SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly appearing on Laura Ingraham's show on Fox News on Monday, October 30, 2017. (Photo: Fox News/Screengrab)
'Both Sides' of Slavery Argument Latest Proof John Kelly Is No Moderating Force
"It's irresponsible & dangerous, especially when white supremacists feel emboldened, to make fighting to maintain slavery sound courageous."
Oct 31, 2017
Those who have repeatedly tried to dispell the myth--popular in some circles--that White House chief of staff John Kelly is somehow a "moderating force" on President Donald Trump are being widely vindicated after his appearance Monday night on the show of right-wing firebrand Laura Ingraham in which the former U.S. Marine general argued that it was "lack of ability to compromise" that led to the Civil War as he praised Robert E. Lee as a "noble man" and offered a very Trumpian "both sides" argument about the conflict that erupted centrally over the nation's institution of slavery.
\u201c@gkpleasants @tedlieu @Politics_PR Kelly praises Robert E Lee as "honorable man" says "lack of an ability 2 compromise led 2 the civil war" not slavery\u201d— Ted Lieu (@Ted Lieu) 1509421805
As the New York Timesobserved, reaction to the comments was "swift and unforgiving, with many commenters ridiculing Mr. Kelly for suggesting that slavery was an issue on which a compromise could or should have been reached."
\u201cChief of Staff John Kelly pushing white supremacist talking points around Confederate statues. https://t.co/CwbFv33Iq7\u201d— ColorOfChange (@ColorOfChange) 1509420406
For another example, a forthright and unapologetic Eleanor Sheehan put it for Splinter News, "Gen. John Kelly, President Trump's current chief of staff and onetime media hopeful to steer the sinking ship that is the White House, continues to suck."
Walter Shaub, who served as the director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics before resigning in protest this summer, wrote on Twitter that, "It appears John Kelly is going as a racist for Halloween. I suspect he's also going as one for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday..."
Bernice King, a minister and the youngest child of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., also spoke out:
\u201cIt\u2019s irresponsible & dangerous, especially when white supremacists feel emboldened, to make fighting to maintain slavery sound courageous. https://t.co/qb2X7QhG7M\u201d— Be A King (@Be A King) 1509421104
The Intercept's Jon Schwarz, who wrote this scathing takedown of Kelly nearly two weeks ago, chimed in as well:
\u201cI'm glad I got ahead of the curve and wrote about what an ugly human being John Kelly is ten days ago https://t.co/K9F5FIt9rI\u201d— \ud83e\udd80 Jon Schwarz \ud83e\udd80 (@\ud83e\udd80 Jon Schwarz \ud83e\udd80) 1509422894
In that piece, Schwarz observed that even as "Kelly may be personally far more palatable" than Trump, "there's a reason these two men found each other."
Kelly, he wrote, is "proudly ignorant, he's a liar, and he's a shameless bully and demagogue."
And the president and his chief of staff, Schwarz concluded, "see the world in fundamentally the same way, and Kelly is going to help Trump do what he wants to it."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Those who have repeatedly tried to dispell the myth--popular in some circles--that White House chief of staff John Kelly is somehow a "moderating force" on President Donald Trump are being widely vindicated after his appearance Monday night on the show of right-wing firebrand Laura Ingraham in which the former U.S. Marine general argued that it was "lack of ability to compromise" that led to the Civil War as he praised Robert E. Lee as a "noble man" and offered a very Trumpian "both sides" argument about the conflict that erupted centrally over the nation's institution of slavery.
\u201c@gkpleasants @tedlieu @Politics_PR Kelly praises Robert E Lee as "honorable man" says "lack of an ability 2 compromise led 2 the civil war" not slavery\u201d— Ted Lieu (@Ted Lieu) 1509421805
As the New York Timesobserved, reaction to the comments was "swift and unforgiving, with many commenters ridiculing Mr. Kelly for suggesting that slavery was an issue on which a compromise could or should have been reached."
\u201cChief of Staff John Kelly pushing white supremacist talking points around Confederate statues. https://t.co/CwbFv33Iq7\u201d— ColorOfChange (@ColorOfChange) 1509420406
For another example, a forthright and unapologetic Eleanor Sheehan put it for Splinter News, "Gen. John Kelly, President Trump's current chief of staff and onetime media hopeful to steer the sinking ship that is the White House, continues to suck."
Walter Shaub, who served as the director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics before resigning in protest this summer, wrote on Twitter that, "It appears John Kelly is going as a racist for Halloween. I suspect he's also going as one for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday..."
Bernice King, a minister and the youngest child of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., also spoke out:
\u201cIt\u2019s irresponsible & dangerous, especially when white supremacists feel emboldened, to make fighting to maintain slavery sound courageous. https://t.co/qb2X7QhG7M\u201d— Be A King (@Be A King) 1509421104
The Intercept's Jon Schwarz, who wrote this scathing takedown of Kelly nearly two weeks ago, chimed in as well:
\u201cI'm glad I got ahead of the curve and wrote about what an ugly human being John Kelly is ten days ago https://t.co/K9F5FIt9rI\u201d— \ud83e\udd80 Jon Schwarz \ud83e\udd80 (@\ud83e\udd80 Jon Schwarz \ud83e\udd80) 1509422894
In that piece, Schwarz observed that even as "Kelly may be personally far more palatable" than Trump, "there's a reason these two men found each other."
Kelly, he wrote, is "proudly ignorant, he's a liar, and he's a shameless bully and demagogue."
And the president and his chief of staff, Schwarz concluded, "see the world in fundamentally the same way, and Kelly is going to help Trump do what he wants to it."
Those who have repeatedly tried to dispell the myth--popular in some circles--that White House chief of staff John Kelly is somehow a "moderating force" on President Donald Trump are being widely vindicated after his appearance Monday night on the show of right-wing firebrand Laura Ingraham in which the former U.S. Marine general argued that it was "lack of ability to compromise" that led to the Civil War as he praised Robert E. Lee as a "noble man" and offered a very Trumpian "both sides" argument about the conflict that erupted centrally over the nation's institution of slavery.
\u201c@gkpleasants @tedlieu @Politics_PR Kelly praises Robert E Lee as "honorable man" says "lack of an ability 2 compromise led 2 the civil war" not slavery\u201d— Ted Lieu (@Ted Lieu) 1509421805
As the New York Timesobserved, reaction to the comments was "swift and unforgiving, with many commenters ridiculing Mr. Kelly for suggesting that slavery was an issue on which a compromise could or should have been reached."
\u201cChief of Staff John Kelly pushing white supremacist talking points around Confederate statues. https://t.co/CwbFv33Iq7\u201d— ColorOfChange (@ColorOfChange) 1509420406
For another example, a forthright and unapologetic Eleanor Sheehan put it for Splinter News, "Gen. John Kelly, President Trump's current chief of staff and onetime media hopeful to steer the sinking ship that is the White House, continues to suck."
Walter Shaub, who served as the director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics before resigning in protest this summer, wrote on Twitter that, "It appears John Kelly is going as a racist for Halloween. I suspect he's also going as one for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday..."
Bernice King, a minister and the youngest child of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., also spoke out:
\u201cIt\u2019s irresponsible & dangerous, especially when white supremacists feel emboldened, to make fighting to maintain slavery sound courageous. https://t.co/qb2X7QhG7M\u201d— Be A King (@Be A King) 1509421104
The Intercept's Jon Schwarz, who wrote this scathing takedown of Kelly nearly two weeks ago, chimed in as well:
\u201cI'm glad I got ahead of the curve and wrote about what an ugly human being John Kelly is ten days ago https://t.co/K9F5FIt9rI\u201d— \ud83e\udd80 Jon Schwarz \ud83e\udd80 (@\ud83e\udd80 Jon Schwarz \ud83e\udd80) 1509422894
In that piece, Schwarz observed that even as "Kelly may be personally far more palatable" than Trump, "there's a reason these two men found each other."
Kelly, he wrote, is "proudly ignorant, he's a liar, and he's a shameless bully and demagogue."
And the president and his chief of staff, Schwarz concluded, "see the world in fundamentally the same way, and Kelly is going to help Trump do what he wants to it."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.