Today, I am ceding my digital space to the 780 retired Generals, Admirals, Senior Noncommissioned Officers, Ambassadors and Senior Civilian National Security Officials who recently signed this letter supporting Joe Biden for President. Feel free to share it.
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To Our Fellow Citizens:
We are former public servants who have devoted our careers, and in many cases risked our lives, for the United States. We are generals, admirals, senior noncommissioned officers, ambassadors, and senior civilian national security leaders. We are Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. We love our country. Unfortunately, we also fear for it. The COVID-19 pandemic has proven America needs principled, wise, and responsible leadership. America needs a President who understands, as President Harry S. Truman said, that “the buck stops here.”
We the undersigned endorse Joe Biden to be the next President of the United States. He is the leader our nation needs.
We believe that Joe Biden is, above all, a good man with a strong sense of right and wrong. He is guided by the principles that have long made America great: democracy is a hard-won right we must defend and support at home and abroad; America’s power and influence stem as much from her moral authority as it does from her economic and military power; America’s free press is invaluable, not an enemy of the people; those who sacrifice or give their lives in service of our nation deserve our respect and eternal gratitude; and America’s citizens benefit most when the United States engages with the world. Joe Biden will always put the nation’s needs before his own.
Those who have served know empathy is a vital leadership quality – you cannot do what is best for those you lead if you do not know their challenges. Joe Biden has empathy born of his humble roots, family tragedies and personal loss. When Americans are struggling, Joe Biden understands their pain and takes it upon himself to help.
We believe America’s president must be honest, and we find Joe Biden’s honesty and integrity indisputable. He believes a nation’s word is her bond. He believes we must stand by the allies who have stood by us. He remembers how America’s NATO allies rushed to her side after 9/11; how the Kurds fought by our side to defeat ISIS; and how Japan and South Korea have been steadfast partners in countering North Korean and Chinese provocations. Joe Biden would never sell out our allies to placate despots or because he dislikes an allied leader.
While some of us may have different opinions on particular policy matters, we trust Joe Biden’s positions are rooted in sound judgment, thorough understanding, and fundamental values.
We know Joe Biden has the experience and wisdom necessary to navigate America through a painful time. He has grappled with America’s most difficult foreign policy challenges for decades, learning what works – and what does not – in a dangerous world. He is knowledgeable, but he also knows that listening to diverse and dissenting views is essential, particularly when making tough decisions concerning our national security. Many of us have briefed Joe Biden on matters of national security, and we know he demands a thorough understanding of any issue before making a decision – as any American president should.
Finally, Joe Biden believes in personal responsibility. Over his long career, he has learned hard lessons and grown as a leader who can take positive action to unite and heal our country. It is unthinkable that he would ever utter the phrase “I don’t take responsibility at all.”
The next president will inherit a nation – and a world – in turmoil. The current President has demonstrated he is not equal to the enormous responsibilities of his office; he cannot rise to meet challenges large or small. Thanks to his disdainful attitude and his failures, our allies no longer trust or respect us, and our enemies no longer fear us. Climate change continues unabated, as does North Korea’s nuclear program. The president has ceded influence to a Russian adversary who puts bounties on the heads of American military personnel, and his trade war against China has only harmed America’s farmers and manufacturers. The next president will have to address those challenges while struggling with an economy in a deep recession and a pandemic that has already claimed more than 200,000 of our fellow citizens. America, with 4% of the world’s population suffers with 25% of the world’s COVID-19 cases. Only FDR and Abraham Lincoln came into office facing more monumental crises than the next president.
Joe Biden has the character, principles, wisdom, and leadership necessary to address a world on fire. That is why Joe Biden must be the next President of the United States; why we vigorously support his election; and why we urge our fellow citizens to do the same.
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This letter was signed by 780 National Security leaders of both parties, people who served in both Republican and Democratic administrations. You can see the list of signatories here.
Thank You Prof K. I hope all who read this share it
As the niece, sister, mother and grandmother of United States Navy men; I salute these heroes for their public stand against the tyranny of the entire Trump administration.
Wish I could thank each and every one of them individually. Thank you Sheila for posting their dedicated stand for democracy.
They lost me in the first paragraph with “democracy” and “free press” because we haven’t had either in a very long time. We’re an oligarchy with a captured media owned by entertainment conglomerates and Fascists. If we had a “free press”, every single media company would be sharing the Assange story — especially his extradition trial.
As we drink our morning coffee, the US alphabets are planning our next coup to install western capitalism in countries worldwide. The only groups threatening the USG live within its borders and seem to have the permission of our MIC, Surveillance/DHS, IC, and Justice department. In fact, the people protesting AGAINST the Fascists are the ones under investigation by all the above alphabet agencies.
I was reading an interview with Bill Moyer and Anne Nelson, who wrote a Shadow Network; it’s about the Council for National Policy (CNP). It’s the radical right who’s pushed out all the conservative republicans (moderates) like yourselves from the GOP to make room for the radicals with church leaders’ assistance. ACB belongs to this organization. Very enlightening. Why we don’t tax the churches is beyond me. The IRS should nail every single one of these “nonprofits.”
Bill says, “And you sum up the Council for National Policy as, “An elite club of high-powered fundamentalists, oligarchs, and their allies, deploying a media empire to flood the country with propaganda, bankrolling handpicked colleges to promote extremist Libertarian ideas, and to groom up and coming politicians,” and I would say judges, “to advance its cause.”
Connect the dots. Follow the money.
https://billmoyers.com/story/new-podcast-the-shadow-network/
We can always count on Todd to post his personal reasons for being against the foundation of those of us determined to rid the country of the current tyrannical, treasonous administration.
I will not post the personal thoughts I am having about this detrimental verbiage against 780 National Security leaders of both parties because Todd E Smekens is not worth Sheila removing me from this blog due to my gutter language. Google Todd at Muncie Voice and follow HIS dots.
As I see it, what it comes down to is this: Do we continue on this deep slide into despotism, or do we begin to pick up the pieces and put our world back together? There is not one among us who hasn’t any faults, so we know that there is no such thing as a perfect President, but we have seen what our current President is about and it is not good for anyone. A vote for Biden will not cure all of our ills, but it can be the beginning of a different America, more aware of injustice and more willing to work at the hard job of fixing what’s wrong with US.
VOTE BLUE!
I neglected to include my daughter-in-law in my family military list. She is a 20 year active United States Army veteran and mother of my grandson in the United States Navy who recently returned from Afghanistan.
Biden is going to lose. He offers nothing – just the alternative to the hatred you have for T.
Biden is the swamp of 47 years and the last debate showed his hypocrisy. You may want to believe the Hunter laptop information is a nothing – but it’s a BIG something. Corruption exposed. The silent majority will show up like you’ve never seen before on election day.
Like Joe Biden told us in the debate, it all boils down to “character”……. or lack of it. The values of honesty, integrity, respect, and basic moral principles are qualities that a president must have. Also, good leadership skills along with respect for ALL Americans regardless of color, ethnicity or religion. We have seen NONE of this in Trump. In fact, our country is far worse off because he coddles right-wing extremist groups that promote racism and division. Your vote shows the world what sort of person you are on the inside. Make no mistake, either you stand for what is good and right………or you vote for Trump.
Becky, the “Silent Majority”? Really? You mean that bunch of loud mouthed, uncouth, militia clothed, military wanna be, gun toting, uneducated, angry failures? That silent majority? They’re going to drag themselves off some barroom floor and haul ass to a voting station? Riding in the bed of a pick up truck? Carrying their guns so that some 8o year old poll worker doesn’t mess with them? That silent majority?
Becky: I feel for you. You are willing to believe that Donald Trump, who’s personal record of business failures and unethical practices, has “drained the swamp”. He and Mitch McConnel are the swamp. The swamp is bigger end deeper under this administration than ever before. Trump is the embodiment of corruption. I understand that you have to cling to your belief in the man behind the curtain.
If asked, I would have certainly signed such a letter but there is no possibility of me being asked as my whole career was in business, another way to serve the country and take care of family. In doing that I learned that we all serve the country each in our own way according to our interests and talents. We are diversity in every dimension and we have a stake in our country and have been promised rights, responsibilities and support for our individual pursuit of happiness.
In the past four years the signatories have observed that the country that they count on has declined by virtually all measures except wealth redistribution up which is a negative accomplishment because it has gone on so long and we’ve become so good at it that we have run out of room to do more. Accompanying that reality is another which is that creating the wealth in question is a process of turning natural resources into waste and the earth we share is running out of both the natural resources to hand over and the means to deal with the waste from so many of us living as we do. We need a high performance country in order to move forward with the rest of the world.
It’s all so simple that it’s not clear why so many people living in the same country deny it. The good news is democracy. The majority of people here feel the disappointment too. They are already streaming to the polling places to register their opinions in the strongest way that they can.
God bless them.
Theresa, you’re racism is showing! Obviously you don’t know who the silent majority is! Maybe that’s why they’re called SILENT?
November 3rd coming none too soon until the last ballot tendered and counted. Never before in our nation’s history have so many bi-partisan high security, diplomatic brass and highest ranking military commanders been so uniformly opposed to re-election of a sitting President. The world, both our traditional allies and our enemies, will be watching. The future for our children’s children is our highest stake in the outcome.
It’s not racism, Becky dear. It’s taste.
I dont want to even imagine the frustration those who signed the letter must feel, especially the military ones. To have given a life’s work to one’s country with the only motive being national liberty and opportunity….then to reach a point of such frustration that one must break the rules and habits to speak out….that screams the value of their letter to us.
I will add my father’s name to the list, WWI, two brothers, WWII, 1brother Japan occupation and me and my younger brother, Korean War Vets. I really won’t but I would if I could
Theresa – I doubt it, but maybe this will give your “hubris” a reality check.
Alexandra Lains said it best:
“If you’re a liberal and can’t stand Trump and can’t possibly fathom why anyone would want to vote for him, let me fill you in. We can’t stand you! You’ve done everything in your power to try and destroy this country by tearing down our police, our borders, our history — systematically destroying our schools and brainwashing our kids into thinking that socialism is the answer to everything.
Demonizing religion and faith. And glorifying abortion, violence, and thug culture. From calling us racists to expecting everyone of every color to follow our laws, to ridiculing us for having the audacity to wish someone a Merry Christmas, or have a flag on the Fourth of July or stand for our national anthem or — oh, the horror! — wear a MAGA hat out in public.
So much for your tolerance. We are voting for Trump not because he’s the most charming character on the block, but because we vote policy over personality. And we are sick and tired of your divisive and destructive and ignorant and intolerant behavior and beliefs, parading around as some kind of wokeness. We are voting for Trump because of YOU.
From where on the planet did Becky come. Another reason to despise Trumpites. Korean War Vet!
Becky, “The silent majority will show up like you’ve never seen before on election day.”
The silent majority I surmise you are referring to is neither silent nor majority. Frankly, its members are inferior not only of number but of thought and third string not only with loud threats but with yellow cowardliness.
For you to salvage some respect, I recommend you drop your allegiance to this cowardly evil and join the gallant good whose eyes and ears are open to reality and whose good conscience moves them to endorse Joe Biden.
Get on the right side of history instead of on the radical right of demonic authoritarianism.
Pete, a well-written post as usual. I would like to add something to this statement of yours: “…I learned that we all serve the country each in our own way according to our interests and talents.”
To wit: We all serve the country each in our own way according to our interests and talents, just as many of us betray our country each with our own weaknesses, fears, selfishness, and lazy shortcuts.
Thus, much of the national tension consists of battles with our individual self-discipline, especially in regard to employing fundamental empathy, the polar opposite of Me-First agendas.
Regarding Becky’s post by Alexandra Lains; I found an interview with her on a site titled NYC Boss but could find no information as to what that is. The interview was between her and someone or something named “RUSH”. Linbaugh maybe? Alexandra Lains is described as a “firebrand” college student. So are we to consider her views, and RUSH’s, over 780 National Security leaders from both parties?
I will stick with Sheila, the 780 and Theresa Bowers’ description of Becky’s not so “Silent Majority”.
Irvin I am so grateful to your father and brothers who served our country so heroically. Every time I put on a mask I honor my father who served in the Army Air Corps during WW II. Wearing a mask is such a small sacrifice for me when compared with the sacrifices my parents’ and grandparents’ generations made.
United we stand, divided we fall. I’m sure Becky that you would agree that Russia, China, N Korea, and Iran would love to see us fall. They love our divisiveness and the paralysis it creates in Congress. We need a civil conversation not a hot argument where we just yell at each other. Yelling at each other will not help any of us create policies that help us address the challenges and threats that America faces. I wonder Becky if you have good economic access to health care, if you or your loved ones are unemployed because of COVID, or if you or anyone you love has been infected. I wonder what keeps you up at night.
“The only thing to fear is fear itself” FDR It is fear of one another that is driving us apart.
As a recovering alcoholic once said to me, “Say what you mean, but don’t say it mean.” I don’t think Mr Lain has ever heard that little bit of wisdom.
Ours has always been a socialist country……… and a capitalist country because we have a mixed economy like virtually every country in the world.
Using any derivative of the word “socialism” as an epithet conveys the inability to justify a position rationally.
Some can claim that they predicted Trump’s failure so didn’t vote for him. Others did vote for him so must have expected better. What everyone shares though is the condition of the country today. What’s hard to see why is the denial of that. It’s the news of the day.
I worry a lot when our Military-Industrial-Political-Economic Complex long for the “good old days” in so many words. We have hundreds of military bases all over the world. We spend more on “Defense” than any other country on earth.
We have not exported our “Freedom” our spirit of the Declaration of Independence and Civil Rights over the earth. We are perfectly fine with supporting by any means necessary dictatorships all over the globe.
I understand the desire to Dump Trump. I would like a more Progressive statement from these anti-Trumpers, rather than everything will be OK once we Dump-Trump.
Becky,
You are aware, of course, that “socialism” is an epithet used by Republicans and Trumpian fellow travelers to mean any policy, plan or legislation intended to benefit people who aren’t helped by the brand of capitalism that keeps so many in poverty and makes them work outrageous hours just to pay their rent. Capitalism survives on the backs of victims who are, all too frequently, driven to early graves by the rapacity, greed, arrogance and cluelessness of people like you who hold that only a handful should control the wealth of the nation. How did you come to conclude that that philosophy is in any way just? You do care about justice, right?
The pathetic few remaining who are still taken in by the sophistry of Ayn Rand and the con-artist skills of the Trump family and the power lusting of Mitch McConnell work to convince us that we will love authoritarianism if we just lie down and accept it. I lay no claim to intellectual qualifications, but I am so much more intelligent and better informed and thoughtful than your president that I wouldn’t give him toilet paper to put in his shoes or another woman to abuse. He is a sadistic loser and a failure on every level, and that is a charitable assessment of what he has contributed to our country. Your love for him is perverse and squalid, and implies that you despise and desire the defeat of America. Please re-read the letter Sheila posted above. Read it repeatedly until you understand it and can grasp what the authors are saying. Are you more insightful than they?
A vote for Trump is an attempt to end America’s experiment in democracy. Is that your goal?
Terry, bravo!
«Biden is going to lose.«. We all know, to our immense sadness, that Becky MAY be correct. But, regardless, Becky and her ilk – despite their screams to the contrary – do know, to the depths of their beings, that character does count. And, to their individual and collective tragedy, with them, there is nothing to count.
Peggy Hannon: Good on ya! Well said!
Becky: As we say down South, and it covers a multitude of sins, “Bless your heart.” Your sad little train wrecked four years ago. It’s still blocking the track. This, dear, is the Truth Train. All aboard! We’re moving forward!
Uncle B and cousins Don and Dick: R.I.P. and thank you for your service to America!
Yes, Terry, bravo!!!
OK, Marv, where are ya?
We buried both parents in last four years, they both served army in WWll, (Mom as nurse in war zone& Dad in tank). They both had military honor burials with taps played & current soldiers folding of their US Flags. trumps stamped name was on their honorary certificates, and it made me feel sick. They gave up their freedom & risked their lives, to ensure that we would have our democratic rights here at home. trumps policies don’t appreciate the fullness of the American experience. He waltzes in sets himself up as the law, and threatens Americans to join in with him. He doesn’t get that our roots are deep, and the majority of Americans are offended by him. I’ve heard that 6 million people who had voted for Obama voted for trump in 2016. IMO these voters won’t vote for him again based on his record & policies. trump’s a showman, running on image, shallow on substance. Most Americans don’t want him taking credit for what he didn’t earn. That’s not what America’s about!
Kathy: Such disrespect from “the Occupant” is totally unacceptable. Typical but unacceptable. The ballot box/voting booth is the answer. We must bring an end to the chaos of this presidency. On Nov. 3rd, we may begin to climb out of the nightmare.
Todd, then change it..
so it’s not a perfect union,it is however,ours,and we have to continually watchdog the groups that we see now,who want to suppress what this country truly is. the officers,enlisted,and those who serve on foreign service, take a oath to defend the constitution.. not a treasonous org who has now become a public enemy and menace to our democracy..we have seen,witnessed and will forever be aware of who,and what,is the front line of destroying our democracy. it’s no diffrent than hitlers plan,and goal,to have it all,except, now it’s the greed of the money class,and ignorant who serve as whores to this plan..all while being in full blaring voice,given them by our democracy,to be who they have become.without that democracy,they would all be in a cave fed slop and denied any rights,protected by said officers of the military,and those who take office to protect our rights…. it now should be determined,that those who sought to deny and support others rights,be treated like a felon such as i,and denied the right to vote,and taking office..we have the list,we have the names,and social media has granted us a voice to see, how the hell,we react when we are nerved to defend what we will not be denied…if the gun toters feel they need to show force, it’s time we said keep,in your house,we are tired of you playing coup. they may find they have pulled a mistake,by threating us,for defending their so called freedom…i like guns to, but i don’t need one, to spread the ink,against tyranny …
i’m in trump,land, (NoDak)every so called respectful citizen here,is over board with trump-hysteria. the trump flags are more plentiful than memorial day,or flag day,whereas, before this menace,they all respected the American dream… i haven’t seen a poppy in years..the so called citizens here have been blinded by a con man,and a politician from ky, and social media’s cloak. when npr said farm income has risen 23% this year, it was because our goverment, gave them a welfare check. that is their new income..but when i’m in conversation with them, it seems more like,the bank has only extended their line of debt,,er credit.. now, i,think i’d rather see a market that exists in real time and a dow,that isn’t called a futures market.. this is what we have gained from con men in office,uncertainty… now let’s take that to,the bank mr farmer/rancher…and see what it really means? and ya gotta wonder,munchin,ross,trumps demon seeds,all in real estate too, well ya gotta improvise when more is needed ya know…
Becky,
you have been blinded by the extreme,and can’t see the end..if your kids are brainwashed,try educating them yourself. if your insecure about our goverment,there’s i believe 200 more you can live under..if your neighbors feel trump is the answer, move into one of his condos,and spend the day on his golf courses…then again,i’ve yet to see anyone who is anywhere near a working class,ever get a invite to his affairs,except those he can exploit for gain… maybe because he’s above everyone,and everyone is just his minions to act on his precieved ideals… his blairing disregard for any working class person,is alive and in full view for everyone…..fantasyland does not exist..if you are from the NYC area, you will find,most everyone hates him,they have had a lifetime watching his game,and now it’s like a bad flu,,it’s called covid 45….and it’s killing people for his gain… according to forbes mag,he lost a billion on the stock market, so get back to work under any condition to make that right for him…