Gen. John Kelly: Anatomy of an “Extremist”

California Democrat Rep. Barbara Lee is about as loathsome as it gets.

After the White House announced that Gen. John Kelly had been tapped by President Donald Trump to be the new Chief-of-Staff, Lee twit-tweeted on Friday…

“By putting Gen John Kelly in charge, Pres Trump is militarizing the White House & putting our executive branch in the hands of an extremist.”

Extremist?  Let me tell you a little more about this “extremist” (Source: Wikipedia)…

• John Kelly enlisted in the United States Marines in 1970.
• He was discharged from active duty as a sergeant in 1972…at the same time Babs was volunteering at the Oakland chapter of the Black Panther Party.
• Kelly signed up for the Marine Corps’ Officers Candidate School in 1975 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.
• He served aboard aircraft carriers USS Forrestal (CV-59) and USS Independence (CV-62).
• In 1984 he was put in command of a rifle and weapons company for the Second Marine Division.
• In 1987 he was promoted to major as a battalion operations officer.
• He served as head of the Offensive Tactics Section, Tactics Group in Quantico, Virginia.
• He was promoted to lieutenant colonel and was assigned as commanding officer, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (1st LAR), 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California.
• In 1994, he enrolled in the National War College in Washington, DC, graduating in 1995
• He then served as the Commandant’s Liaison Officer to the U.S. House of Representatives and was promoted to colonel.
• In 1999 he was transferred and served a special assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.
• In 2002 he served with the 1st Marine Division as the assistant division commander, spending most of his time serving in Iraq.
• In 2003, while in Iraq, he was promoted to brigadier general, where he took command of the newly formed Task Force Tripoli and drove it north from Baghdad into Samarra and Tikrit.
• In 2007, he was promoted to major general.
• In 2008 he assumed command of the Multi-National Force–West in Iraq.
• He was transferred to the Pentagon in 2011 where he served as the senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense.
• He then took over as commander of the U.S. Southern Command in 2012.
• On December 7, 2016, he was tapped to head the Department of Homeland Security.
• He has a Master of Science degree in National Security Studies from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service.

Gotta love this…

When, during the Iraq War, a Los Angeles Times reporter asked “if, considering the size of the Iraqi Army and the vast supplies of tanks, artillery and chemical weapons available to Saddam’s forces, he would ever consider defeat,” Kelly responded…

“Hell these are Marines. Men like them held Guadalcanal and took Iwo Jima. Baghdad ain’t shit.”

Among the Distinguished Service Medals Gen. Kelly has earned during his military career…

• Defense Distinguished Service Medal
• Defense Superior Service Medal
• Legion of Merit w/ 1 award star and Combat V
• Meritorious Service Medal w/ 1 award star
• Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal w/ 3 award stars
• Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal
• Combat Action Ribbon
• Navy Presidential Unit Citation
• Joint Meritorious Unit Award w/ 1 oak leaf cluster
• Navy Unit Commendation
• Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation w/ 2 service stars
• Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal
• National Defense Service Medal w/ 2 service stars
• Southwest Asia Service Medal w/ 1 service star
• Iraq Campaign Medal w/ 3 service stars
• Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
• Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon w/ 4 service stars
• Navy & Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon
• Grand Officer of the Order of San Carlos (Colombia)
• Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)

Gen. Kelly is also a Gold Star Dad…

“In 2010, Kelly’s 29-year-old son, First Lieutenant Robert Kelly, was killed in action when he stepped on a landmine while leading a platoon of Marines on a patrol in Sangin, Afghanistan. . . . Robert Kelly’s death made John Kelly the highest-ranking military officer to lose a child in Iraq or Afghanistan. Kelly’s other son is a Marine Corps major.”

If that’s an “extremist,” we need a helluva lot more extremists in this country!

And a lot fewer Barbara Lees.

Cheers.

Dr. Chuck Muth, PsD
Professor of Psephology (homeschooled)
Nevada’s #1 Irritator of Liberals and RINOs

P.S.  Upon reading about Anthony Scaramucci being ousted as Communications Director shortly after Gen. Kelly officially took over as White House Chief-of-Staff, it was even more abundantly clear that Donald Trump, the Entrepreneur President, is no wishy-washy, indecisive Barack Obama.

The decision was one part Entrepreneur’s Creed – “Slow to hire; quick to fire” – and one part Lee Atwater’s Creed – “When a decision has to be made, make the damn decision and implement it immediately.”

And the Trump Train continues moving forward to make America great again.