The Jan. 6 “insurrection” hasn’t worked out quite the way the Democrats obviously hoped: Trump wasn’t convicted in his second Stalinist impeachment show trial, no one has actually been charged with orchestrating or participating in any “insurrection,” and the witch hunt to demonize and marginalize Trump and his supporters as “white supremacists” who pose an imminent threat to our “democracy” (it’s a republic, folks) has so far been a huge fizzle. But three ferociously partisan retired generals are thinking ahead, publishing an op-ed in the Washington Post Friday, which warns that those dastardly Trump supporters would certainly stage an “insurrection” in 2024, so the military must start preparing now to “preserve our democracy,” that is, destroy our republic.
Paul D. Eaton, a retired U.S. Army major general and senior adviser to the far-Left VoteVets, Antonio M. Taguba, a retired Army major general, and Steven M. Anderson, a retired Army brigadier general, began their manipulative and disingenuous piece by noting that “the first anniversary of the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol” is approaching. They didn’t bother to mention, of course, that the insurrection was deadly only for Ashli Babbitt, a Trump supporter. Nor do they bother to remind their Post audience, which wouldn’t have wanted to hear it anyway, that the supposed “insurrectionists” were unarmed and were let into the Capitol by guards, and that no evidence of some premeditated coup attempt has emerged or is likely to emerge.
Facts, however, are not the order of the day at the WaPo, and so Eaton, Taguba, and Anderson write that “we — all of us former senior military officials — are increasingly concerned about the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election and the potential for lethal chaos inside our military, which would put all Americans at severe risk.” Lethal chaos is just the warm-up. “In short,” the generals continue, “we are chilled to our bones at the thought of a coup succeeding next time.”
The Post ought to be ashamed of itself for publishing such incendiary nonsense, but, of course, that would require it to have some journalistic standards in the first place. If Jan. 6 was a coup attempt, it was the most inept, poorly planned and leaderless coup in human history; if Jan. 6 was not a coup attempt, these generals are irresponsible (at very least) to add fuel to the already brightly burning fire of the establishment’s hatred for Trump and his supporters.
And it is Trump’s supporters that the generals want to defame and destroy. “On Jan. 6, a disturbing number of veterans and active-duty members of the military took part in the attack on the Capitol. More than 1 in 10 of those charged in the attacks had a service record. A group of 124 retired military officials, under the name ‘Flag Officers 4 America,’ released a letter echoing Donald Trump’s false attacks on the legitimacy of our elections.” Eaton, Taguba and Anderson show no interest in what might have motivated these military men to be out at the Capitol on Jan. 6. They are blithely unconcerned about the possibility that these veterans and active-duty members of the military may have been deeply concerned about credible evidence of election fraud, and wanted to show their support for a president who was America-First in a way that presidents whom these generals would find acceptable never have been.
Related: Bad Words and Desperation: Democrats Flail to Keep January 6 Relevant
Eaton, Taguba and Anderson also go out of their way to criticize an opponent of Biden’s handlers’ mandate tyranny, even though he has nothing whatsoever to do with the alleged Jan. 6 “insurrection” at all. “Recently, and perhaps more worrying, Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino, the commanding general of the Oklahoma National Guard, refused an order from President Biden mandating that all National Guard members be vaccinated against the coronavirus,” fume the generals. “Mancino claimed that while the Oklahoma Guard is not federally mobilized, his commander in chief is the Republican governor of the state, not the president.”
Such resistance to untrammeled federal power cannot stand, as far as these generals are concerned. “The potential for a total breakdown of the chain of command along partisan lines — from the top of the chain to squad level — is significant should another insurrection occur. The idea of rogue units organizing among themselves to support the ‘rightful’ commander in chief cannot be dismissed. Imagine competing commanders in chief — a newly reelected Biden giving orders, versus Trump (or another Trumpian figure) issuing orders as the head of a shadow government. Worse, imagine politicians at the state and federal levels illegally installing a losing candidate as president.”
All this is paving the way for any contesting of the 2024 election results to be dismissed and perhaps even prosecuted as another attempted “coup.” It is the sort of thing a person would write if he planned to cheat and wanted to ensure that any challenges to his activity would be ruled out before they ever had a chance to gather steam.
The republic is indeed in peril these days. But the threat is not coming from those who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, or from Trump. Rather, it is coming from those who relentlessly smear their opponents as “white supremacists” and then insist that “white supremacists” constitute the greatest terror threat the nation faces today. That kind of discourse, like this Washington Post op-ed from three Leftist generals, is designed to destroy the mutual respect and consideration on which a functioning republic depends. If Easton, Taguba, Anderson, and the Washington Post really want to find some “insurrectionists,” they should look in the mirror.
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