OPINION
Basic rules for generals who just have to play politics
By Victor Davis Hanson
June 8, 2020 | 8:04pm
Presidemt Trump and former Defense Secretary James Mattis (L), in the Cabinet Room at the White House in an October 23, 2018 photo.
REUTERS
The Uniform Code of Military Justice prohibits active generals from disparaging their commander in chief. Article 88 of the UCMJ makes it a crime to voice “contemptuous words against the president” and other senior civilian officials. But no one quite knows whether such codified prohibitions on free expression apply to retired generals receiving military pensions.
And lately, there has been a spate of “contemptuous words” against President Trump, leveled by retired generals, including some who under other presidents condemned just such conduct among their brethren.
Given the lack of legal clarity, a confused public could at least expect four rules of general decorum and courtesy when our top retired military leaders go on the attack against a sitting president. Unfortunately, a number of our most esteemed retired generals and admirals haven’t met these modest ethical expectations in their fury at Trump.
1) A retired general need not under any circumstances stoop to invoking Nazi Germany, Hitler or Fascism to criticize the president.
For example, the esteemed Gen. James Mattis, a former defense secretary in the Trump administration and a deservedly iconic figure, recently suggested that Trump fostered disunity in much the same way that Nazis did.
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READ MORE: https://nypost.com/2020/06/08/basic-rules-for-generals-who-just-have-to-play-politics/
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1) A retired general need not under any circumstances stoop to invoking Nazi Germany, Hitler or Fascism to criticize the president.
2) Any disparagement should not hint at any active resistance to, much less the removal of, an elected president other than through constitutionally mandated elections.
3) The condemnation should rest on clear factual evidence, not emotive anger or partisan disagreement.
4) There should be no semblance of coordination among retired military officers.
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In such a polarized climate, it seems reasonable to wish that even well-meaning retired generals would at least avoid incendiary comparisons of the president to America’s former Nazi or Fascist enemies. They could eschew factual inaccuracies. They might resist veiled hints about resisting or bypassing supposed alleged traitors in the White House.
And they should not coordinate their efforts in an ominous manner that could undermine the often-tenuous civilian and military balance at the core of our constitutional system.
Adapted from National Review.
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