Protests

[GooooMarquette]

And speaking of generals ...

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the highest ranking officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, apologized today for taking part in Trump's photo-op walk last week.

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1271073791817461760?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

"I should not have been there. My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics. As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it."

Milley and Defense Secretary Mark Esper are among the many current and former Pentagon officials trying to distance themselves from Trump's worst inclinations and actions. They also were two officials who said they would have been open to renaming military bases current named after traitors.

Pretty sure Trump will soon be dismissing him as just another “weak“ or “overrated“ general.

[shoothoops]

Every day, this is why people protest:

https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1271034860094869504?s=19

[Spotcheck Billy]

[Galway Eagle]

Pretty sure Trump will soon be dismissing him as just another “weak“ or “overrated“ general.

Another thing that's wild to me. The party that supposedly has a boner for all service members is supporting a president who has consistently dismissed top military officials as weak, crazy, overrated, etc. how is it that his supporters are cool with that?

[Jockey]

Pretty sure Trump will soon be dismissing him as just another “weak“ or “overrated“ general.

I am sure that Milley and Esper got their a$$e$ handed to them by other generals more than once last week. They were both reminded of their duty to country by Mattis, Mullen and many others.

To bad that some here who hold themselves up as military heroes put Trump over their oath to serve the country.

[Jockey]

Another thing that's wild to me. The party that supposedly has a boner for all service members is supporting a president who has consistently dismissed top military officials as weak, crazy, overrated, etc. how is it that his supporters are cool with that?

Bunker Boy also attacks Gold Star families, as well.

[forgetful]

Bunker Boy also attacks Gold Star families, as well.

He only supports people who don't get captured.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Maybe I am naive or not understanding something, but it seems to me that Trump supporting the renaming of bases named after Confederate generals would be a VERY easy win for him.  It's not going to prevent any of his supporters for voting for him, and can show people on the fence that he is trying to do something substantive.

When Trump said he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose a single vote, he was right, but it is a one way street. That is, it doesn't matter what vile, deplorable thing he does, they are going to stick with him. I don't think it works in the other direction, however.

If he does do something decent, if it goes against the MAGA culture, I think he does risk losing voters. Let's say he was the one to suggest that NASCAR ditch the Confederate flag, for instance. In a situation like that, where he is doing something decent and substantive, I think he would see some voters peel away. Obviously those voters aren't going to vote for Biden, but they'll either not vote at all or find some fringe candidate from the Constitution party to vote for. Either way, Trump loses votes if he acts like a decent human being.

[mu03eng]

The irony of the "don't change the base named for Confederates" folks, at least in the case of Ft Bragg their honoree was an f'ing loser. Braxton Bragg was an idiot and lost nearly every major engagement he commanded including getting his pants absolutely pulled down by Grant at Chattanooga. He was hated by his men and several Confederate officers challenged him to duels, dude was an a$$hole loser, we need to honor him?

[Jockey]

He only supports people who don't get captured.

Or killed.

[Jockey]

The irony of the "don't change the base named for Confederates" folks, at least in the case of Ft Bragg their honoree was an f'ing loser. Braxton Bragg was an idiot and lost nearly every major engagement he commanded including getting his pants absolutely pulled down by Grant at Chattanooga. He was hated by his men and several Confederate officers challenged him to duels, dude was an a$$hole loser, we need to honor him?

None of this even matters, Eng.

The man was a traitor. He took an oath at West Point to defend the United States. He proceeded to kill United States soldiers.

[Pakuni]

Tulsa cops handcuff and arrest a black teen for the very serious offense of "jaywalking." And by jaywalking, they mean walking down an empty street with no sidewalks.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/watch-now-tulsa-police-release-video-of-officers-handcuffing-black-teens-for-jaywalking-internal-investigation/article_8b0c88e3-bbbf-5b39-9457-51c88fa2d3ad.html

[Jockey]

Tulsa cops handcuff and arrest a black teen for the very serious offense of "jaywalking." And by jaywalking, they mean walking down an empty street with no sidewalks.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/watch-now-tulsa-police-release-video-of-officers-handcuffing-black-teens-for-jaywalking-internal-investigation/article_8b0c88e3-bbbf-5b39-9457-51c88fa2d3ad.html

The arrogance of cops really is stunning.

[Jockey]

And, as for the feel good coppy stuff:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nypd-robert-cattani-kneeling-apology_n_5ee26436c5b664f94c4e34b5

[GooooMarquette]

The irony of the "don't change the base named for Confederates" folks, at least in the case of Ft Bragg their honoree was an f'ing loser. Braxton Bragg was an idiot and lost nearly every major engagement he commanded including getting his pants absolutely pulled down by Grant at Chattanooga. He was hated by his men and several Confederate officers challenged him to duels, dude was an a$$hole loser, we need to honor him?

It does beg the question of why the base was named for such an unpopular and unsuccessful person in the first place.

[JWags85]

It does beg the question of why the base was named for such an unpopular and unsuccessful person in the first place.

It’s baffling. Supposedly it was due to his success in the Mexican American War, but surely there were other military figures from North Carolina more fitting?! Braxton Bragg is a great name but my god, his wiki page reads like an Onion article. He was atrocious as a general. and reviled by his men (to the point they tried to allegedly assassinate him) and even Jefferson Davis didn’t like him

[jesmu84]

https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/fop-chicago-officers-who-kneel-with-protesters-could-be-kicked-out-of-police-union

Chicago making puzzling decisions

[Mutaman]

None of this even matters, Eng.

The man was a traitor. He took an oath at West Point to defend the United States. He proceeded to kill United States soldiers.

West Point has a neat little Museum devoted to its graduates. And its free! But what struck me when I visited it a few years ago is that by far the most paraphernalia and exhibits are devoted to Robert E Lee.  Far more for Lee than Eisenhower, Grant, Patton, etc. Only thing I could figure is that the Lost Cause crowd has a lot of influence there.

[JWags85]

West Point has a neat little Museum devoted to its graduates. And its free! But what struck me when I visited it a few years ago is that by far the most paraphernalia and exhibits are devoted to Robert E Lee.  Far more for Lee than Eisenhower, Grant, Patton, etc. Only thing I could figure is that the Lost Cause crowd has a lot of influence there.

To be fair, Lee was the head of West Point for almost 5 years. And Confederate ties aside, unlike Bragg or Benning, he was a legendary military commander and one of the only reasons the South ever had a fighting chance.

Not excuse his Confederate allegiance, but he was one of the top military minds of the US’s first century as a nation. I get the reverence from a purely military perspective, especially with his West Point ties

[MU82]

Folks are trying to get rid of the principal of the school where I assistant coached girls basketball from 2017-19.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article243410811.html?

Since he took over Ardrey Kell High School in 2010, David Switzer has been considered one of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ top principals, winning the district’s principal of the year award in 2013-2014 and a national award in 2017.

But days after a Black Lives Matter display on Ardrey Kell’s spirit rock was vandalized and repainted amid protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, the latest in a series of racial incidents at the school, a petition calling for Switzer to resign has drawn more than 2,300 signatures.

Former and current Ardrey Kell students said that Switzer directly contributed to a culture of intolerance at the school, using crude language, berating students and failing to seriously discipline those who made racist comments. The nine students who spoke with the Observer said despite the series of racial incidents that have taken place at the school, Switzer and Ardrey Kell leadership did not pursue meaningful changes or discussions to educate the entire student body about race and racism.

In multiple cases, Switzer referred to predominantly black or lower-income schools in CMS, such as Rocky River, as “the ghetto,” according to five former students. They said that Switzer sometimes contrasted Ardrey Kell to predominantly black schools in derogatory ways, including one instance where he verbally reprimanded black students on their clothing by telling them they were not at West Mecklenburg High School.

It is the second-largest HS in NC. It's in a rich area of Charlotte, and the student body is predominantly white.

The incident that probably got the most press occurred a couple years ago when the best player on the boys basketball team, a white kid, used the n-word (among other derogatory remarks) in a snapchat. Also, this past season, the best player on the girls team, also white, spit in a black teammate's face after practice; she said she was joking, pretending to spit, but the looie somehow went out anyway. Obviously, those two incidents weren't the principal's fault, but there does seem to be a pretty bad racial culture at the school. I don't think I'd feel very comfortable there if I were black.

[forgetful]

And, as for the feel good coppy stuff:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nypd-robert-cattani-kneeling-apology_n_5ee26436c5b664f94c4e34b5

In the interest of sharing some actual feel good coppy stuff. Driving home tonight, there was a lone black 18ish year old male protesting on a corner of a busy street. A cop car pulls up in the parking lot with the lights on. I'm thinking the worst.

A young white female cop gets out of the patrol car, approaches the kid and shakes his hand and says something. She returned to her patrol car and returned with two gatorades and two subway sandwiches. She sat and ate her dinner with him while he protested.

Great gesture.

[GooooMarquette]

In the interest of sharing some actual feel good coppy stuff. Driving home tonight, there was a lone black 18ish year old male protesting on a corner of a busy street. A cop car pulls up in the parking lot with the lights on. I'm thinking the worst.

A young white female cop gets out of the patrol car, approaches the kid and shakes his hand and says something. She returned to her patrol car and returned with two gatorades and two subway sandwiches. She sat and ate her dinner with him while he protested.

Great gesture.

Little things can make a big difference. I’d bet that interaction sticks with the kid for a long time.

[MU82]

None of us had ever heard of NASCAR truck-driving loser Ray Ciccarelli, but we all can be quite certain he's a d-bag.

https://twitter.com/SteveHofstetter/status/1271103965682298880?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

[Pakuni]

Fire every single one of them.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/chicago-police-caught-tape-lounging-making-popcorn-congressman-s-office-n1230191

[Mutaman]

To be fair, Lee was the head of West Point for almost 5 years. And Confederate ties aside, unlike Bragg or Benning, he was a legendary military commander and one of the only reasons the South ever had a fighting chance.

Not excuse his Confederate allegiance, but he was one of the top military minds of the US’s first century as a nation. I get the reverence from a purely military perspective, especially with his West Point ties

It’s like having a museum to honor revolutionary war heroes and devoting most of the space to Benedict Arnold because he was a great general. Lee was a great general who sort of went downhill  once Jackson was killed. Pickets Charge is a military disaster on a par with the Charge of the light Brigade.

MacArthur had as much military success as Lee and had a much more significant tenure as superintendent of West Point, yet he barely rates a mention at the museum. As a  military mind Sherman was probably 50 years ahead of his time yet he likewise is snubbed. Ike -D-Day?
No doubt in my mind this is the result of lobbying by the Loss Cause who have perpetuated the cult of Robert E Lee and who have glorified a traitor as some kind of national hero.

https://www.history.com/news/how-the-cult-of-robert-e-lee-was-born