10/20/2017
Yesterday, John Kelly made another appearance at the White House press conference. He served with honor as a decorated Marine General. He is a Gold Star father, having lost his son in Afghanistan. As Chief of Staff to the president, he is a civilian.
Kelly made an attempt to come to the rescue of the president who has bungled handling the deaths of four soldiers earlier this month. In doing so, he tarnished his reputation. Kelly showed hypocrisy in his statements. He lamented the fall of things he thought were once sacred. He did not correct misstatements made by the president. Nor did he show sympathy towards, or apologize to the Johnson family for the sideshow caused by the president while they grieve their son’s death.
He did however sink to the level of his boss by attacking an elected U.S. Congresswoman. Her travesty? Doing the exact same thing Kelly had done, along with other White House staff members.
What is particularly sad is that so many people expected more from Kelly. A Gold Star father who has, until now, not politicized the death of his son. People thought that Kelly could be noble. They had hoped that he could rise above the chaos caused in the Trump administration and bring sanity to the White House. Yesterday he proved he was sinking to the same level, no longer capable of being a voice of reason and stability.
During Kelly’s appearance, he stated “You know, when I was a kid growing up a lot of things were sacred in our country. Women were sacred. Looked upon with great honor. That’s obviously not the case anymore, as we’ve seen from recent cases. Life was sacred. That’s gone. Religion. That seems to be gone as well. Gold Star families, I think that left in the convention over the summer. I just thought the selfless devotion that brings a man or woman to die in the battlefield, I thought that might be sacred.”
What is unfortunate, and what Kelly failed to mention is that all of the things he once held sacred were destroyed by the person he serves.
Women held sacred? Did Kelly miss the snippet on the bus where Trump told of how he likes to grab women by the pussy? How about the 17+ women who have accused Trump of sexual assault? Perhaps a reminder of his three marriages, two of which he openly acknowledges infidelity, and is suspected of on the third? Not to mention all of the insulting tweets and comments he has made about women (click here for a partial list: The Women He Loves ).
Sanctity of religion? Perhaps Kelly was referring to the Constitution and the 1st amendment that grants all citizens the right to religious freedom. Trump has done his best to trample on that right. Does Kelly forget that during the campaign Trump called for an immediate ban of all Muslims entering the country?
Gold Star families sacred? One would hope, but again, not by Trump. Trump’s lashing out at the Gold Star family during the Democratic Convention was disgusting. Of all people, Kelly should recognize this. And yes John, the sacrifice men and women give to our country should be sacred, they should not be politicized in the way your boss does it. When Trump starts the conversation, he owns it. It was Trump that started the conversation when he mentioned Obama in the Rose Garden.
Kelly could have used the podium to ask for understanding for a failure of good intention, but he did not. He could have sympathized with the Johnson family, but did not. Instead he followed the playbook from his boss, and went on the attack. This is when Kelly tarnished himself and the position he once held. This is when honor went out the door for John Kelly.
“I was stunned when I came to work yesterday morning and broken-hearted at what I saw a member of Congress doing, a member of Congress who listened in on a phone call from the president of the United States to a young wife… It stuns me that a member of Congress would have listened in on that conversation. Absolutely stuns me.”
The hypocrisy of Kelly’s statement is stunning in itself. What was reported earlier, and confirmed by Kelly himself later, was that Kelly and other White House staff members were in the room when Trump made the call. Is the call sacred? Should it be solely between the president and the family? If so, what was Kelly doing eavesdropping? Who were the other staff members present, and why were they there? Does Kellyanne Conway need to listen in, and if so, why?
What Kelly also fails to mention during his attack of the Congresswoman is that she is a friend of the family and was traveling in a car with them at the time the president called. The mother put the call on speaker. What was Congresswoman supposed to do, jump out the window of a moving car? It wasn’t like she was in the White House and could walk out of the room like the president’s staff could.
Kelly is no longer the proud Marine General who served with honor to his country. He is a civilian. He has taken a civilian position to serve the president. It was once hoped that Kelly might be able to teach the president a thing or two about honor. It appears the president has taught Kelly a thing or two about sinking to new lows.
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