Losing an election is a bit like going through the five stages of grief, and Democrats have yet to reach the acceptance stage. That means they still think their opinions matter on what should and shouldn’t happen in the incoming Trump administration. They also think their outrage means something.
So what are they mad about now? According to reports, Donald Trump is planning to recall retired military officials so they can be court-martialed for the failures of the deadly Afghanistan withdrawal. The news immediately sent the press and some former generals into an apoplectic rage.
The plan includes recalling retired officials to active duty to court-martial them, NBC News reported, a move McCaffrey said is unprecedented and unlikely to succeed.
“This is utter nonsense,” McCaffrey said during an MSNBC appearance on Monday. “What is not utter nonsense is this is a political attack of utmost hypocrisy.”
McCaffrey, who is a retired U.S. Army general turned media personality, could not be more wrong about this. The idea that morale would be harmed by finally holding these partisan flag officers accountable is utter nonsense. On the contrary, I would suggest that nothing would make the rank-and-file of the U.S. military happier than seeing the rules applied evenly for a change. The fact that no military leaders were ever punished for the failures of the Afghanistan withdrawal remains a stain on America’s history.