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Florida Business Park
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>>> IS THAT DOCUMENT THAT ALL OF US IN UNIFORM SWEARS TO PROTECT AND DEFEND AGAINST ALL ENEMIES FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC. WE DON'T TAKE AN OATH TO A TRIBE, WE DON'T TAKE AN OATH TO RELIGION, WE DON'T TAKE AN OATH TO A KING OR QUEEN OR A TYRANT OR A DICTATOR, WE DON'T TAKE AN OATH TO A — DICTATOR. WE DON'T TAKE AN OATH TO AN INDIVIDUAL. THE MILLIONS WOUNDED IN OUR NATION'S WARS DID NOT SACRIFICE THEIR LIMBS AND SHED THEIR BLOOD TO SEE THIS GREAT EXPERIMENT OF DEMOCRACY PERISH FROM THIS EARTH.
>> WOW. WOW. SO THAT WAS GENERAL MARK MILLEY'S EXTRAORDINARILY POINTED AND SPECIFIC FAREWELL SPEECH IN ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, TODAY. SPECIFICALLY, THIS IS A — SOMEONE WHO CHOOSES HIS WORDS CAREFULLY, WHO UNDERSTANDS THE MOMENT IN WHICH WE LIVE BETTER THAN PERHAPS ANYONE ALIVE RIGHT NOW. AND CHAIRMAN MILLEY USED THIS MOMENT TO WARN AGAINST, QUOTE, WANNABE DICTATORS, HE PLACED AN EMPHASIS ON PROTECTING ALL OF US AGAINST ENEMIES FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC. CHAIRMAN MILLEY'S TENURE AS CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF AND MORE THAN 40 YEARS IN THE MILITARY ENDS IN THE SAME WAY THAT HE'S RESPONDING TO A SOCIAL MEDIA DEATH THREAT MADE BY THE UNSTABLE, DISGRACED EX-PRESIDENT UNDER WHOM HE SERVED AS TOP MILITARY ADVISER. MILLEY SWORE IN HIS SUCCESSOR TODAY, GENERAL CHARLES Q. BROWN JR., AFTER AN 11th HOUR SENATE VOTE LAST WEEK TO CONFIRM HIM WITH NO THANKS TO THE MAGA REPUBLICANS AND REPUBLICAN SENATOR TOMMY TUBERVILLE WHOSE ONGOING HOLD ON ABOUT 300 MILITARY PROMOTIONS NEARLY AND EMBARRASSINGLY FORCED A TEMPORARY ADMINISTRATOR TO FILL MILLEY'S ROLE IN THE PEN'S HIGHEST POSITION.
JOINING US FOUNDER OF THE VETERANS OF AMERICA AND HOST OF "THE INDEPENDENT AMERICANS" PODCAST, AND ALSO JOINING US BBC NEWS SPECIAL U.S. CORRESPONDENT AND MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR KATTY KAY. I CAN'T SEPARATE GENERAL MILLEY'S COMMENTS FROM THE REVELATIONS IN "THE ATLANTIC." WHEN HE GOES ON TO SAY THAT AMERICANS WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES AND THEIR LIMBS DID NOT DO SO TO WATCH THE DEMISE OF DEMOCRACY. IT'S JUST SO POINTED WHAT IS SPILLING OUT, WHAT HAS BEEN KEPT IN CONFIDENCE, SECRETS HE KEPT NOT TO KEEP TRUMP'S SECRETS BUT TO PERHAPS KEEP THE MILITARY OUT OF THE TRUMP STORY AS LONG AS POSSIBLE ARE NOW PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE. TRUMP'S DISDAIN FOR WOUNDED VETERANS, TRUMP'S DISDAIN FOR THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES SERVING THERE COUNTRY IS NOW ON — THIS COUNTRY IS NOW ON THE PUBLIC RECORD.
>> HERE HE COMES. AND NOW UNIFORM'S GOING TO GO ON THE SHELF, AND I HOPE HE CAN LET THE FISTS FLY. I THINK MARK MILLEY IS A TREMENDOUS PATRIOTS. HE'S THE KIND OF LEADER YOU WANT TO FOLLOW. YOU SEND YOUR KIDS INTO THE MILITARY, YOU HOPE THEY HAVE A COMMANDER LIKE MARK MILLEY. AND I HOPE HE CONTINUES TO LEAD IN THE PUBLIC SPACE. I HOPE HE RUNS FOR OFFICE. I THINK THAT MAYBE HE CAN RUN IN ALABAMA AGAINST TOMMY TUBERVILLE.
THAT SURE WOULD BE FUN TO WATCH. I THINK HE EMBODIES THE INTEGRITY, LEADERSHIP, THE DUTY, THE LONER, ALL THE THINGS THAT — HONOR, ALL THE THINGS THAT EMBODY THE MILITARY ARE IN MARK MILLEY. HE'S NOT AFRAID TO FIGHT. THESE ARE TRYING TIMES WHERE HE'S BEEN MAYBE THE MOST IMPORTANT CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS IN MODERN HISTORY, DURING SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TIMES. I HOPE HE GETS OUT INTO THE SPACE IN A WAY RETIRED CHAIRMEN HAVEN'T. I THINK HE'S ONE OF OUR MOST IMPORTANT LEADERS. I THINK MILLEY NEEDS TO GO FURTHER. IF HE DOES THAT, HE CAN BE A REALLY IMPORTANT WEAPON IN BATTLING TRUMP. >> I WANT TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT HIM AS A LEADER BECAUSE I THINK HE ALSO HAS THIS OTHER PIECE THAT I CAN'T THINK OF A SINGLE OTHER EXAMPLE, BUT AFTER HE APPEARED IN LAFAYETTE SQUARE, HE IMMEDIATELY ADMITTED THE ERROR AND SOUGHT TO CORRECT IT AMONG THE PEOPLE HE CARED ABOUT THE MOST. HE MADE A VIDEO AND DISTRIBUTED IT TO THE MILITARY. >> YEAH, I WAS ONE OF MANY WHO WAS OUTRAGED BY THAT MOMENT.
I THOUGHT HE SHOULD RESIGN. AND I SAID, IF HE DOESN'T RESIGN IT'S BECAUSE HE'S STAYING INSIDE TO HOLD THE LINE. I THINK IN MANY WAYS IT FELT LIKE HE WAS WORKING EVEN HARDER BECAUSE OF THAT MISTAKE. HE'S BEEN VERY HUMBLE, VERY OPEN. AND YOU CAN SEE HE FELT DUPED AND SAID THAT. I THINK IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS, I HOPE THAT HE TAKES A GOOD VACATION, YOU KNOW, GETS SOME REALLY GOOD SECURITY IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
AND THEN HE COMES OUT AND STARTS TO TALK ABOUT THIS AND MAYBE MOTIVATE OTHER GENERALS, OTHER RETIRED MILITARY FOLKS. SOMEBODY LIKE COLONEL VINMAN WHO'S BEEN EFFECTIVE, CAN SHOW HOW THEY CAN INFLUENCE PEOPLE. I KEEP COMING BACK TO THIS, BUT THIS ELECTION IS GOING TO BE DECIDED BY INDEPENDENTS. N SWING STATES. AND — INDEPENDENTS IN SWING STATES. AND INDEPENDENTS CAN BE MOVED ESPECIALLY BY RETIRED GENEROUS. 50% OF VETERANS ARE INDEPENDENTSES.
THEY LISTEN TO PEOPLE LIKE MARK MILLEY. IT COULD BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A COUPLE THOUSAND VOTES IN PENNSYLVANIA OR A PLACE LIKE FLORIDA WHEN THE ELECTION COMES. >> IT SEEMS THAT A MESSAGE THAT SOMEONE LIKE GENERAL MILLEY CAN DELIVER UNIQUELY IS THAT THIS IS — IS ABOUT THE MOMENT, RIGHT. I MEAN, THEY'RE — WE DEBATE, THIS PERSON LIKELY JOE BIDEN AGAINST DONALD TRUMP. BUT IT FEELS DIFFICULT TO SHAKE PEOPLE OUT OF THIS FEELING THAT WE'RE SORT OF SLEEPWALKING TOWARD THE INEVITABLE, RIGHT? A BATTLEGROUND STATE AND POLLS AND RED AND BLUE AND CLOSER TO — THE COUNTRY'S NOT PARTICULARLY POLARIZED.
THE CONVERSATIONS ARE, OUR COUNTRY'S NOT. 80% OF AMERICANS WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOMETHING DONE ON GUN SAFETY, AND IT'S THIS RIGHT-LEFT THING. THE COUNTRY'S NOT POLARIZED AROUND GUN SAFETY. 70% OF AMERICANS WOULD LIKE TO SEE ABORTION LEGAL IN ALL OR MOST INSTANCES, COUNTRY'S NOT DIVIDED ON ABORTION. THAT'S WHY ABORTION KEEPS WINNING IN KANSAS, IN NORTH CAROLINA, IN OHIO. AND THE COUNTRY IS MOST CERTAINLY NOT DIVIDED ON THE MILITARY DESERVING OUR RESPECT, PARTICULARLY THOSE WHO HAVE DIED OR BEEN WOUNDED. AND WHAT GENERAL MILLEY KNOWS IS THAT ON ONE OF THE LAST THINGS THAT TRULY UNITES ABOUT 100% OF ALL AMERICANS THAT WE OWE A DEBT OF GRATITUDE TO THE MILITARY, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO DIED OR WERE WOUNDED.
DONALD TRUMP IS A STRAIGHT-UP DISGRACE. HE IS AN UNPATRIOTIC DISGRACE. HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE SEEN WITH LUIS AVILA WHO SANG WHEN CHAIRMAN MILLEY FIRST GOT THIS JOB. AND I THINK THE STORIES THAT HE'S BEGUN TO TELL COULD BE AN EXTRAORDINARY KALEIDOSCOPE, IF YOU WILL, IN TERMS OF SHAKING OR REFRAMEOMETHING OF THE CONVERSATIONS AROUND DONALD TRUMP AS THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF. KATTY? >> SORRY. I DIDN'T KNOW THAT WAS TO ME. YEAH, I THINK THAT'S RIGHT. I MEAN, MARK MILLEY HAS BEEN PUT WHETHER OR NOT AT THIS MOMENT IN HISTORY, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT MIKE MULLEN, AND MIKE MULLEN IS ANOTHER CHAIRMAN, AS YOU KNOW, WHO SERVED TWO PRESIDENTS WITH VERY DIFFERENT POLITICAL AND MILITARY AGENDAS. GEORGE W. BUSH AND BARACK OBAMA. BARACK OBAMA WHO WANTED TO GET AMERICA OUT OF EVERY WAR. MILLEY HAS CONTINUE THE SAME, BUT IT'S MILLEY WHO'S BEEN IN THIS POSITION THAT HE NOW FACES DEATHS THREATS, HE HAS HAD TO CALL UP HIS CHINESE COUNTERPARTS TO REASSURE THEM THAT DEMOCRACY WAS STABLE IN AMERICA. AND HAS FOUND HIMSELF DRAGGED INTO A KIND OF POLITICAL SPHERE THAT HE PROBABLY DIDN'T EVEN WANT TO GET INTO.
AND THAT'S A VERY DIFFERENT POSITION. I THINK THAT GIVES HIM A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON WHERE WE ARE IN THIS MOMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. LOOK, WE SHOULDN'T — MILLEY HAS HIS CRITICS, AS WELL, WHO SAY THAT HE IS VERY AMBITIOUS AND CONCERNED ABOUT HIS LEGACY AND, YOU KNOW, KEEN ON HIS OWN IMAGE. AND I THINK THAT'S ALL — HAS SOME CREDIBILITY TO IT. BUT THERE IS NOBODY WHO DOESN'T SAY THAT HE HAS HAD ONE OF THE HARDEST JOBS AS CHAIRMAN IN MODERN AMERICAN HISTORY, PRECISELY BECAUSE HE WAS THERE WHEN DEMOCRACY WAS IN PERIL IN THIS COUNTRY AND HAD TO DEFEND IT.
AND THAT GIVES HIM A UNIQUE PLATFORM. HE HAS TO DEAL WITH HIS OWN SECURITY, TOO, SO LET'S SEE HOW HE FEELS HE CAN USE THAT PLATFORM. >> I MEAN, I THINK THAT'S AN INTERESTING POINT. THAT IS WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT ANYONE WHO TALKS TO ANY OF US, RIGHT? ANYONE WHO TALKS TO THE MEDIA IS DESCRIBED AS AMBITIOUS AND INVOLVED IN LEGACY MAKING. I WANT TO PRESS ON THAT, KATTY. I THINK THE IDEA THAT HE'S SOMEONE WHO CAN BE INTIMIDATED IS LUDICROUS. "THE ATLANTIC" ARTICLE ALSO HAS EXTRAORDINARY BATTLEFIELD HEROICS THAT I'M NOT AN EXPERT, BUT DOESN'T SOUTHBOUND TO ME LIKE MILLEY'S SOMEONE WHO'S GOING TO SCARE.
>> NO. AND LOOK, YOU KNOW, WHEN HE WAS SWORN IN IN DECEMBER OF 2018, WHAT DID HE PROMISE? HE PROMISED IMPARTIAL AND CANDID ADVICE TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. AND HE HAS NOT HELD BACK ON THAT PROMISE AS HE IS LEAVING OFFICE OR WHILE HE WAS IN OFFICE. HE HAS BEEN CANDID AND IMPARTIAL AND EXPECT HIM TO CONTINUE DOING SO. LET'S NOT BRUSH AWAY THE FACT THAT THIS GUY IS LEAVING OFFICE WITH A DEATH THREAT POTENTIALLY AGAINST HIM, AND THE PROSPECTS NOW AS HE HAS SAID ALREADY OF HAVING TO SECURE HIS OWN SECURITY. THAT IN AND OF ITSELF JUST TELLS US SO MUCH ABOUT WHERE WE ARE. MIKE MULLEN DIDN'T HAVE TO HAVE THE KIND — ANYTHING LIKE THE KIND OF SECURITY FROM DEATH THREATS I IMAGE WHY THAT MARK MILLEY IS GOING TO FACE, ALSO A REFLECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT THAT WE'RE IN.
IT CALLS AGAIN FOR BOLD LEADERSHIP IN THIS PARTICULAR MOMENT. BUT I JUST THINK IT'S — WORTH NOTING THAT THIS IS SOMEBODY LIKE DR. FAUCI WHO I INTERVIEWED AND TO SPEND HALF AN HOUR DEALING WITH SIX U.S. MARSHALS BEFOREHAND TO FIGURE OUT WHERE WE COULD WALK AROUND GEORGETOWN CAMPUS THAT WAS GOING TO BE SAFE FOR HIM. IT'S ABSURD, THIS MOMENT THAT WE'RE IN.
BUT IT DOES GIVE A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE AND PERHAPS RESPONSIBILITY. IT IS INCREDIBLE. HE WILL HAVE THAT FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. HE'S 83 YEARS OLD, AND FOR — HE CAN'T OPEN HIS FRONT DOOR. HE DOESN'T OPEN ANY MAIL. HE CAN'T GO AND BUY TOOTHPASTE .