"No dictator or would-be dictator on day one has ever assembled before him in one room the entire senior officer corps of his armed forces in order to have them belittled as failures and humiliated for their slovenly personal appearance, while degrading whole classes serving in the army, navy and air force degraded as inferior and unworthy. No dictator has ever pleaded for generals and admirals to applaud his remarks, followed by deafening silence."
"Trump is used to entering to the din of a mob jazzed up with YMCA. I've never walked into a room so silent before, Trump said when he addressed the country's highest-ranking military leaders at the Marine Corps Base Quantico on Tuesday. Don't laugh. Don't know if you're allowed to do that. He was trying to force some tittering, an old lounge act gag to rouse a dead audience."
"If you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future. Trump's syllogism perfectly encapsulated his psychology of victimhood and politics of retribution. If you do not bend the knee to him, he is personally wounded. Your failure to worship him must be punished. Your slight of his majesty condemns you to ruin."
Senior military commanders remained silent when confronted with personal insults and attempts at public humiliation. The silence reflected discipline and fidelity to the constitutional oath rather than loyalty to any individual. Attempts to elicit applause, provoke laughter, and coerce praise produced only restraint. Threats to rank and career were used to intimidate officers, revealing a politics of retribution and victimhood. Commanders' stillness functioned as a model for the officer corps and troops, signaling refusal to serve as partisan props and a commitment to the institutional role of the military above personal loyalty.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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