CNN anchor Don Lemon went viral recently for calling out celebrities. He name-checked the likes of Oprah, Ellen, and Tyler Perry for not voicing enough support for the protests for racial and social justice, which are spreading across the country faster than Covid-19. He was channeling the trending meme silence = violence.
But I couldn’t care less about celebrities, especially in light of the military farce that unfolded in my neck of the woods on Monday. I wrote about that in yesterday’s commentary below.
I am more concerned about the conspicuous silence of General Colin Powell, the first black American to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state.
No doubt I am heartened that former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have upbraided President Trump for his dictatorial PR stunts. I am equally heartened that Retired Adm. Mike Mullen, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under both Bush and Obama, has upbraided him for using US soldiers as props to pull off some of those stunts.
But I am dismayed that (as of this writing) talk-show host Joe Scarborough is the most notable public figure (I’m aware of) who has upbraided Defense Secretary Mark Esper or Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Here is how Scarborough did so on this morning’s edition of Morning Joe on MSNBC:
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We have a Secretary of Defense who actually said he thought that the president — they were going to inspect troops and they were going to inspect a bathroom.
That is Secretary Esper’s worst excuse since he said his dog ate his Constitution. It’s despicable. If he were misled by that, by the President of the United States, then he should resign.
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Once again, Rick Wilson’s Everything Trump Touches Dies (2018) is proving prophetic, so much so that watching men like Esper sacrifice their reputations at the altar of Trump’s ambition merely evokes gallows humor these days. God only knows why so many others have done the same, especially given that Trump invariably uses some kind of trumped-up grievance to treat them like tabloid fodder – Exhibit A: Jeff Sessions.
But think of the impact Republican icon Powell would have. This, if he not only upbraided Esper and Milley for enabling Trump to use US soldiers as props for a sacrilege photo-op, but also denounced Trump for threatening military aggression against fellow citizens.
Yet, while America erupts in civil unrest and Trump plays war games with civilian lives, all we hear from Powell is deafening silence; not even a friggin’ tweet.
Frankly, not since Michael Jordan failed to speak out in support of Harvey Gantt’s candidacy against racist Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina in 1990 has a black man’s failure to speak out for a cause been so conspicuous, so poignant, and so disappointing.
You’re missing in action, general. Where the hell are you?!
Or am I missing something…? Because, if Powell is sick or otherwise incapacitated, surely his staff could issue a statement on his behalf. The crisis America faces is that grave. The impact even of a statement could be that great.
Related commentaries:
Trump military church stunt… Jeff Sessions…
covid-19 thread… Harvey Gantt…
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