Gen. Mattis speaks

Thanks for the quotes!

Now a General nicknamed "mad dog" is suggesting that being divided is our biggest threat.

He is also questioning stability of our institutions, which is pretty ominous coming from a general that was a part of the administration.

That is a criticism of the president, right? I'm not sure Trump's base will read it as such. Wish Mattis was more direct. He could represent the ghost of McCain in some ways. I guess as a general he can't seem to be political.

I bet Trump will retort with his usual ad hominem attacks: "Mattis hates me because he is really a Democrat and he is peeved I didn't select his protege for the job of defense secretary."

I'm absolutely sure though that Mattis loves America more than "McCain is not a hero" Trump does.

 

Everyone talks and knows about the internal divide in this country but what can actually be done about it?

 

Him I would consider voting for...why not run against the Child in charge?

DD

 

Got to meet Gen Mathis once when I was still in. I was working over in Qatar one summer in his office and he stopped in. For a Marine, he actually had a good sense of humor while spending a little time with us as we worked on his computer. Always respected him for that...considering that I worked with a number of our military leaders at the time, and many weren’t half as personable as he was.

I was somewhat relieved when Trump chose him for SecDef and thought that maybe Trump could grow into the job. I’m guessing Mattis thought the same, but at some point, the “non-lib owning” folks realized that there would be no growth around the same time that Mattis stepped down.

But, hey, at least the “lib-owners” will always have these 4 years to look back on. Hope it’s worth it for them.

 

Post to the D&D harder and more often.

 

I think that's great for general discussion but people in the D&D usually have their mind set to task and more stubborn the a mule when it comes to change or hell even an open mind. False information and social media haven't helped in this regard at all either.

 

Convince more people to stay away from cable news, clickbait, and twitter. I don't like our odds, but it's worth a try.

The more people can disengage from the lets-make-everyone-angry-for-views industry, the better chance we have of righting (so to speak) the ship.

EDIT: I feel like we're all asking your good question, but more and more I feel like we're a bunch of alcoholics sitting around, swigging from open bottles of cheap whiskey, and asking, "why the **** are we so drunk all the time?"

 

I've attempted numerous times to suggest the handful of "trump supporters, no matter what he does" people here that they broaden their sources of information. I found it ironic that a chart I had seen before, more than once, was posted in an attempt to "label" where the various news sources online, and presumably elsewhere (some people don't stream, some simply watch "traditional" news sources on TV, etc.) stood when it came to a "liberal/moderate/right-wing" bias.

I found it fascinating that the BBC stood squarely in the middle. I have suggested that site as a news source several times to people I don't have on ignore (on ignore usually for blatantly racist and/or bigoted posts about the LGBTQetc. community), that support trump regardless of his clear racism and obvious attempts to enrich himself while in office, along with other things he does that are inappropriate, to put it mildly, for someone that's supposed to be the president of all the people in this country. I've seen no evidence that any of them took my suggestions seriously.

The chart came up during a discussion in "Guidelines" I got involved in (mea culpa!), a discussion that didn't belong there, mainly about where CNN stood with regard to political bias. I consider CNN to be a "moderate" news source, particularly considering the way the news is reported today, one I have followed since its inception in June of 1980. I'm not talking about the "talking heads" so popular now, who try to be as controversial as possible to attract viewers. I don't doubt that those "news" sources are what you wish fewer folks would avoid, advice I can't argue against. They made clear that they consider CNN a "flamingly liberal" news outlet, mainly because they report unvarnished news about their hero, Mr trump. I disagree.

Anyway, good luck with your suggestion. Now where is that whiskey?

 

IT'S NOT ON HIS WATCH!

Thanks Obama...you p***y!

 

There is barely even a substantial practical conversation on what matters to people on here - no one is willing to be open/vulnerable. How do you expect us to know while we live in our respective echo chambers?

The post states that this internal divide is our greatest threat by someone who has made career for accessing and defending against external threats. We all know who perpetuates divisive rhetoric through the most vocal/pervasive media these days. People should reject that rhetoric on here and in politics out of sense of self preservation if they believe this idea and love America. It starts with you and me...

Hate is contagious but so is the rejection of hate (although latter is much more difficult because one has to both be happy and reject their emotions, thereby rejecting part of herself)

Being happy is hard.

 

Agreed. BBC and Christian Science Monitor are two of the best-unbiased sources there are.

 

Russian...

 

Hahaha. Tribalism is an expression of hate as far as I understand

 

Does it not resonate with mistake-in-chief supporters that the few cabinet members he selected possessing any qualifications and integrity now tell us the truth of how truly horrible and destructive this clown's administration remains?

I guess Mattis is lying? Wasn't qualified? Fake news? Comey?

 

Public perception is routinely bought and paid for and has been as long as there has been a public.
Nobody ever says anything without a prior idea of how it will affect the listener.

(why did I say this?)

 

Watch the TrumpRoaches come out and call him a democrat - I mean so many have left the Whitehouse....REPUBLICANS...and come out against Trump and still they don't acknowledge there is a problem.

DD

 

James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution

In an extraordinary condemnation, the former defense secretary backs protesters and says the president is trying to turn Americans against one another.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politic...nounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/

“I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled,” Mattis writes. “The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation.” He goes on, “We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.”


"Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us,” Mattis writes. “We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”

...

 

If you were to pic people one person on each station to listen to I would choose Trapper CNN and Wallace FOX