Thread:
@VetsForRL, was formed by veterans of the American military who stood not only against @realDonaldTrump, but the infection of Trumpism in the United States.

1/13

Belittling American greatness, kowtowing to despots, and “flood(ing) the zone with shit”, is amongst the many evils of the man and his enablers, but it was his destruction of our common identity that is most troubling.

2/13 https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/trump-vs-the-times-inside-an-off-the-record-meeting

Calling his political opponents - other Americans - traitors, terrorists, & enemies of America, he has so damaged the political discourse that we don’t view each other as countrymen.

3/13

It has caused many self-described lovers of liberty to meekly watch as he deploys our military to assault our fellow citizens. To prioritize a sense of security over a sense of right.

But this has happened before… 4/13

In the early 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy did much the same thing – describing his opponents as spies and enemies. His destruction included politicians, artists, public servants, and more. It was tolerated by the @GOP because most of it was directed at Democrats.

5/13

It went on for years. Until… McCarthy went after the @USArmy. Politicizing the military, who had the trust of the populace after its actions in WWII and Korea, was a bridge too far.

6/13

Most famously, the Army’s special counsel, soft-spoken Joseph Welch, confronted McCarthy with the famous phrase: “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?”

The spell was broken. McCarthy lost any authority and McCarthyism was defeated.

7/13

@VetsForRL and other orgs like @ProjectLincoln have stood against this threat from the beginning. But the fever still grew.

Now, our military has again been politicized. And again, citizen-soldiers have stepped forward to say that it has gone too far.

8/13

It started with former CJCS Adm Mike Mullen, stating “I cannot remain silent. Our fellow citizens are not the enemy.”

9/13 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/american-cities-are-not-battlespaces/612553/

And it continued yesterday with former SecDef and Marine General Jim Mattis stating: “We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.”

10/13 https://taskandpurpose.com/news/mattis-trump-statement

Mattis also states: “The Nazi slogan for destroying us...was ‘Divide and Conquer.’ Our American answer is ‘In Union there is Strength.”

He continues, “we must remember Lincoln’s “better angels,” and listen to them, as we work to unite.”

11/13

Other military leaders, both active and retired, have released statements about stemming the tide of racism, rejecting the view of other Americans as enemies, and the politicization of our military.

We have arrived at our Welch moment. It stops here.

12/13

We must value one another, regardless of race or political difference.

And we must defeat @realDonaldTrump and Trumpism.

The American experiment requires it.

In Union there is strength.

13/13