From here on, I will always think of him as John Empty-Barrel Kelly.
You know, theyāve been using the wrong acronym all along.
Itās not MAGA.
Itās MAGGOT:
Make America Glorify Glorious Orange Trump
My guess (all anyone can do is guess) is that he fell victim to hubris. He went from being mostly out of the public eye to being a much discussed figure on the world stage. Senators, the media, and twitter were all a buzz with how General Kelly is standing guard at the Whitehouse, protecting the nation and bringing much needed military discipline to bear. My guess is it went to his head. He thought he was so respected and so highly venerated that he could strut out into the public view and shame all critics into silence by mentioning his own personal tragedies, and simply then commanding obedience: I will talk, you will listen; I will deign to answer a question or two but only if you know a gold-star family; I will instruct you on how to think about this and you will not question that; and when I am done talking to you tonight this matter will be closed.
I think he really thought he had become so highly regarded as to be above not only criticism but even above question. Huckabee Sanders, I believe, was following the script heād given her when she told the press it would simply not be appropriate for them to question General Empty Barrel.
I think he had no clear recollection of Rep Wilsonās speech, but he remembered he didnāt enjoy listening to her. So he just made something up. Something he thought would pass because no one was going to question or challenge the man who is holding the world together. My guess is heād come to believe his authority is now so great that he didnāt need to put effort into crafting with a solid, defensible lie. Hubris is that which makes the greatest as flies to wanton boys. Hubris is how the gods kill us for their sport.
Not saying that he may not aspire to ā¦
But at this pointā¦ Heās not there ā
donnieās egoā¦ at the very hint that something ā¦anythingā¦ was getting bigger than himā¦ would explode ā
What upsets me is that the woman is now under protection due to death threats. THESE PERSONS lied about her.
Kelly may have been overwhelmed talking about his son but So WHAT? Kelly did remember her comments wrong thatās for sure.
Iām with Steve ā not an outright lie but a mis-remembrance. This is not to say that misremembering is any better than a lie, but it is different.
Kelly of course knew that there were many other people at the event and that it was recent enough for others to remember, and so to either corroborate or correct his recollection. He certainly was aware of cameras recording this very public event and that there could be a video record of it.
Despite all this, he went with his memory of the event ā something he didnāt have to mention at all and wouldnāt have unless he thought it would help shape the public view of Wilson as a despicable person.
Yes, heās was acting like a racist, a sexist and a privileged white male who has way too much confidence in his own perception of the world, but I donāt think he was lying. Heās too savvy for that and hopefully, now that this has happened, a lot of racist, sexist and privileged people will think twice before making public accusations based only on their private memories.
The speech by Congresswoman Wilson was very gracious, text book gracious. The disgraceful lying sacks of sht in the White House could learn a thing or two about being gracious from Congresswoman Wilson. The lying sacks of sht should be ordered to listen to the speech again.
I donāt know why anyone on the planet gives Kelly the benefit of the fucking doubt.
If that is how he remembered it, then he should resign immediately due to dementia.
Slate has a good summary of what Wilson actually said, taken from the video. It is completely opposite of what Kelly claims.
In other words, Kellyās characterization of Wilsonās remarks was wrong in both letter and spirit; she didnāt talk about money, and while she did mention herself, she did so for seemingly germane reasons while crediting others (including Republicans) and honoring the late FBI agents at length. (At the ceremony, then-FBI director James Comey said Wilson ātruly did the impossibleā in shepherding the naming legislation and said the FBI was āeternally gratefulā for her work.)
liked x bazillions
Two words: Martin Bormann. Thatās pretty much exactly the situation I think weāre looking at here.
I think somebody else ārefreshedā Kellyās memories. I found his vivid recall more like a second-hand description.
He still failed miserably. Iām waiting for the āOh, there is a video ? In that case, that statement is no longer operativeā-moment.
I want him to retire, I donāt think it is healthy, if the WH CoS enter into a personal smear campaing agains a presidential critic.
Oh, General Kelly, I was so hoping youād be the only adult in the room. Turns out you arenāt.
Agree. He has a very narrow window to apologize to her and attempt to restore some of his military legacy. If he continues to double down ( trust my wordsā¦ not your lying eyes ) he is a lying sycophant and should resign his position immediately.
Rep Wilson turned the āWACKYā spotlight onto dotard Trump today, on AMJoy!
Hey! Thatās an insult to ferrets! Theyāre cute and they do a happy dance that is hard to look at without smiling, while āEmpty Barrelā Kelly is hard to look at without being totally disgusted (at the way heās sold out any honor and respect he had to be able to lick his masterās boots).
Something critical I havenāt heard mentioned yetā¦ was Kelly even at the dedication? I donāt see him in the video. It seems he not only lying about what Wilson said, heās lying about being in any position of authority to know what she said.
Was he actually there? I donāt know that he made any claim that he was present at the event, and I donāt know why he would have been there.
My theory is that he wasnāt there, that some staff member(s) gave him that information and he went with it, in Trump fashion.
But if he were there and took so much misinformation away from a very straightforward and unremarkable speech by the Congresswoman, what does that say about how he views black women (with power)? Talk about looking through a lens of prejudice. . . .
As Rick Wilson says, the people working for Trump are NEVER going to get his stank off!
Yeah, but Patty was kidnapped, stuck in a closet at gunpoint and held for ransom. Iām going to guess our Famous Marine General has things a lot cushier.
He volunteered for this Shit Show.