Thread by @MarkHertling

With terrific leadership & masterful understanding of the military's oath to the Constitution, ADM Mullen's article made the intellectual case.

From his time on the "inside" & understanding of the implications, former SecDef/GEN Mattis brought some emotional fire. 1/17

But here's some food for thought:

While those in uniform will never attack their fellow Americans,

They also don't hold the key to "saving" them, either.

Hear me out... 2/17

There have been many that have commented on President Trump's chipping away at Constitution norms over the last 3+ years.

We've sen a crescendo and a constant deterioration, and in the last three days it has reached an inflection point 3/17

Those I've served with & admired have addressed some of the issues from their expert experiences. For those not paying attention, here are examples:
-GEN Barry McCaffrey has publicly pointed out executive malfeasance
-GEN Stan McChrystal uses lack of values in his argument 4/17

-GEN Marty Dempsey has tweeted about how leaders build teams & address complex issues & then implies how those examples are contrary to what we see daily
-ADM Bill McRaven points out systemic flaws, crude approaches, bad behavior, and the breaking of our institutional norms 5/17

-Marine GEN John Allen had made the case, multiple times, of threats to our alliances & our security
-In their own way, members of the Joint Chiefs -Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and National Guard- continued to show to their services what right really looks like. 6/17

-Yesterday, both Secretary Esper and GEN Milley made a point of openly stating what they believe, and what they stand for.

Some may claim that was excuse making, or walking back of mistakes, but both made the point clearly and publicly, orally and in writing. 7/17

All these men have a lifetime of service. More than any other institution, they are educated and trained on our uniquely American way of the profession of arms.

And they have all taken an oath to defend the Constitution. Ideas. Unlike any other military. 8/17

None WANT to point out dangers resulting from ineffective leadership, bad policy, nonexistent strategy, or other factors that may harm those in charge. When speaking, it's usually with a cautious tone.

And there's a rule: don't knock those in the chain of command 9/17

But when that fails, over and over, there is a need to speak louder and more forcefully.

The timing is different for some than it is for others. But there is always a moral tipping point. Each of these individuals reached that for themselves somewhere along the way. 10/17

All of them addressed the strength and weaknesses of our republic with their comments.

They have all said the military won't commit violations of their constitutional oath, they will not break laws, they will not commit immoral acts.

That's how the military is trained. 11/17

But there are things the military won't do. They won't "save us."

They won't come to the rescue to overthrow elected officials. They won't interfere in writing laws, or executing rule of law. They won't "fix" what some say is "broken." 12/17

That's not the military's job

I have often been outspoken, on this site and on @CNN.

I have been accused of being an "Obama general" (FTR, I've served under 5 GOP & 3 DEM Presidents during my career...all my general officer promotion nominations were from GWB, and I never voted for any POTUS. 13/17

Yet, I've been accused of being partisan, received demands that "you generals need to take over," told things that our military was doing was immoral (it usually involved them following legal orders), while -of course- being called a "boomer."

But here's the thing...14/17

Citizens were voicing concerns because they didn't like what was happening in our government.

They must have forgotten the job of "fixing" those things is not the job of anyone in the military. It's the job of the people, their elected officials, their laws and policies. 15/17

Back to where I started.

ADM Mullen & SecDef Mattis (& others) provided insight.

It's now time for American citizens to take that insight & do something. Vote, help others vote, write your elected officials, serve your nation in some way.

Because no one will "fix it" 16/17

Thanks for attending my TedTalk. 17/17