Well, yes.
Has this moron ever been right about anything? https://t.co/viqiBXkwGO
— Sound the Dread Alarm (@_ThisJustin_) September 15, 2021
Another self-described “expert” weighs in, proving again why, just like the book he wrote fretted, “expertise is dying.” https://t.co/MIvYVU1PuZ
— Cindy Simpson (@Simpsonreport) September 15, 2021
He was onto something when he wrote about “The Death of Expertise.” He just didn’t realize he was writing about himself.
My days of not taking Tom Nichols seriously on foreign or military policy are certainly at a middle. https://t.co/iyMm7qZlVg
— Not Bill Clinton (I Feel/Your Pain) (@notPotus42) September 15, 2021
The principled case for military junta https://t.co/XuZIROS6KI
— PollySolipsism🏴 (@PollySpin) September 15, 2021
Nichols’ next book should be called “Muh Principles.”
Tom's job is to educate military officers.
I think I've pinpointed part of the problem https://t.co/Y7f6FamLce
— The Partyman (@PartymanRandy) September 15, 2021
Guy who trains officers doesn’t think usurping civilian authority is cause for firing. I’ve found someone else who shouldn’t be in his occupied job. https://t.co/2aEtcmF41s
— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) September 15, 2021
Trump Derangement Syndrome didn’t break Tom, it revealed who he really is.
Tom’s actual job, what he claims to have expertise in, is military consulting. When you know that and you read the tweet below….you realize how awful Tom is. Never take anything he says seriously. https://t.co/o19YY8EONX
— cosmoscon (@CosmosconBlog) September 15, 2021
Get this crazy person away from our military leaders! https://t.co/WZag1dRTkM
— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) September 15, 2021
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