Trump reveals the problem with our hero worship of the military

[Boats]

Trump reveals the problem with our hero worship of the military
By: Max Boot - Washington Post - 05-11-20
Re: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...utm_source=rss

Netflix will soon premiere “Space Force,” a sendup of the newest branch of the military starring Steve Carell. At one time, the airwaves were full of military comedies such as “The Phil Silvers Show,” “McHale’s Navy,” “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.” and “M.A.S.H.” But those humorous portrayals have almost entirely disappeared, as most Americans have lost any personal connection with a military in which 99.6 percent of them do not serve. “Today almost all depictions of the military in popular culture are reverent and sobering,” Army officer Caroline Bechtel noted in the military blog War on the Rocks. “Military personnel are glorified as warrior heroes, from films like “Lone Survivor,” “Restrepo” and “Zero Dark Thirty” to shows like ‘SEAL Team.’ ”

Those heroic depictions are preferable to the chants of “baby killers” heard during the Vietnam War but carry their own dangers — especially when President Trump insists on appointing so many veterans to senior positions. As Bechtel writes, those in uniform should be respected, not worshiped. The armed forces include the full gamut of individuals — many admirable, some not.

This duality is, in fact, the theme of one of the most popular novels among the troops since its publication in 1968. Anton Myrer’s “Once an Eagle” depicts the competition between Sam Damon, a lead-from-the-front officer who always puts his troops’ well-being first, and Courtney Massengale, a conniving staff officer who sacrifices his men to his own ambition. In real life, of course, few individuals are as saintly as Damon or as corrupt as Massengale; many are a shifting combination of the traits they exemplify.

Take Michael Flynn, a retired three-star Army general who briefly served as Trump’s national security adviser. He is back in the news after Attorney General William P. Barr bizarrely dropped the charges against him of lying to the FBI, to which he had already pleaded guilty.

Flynn had an impressive career as an intelligence officer in Iraq and Afghanistan. But after President Barack Obama fired him as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, he went off the rails. He pivoted to the right, embracing anti-Muslim views and leading chants of “Lock her up!” at the Republican National Convention in 2016. He also accepted a hefty speaking fee from Russia’s state-run TV network and worked as an unregistered lobbyist for the Turkish government.

Flynn’s fall from grace was complete once he lied about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. “I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI,” Trump tweeted in 2017. Yet now Trump calls Flynn a hero and hints that he may be invited back into the government.

This is sadly typical of a president who claimed “bone spurs” to avoid military service but seems so bedazzled by caricatures of take-charge generals that he keeps appointing veterans to senior posts. Some of his appointees, such as former defense secretary Jim Mattis and former national security adviser H.R. McMaster, have been Sam Damon types: They put loyalty to the Constitution above loyalty to an unhinged commander in chief. But many others — including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, who were classmates at West Point — have been in the Massengale mold.

Pompeo was first in the class of ’86, but he has been last in ethics and leadership during his time in government. He refused to stand up for Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, who was smeared and fired during Trump’s attempts to extort Ukraine into helping him politically. West Point cadets are taught not to “lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do,” yet Pompeo has consistently played fast and loose with facts. He justified the killing of an Iranian general by claiming that an Iranian attack was “imminent” before backing off that charge. He maligned an NPR reporter who asked him tough questions. And now he suggests, without providing any evidence, that the coronavirus came from a Chinese lab.

Esper, for his part, has been a “yes man” as Trump has issued orders of dubious legality and morality. The defense secretary has moved money out of the defense budget to pay for a border wall that Congress did not authorize. He did not protest when the president pardoned accused war criminals. He was also silent when Trump fired a senior Pentagon official who had the temerity to disagree with the president; his reported replacement is a former brigadier general who retired from the Army under an ethical cloud and is now a Trump cultist. And Esper did not stop the then-acting Navy secretary from firing Captain Brett E. Crozier for raising the alarm about a coronavirus outbreak aboard his aircraft carrier. Now Esper hesitates to reinstate Crozier, despite the recommendations of Navy leaders, because he is said to be worried about Trump’s reaction.

The disreputable conduct of Flynn, Pompeo and Esper should serve as a reminder that some of our military “heroes” have feet of clay. If we can laugh more about military foibles, as “Space Force” tries to do, perhaps we can avoid the excessive hero worship that has brought real-life Courtney Massengales to the pinnacle of power.

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Personal note: 1st Flynn should remain in prison. He's guilty as hell and everyone knows it.
2nd: What does Trump want the military leaders to lick his heels and shine his shoes. These are men who've sacrificed their lives and men for the good of this country. They should be listened to and take their advice. Here again Trump is a one man band and he can't share the limelight with any one but himself. His ego is awful and his demeanor even worse.

Boats