There are few trends more disturbing in American culture than the growing alliance between primarily men serving in organizations supposedly sworn to uphold and defend American mores and values, such as the various branches of the U.S. military, and law enforcement officers, sworn to protect the public while serving as sheriffs, police officers or FBI agents, or those sworn to protect our politicians whom are supposed to do the same – I’m looking at you, Secret Service – and the right wing of American politics, whom increasingly make a mockery of their allies’ and their own imagined “patriotism”.
When a Major General of the U.S. Army such as Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe (pictured above) comes out swinging in defense of women solders who are being denigrated by a joke of a right wing commentator such as Tucker Carlson, one might expect the command figures of that institution to have his back.
Not so much.
“Carlson has repeatedly bashed women in the military with misogynistic insults, as he denigrates an increasingly “feminine” U.S. armed forces — and hails the brutish “masculine” militaries of Russia and China. Carlson has never served in the military…
…A fierce debate was triggered after Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe was recently scolded by the Army — and his retirement put on hold — for defending female soldiers, with one of his tweets last year calling out Carlson.”
This is me, yesterday, conducting a re-enlistment for one of the tens of thousands of women who serve in our Army. Just a reminder that @TuckerCarlson couldnt be more wrong. https://t.co/M1MHe5zHrf
— Patrick Donahoe (@PatDonahoeArmy) March 11, 2021
It is hard to understand why such an uplifting response to Carlson’s sexist rants would merit a reprimand from Army command… unless some there are deeply ideologically joined at the hip with his views.
But recently two figures less in thrall to the right wing have come to Donahoe’s defense…
“Retired Col. Yevgeny Vindman — the twin brother of retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified at Donald Trump’s first impeachment investigation during his presidency — lashed out last month at the treatment of Donahoe by an Army cowed by the political right because he “stood up to Fox/ Tucky.”
The Pentagon and the Army “are lost. They fear the right,” Yevgeny Vindman tweeted. “They are losing their moral compass and service-members will vote with their feet.”
Vindman sited conservative defense columnist Max Boot, who is also a prominent never-Trumper in a tweet on the subject:
Unfortunately it’s working. The Army just ended the career of MG Donahue, the “Woke” general because he stood up to Fox/ Tucky. @DeptofDefense @USArmy are lost. They fear the right. They are losing their moral compass and service-members will vote with their feet. https://t.co/HpbwUCSVsI
— Colonel (fmr.) Vindman 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@YVindman) September 28, 2022
And it seems the protest of these two patriots might be having some effect:
Our @USArmy Soldiers don’t hesitate to defend each other in combat & they shouldn’t hesitate to defend each other from threats or abuse, whether IRL or online.
Army leaders, use good judgment online. Keep it professional.
— Secretary of the Army Christine E. Wormuth (@SecArmy) October 14, 2022
That is a fine statement Secretary Wormuth, now you should have General Donahoe’s back and restore him to his full rank and benefits.
The U.S. Army cannot function as a defender of American Democracy if some in its ranks get into the gutter with right wing cranks like Tucker Carlson.
As Max Boot writes:
“The military is “rightly eager to stay out of politics, but this laudable instinct can lead it to run away from controversy even at the cost of ceding the information battlefield to the far-right forces trying to subvert American democracy,” warned writer Max Boot.
Donahoe’s “only offense was to champion on social media the very values the Army claims to stand for…”
Clean up your house, Madame Secretary.
Those in the Army Command who went after Gen. Donaho are the ones that need to be taken to task. The Army’s top General needs to identify each one (should be hard or take long if it hasn’t already been done) and then frog march every one of them into a meeting with the full Joint Chiefs, SecDef and not just the Secretary of the Army but the other branches to and make them stand with “heels locked” for an “Old Corps” (maybe you’ve gotta have been a jarhead to truly get it) dressing down. And then every goddamned one of them should be told to write out their resignations on the spot!
Goddamnit. When the military forgets the 400, 000 dead soliders who died to stop fascism then its a sorry day indeed!!! Want to clean your shit up???? Then strip the traitor Flynn of his rank, give him a dishonorable discharge & END HIS BENEFITS!!!! OTHERWISE YOU ARE A FUCKING TRAITOR LIKE HIM. THATS THE GODDAMN TRUTH!