Who is Mad Dog James Mattis? Patriot, Neocon, Deep State or ????

Nothing quite invokes the adoration of the Republican base than a military hero and a military man named Mad Dog is red meat for the GOP base.  Secretary of Defense James 'Mad Dog' Mattis, a retired 4 Star Marine general, is worshiped by the GOP base as a tough guy.  The Republican social media world is driven by memes and definitely not history or geo-political knowledge.  I had never heard of Mattis until after Trump won the election and his name was tossed out as a candidate for Secretary of Defense.  His colorful if not creepy quotes are indeed legendary.

Gen. James "Mad Dog" Mattis: 7 memorable quotes

Mattis memes were flying fast and furious on social media after Trump defeated Clinton and the GOP base couldn't get enough of memes like this that indeed promoted the cult of Mattis lovers.

Mattis the Marine clearly has devoted his decades of military service to cultivating  a Patton-esque tough guy image.

In reality, Mattis is more of an enigma who effortlessly promotes his public persona depending on his goals and audience.  On one hand there is the tough guy, simple soldier persona but on the other hand there is erudite and ambitious student of history who reportedly hauled his 6,000 books to his various military deployments.

Mattis however is far more than a reader of history, he's a player in a playpen that is generally disdained by GOP base that worships the 'simple soldier' side of Mattis. Mattis has indeed devoted his life to clawing his way to the top by associating with individuals and institutions that promote globalism, global governance, global institutions, the US Empire and a world ruthlessly controlled by US imperialism and hegemony.

Populists, nationalists and sovereignty lovers are always dissing the secretive Bilderberg meetings but as a high ranking member of the global elites, Mattis earned himself an invite, here.

Henry Kissinger is viewed as the daddy of the US Empire, endless wars and interventionism.  He's on the board of Center for the National Interest, an organization founded by neocon Irving Kristol (father of Trump hating Bill Kristol) that also publishes The National Interest.  In July 2018, Mattis was honored by The Center for the National Interests and his speech spewed gobs of love for Kissinger, here.  Mattis said:

I cannot come before you without expressing my admiration for the two chairmen of the Center for the National Interest: Dr. Kissinger and General Boyd.

I read a recent article calling Dr. Kissinger the “grand consigliere” of strategy for our nation’s leaders. From his service as a U.S. Army sergeant in World War II, where he and the greatest generation laid the bricks of America’s post-war foreign policy, to his legendary tenure as architect of much of that policy, ushering in détente during the Cold War as national security adviser and secretary of state, few can claim greater insight or influence on world history in the last century.

In a “strategy-free” time, in a city where advisors with delusions of adequacy are numerous, I am enormously grateful for Dr. Kissinger’s strategic mentorship over many years, and it builds our confidence that CFTNI counts him in their ranks. I have felled entire forests taking notes on our many conversations.

Henry Kissinger is an evil war criminal who is responsible for the deaths of millions.  Yet, this psychopath with a long history of documented murder and destruction is viewed as an American icon and is applauded for engineering a foreign policy that murders innocent folks for defense contractor profits and the US empire.  Much has been written by responsible journalists about the crimes of Henry Kissinger and an engine search will provide more documentation.

The Ivy League’s favorite war criminal: Why the atrocities of Henry Kissinger should be mandatory reading

While most Americans who advocate for constitutional limited governance absolutely do recognize that organizations like the Bilderbergs and Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) are evil globalist initiatives that promote global governance, industrial feudalism, corporatism and rule by a handful of the elites, few understand that there are many organization that are similar, such as The National Interest.

The Atlantic Council is another organization that is coming under fire since it was disclosed that Facebook is taking orders from this evil organization on who and what to censor.

Facebook Censorship And The Atlantic Council

Facebook Censorship, Mad Ben Nimmo and the Atlantic Council

Facebook Partners with The Atlantic Council on Censorship

Mattis received an award from The Atlantic Council in 2010 and he's all gussied up in his finest and formal military attire.

Understand this:  Mattis has never been anything but a globalist, a neocon, a warmonger, an elite and a defender of unspeakable evil. He's got the awards from nasty organizations to validate it.  Believe me, defending the Constitution and America has never been on his agenda. As with most men without a conscience, power and climbing the ladders of power is and always has been a burning ambition. 

Mattis didn't earn those 4 Stars by defending America and the Constitution or upholding his oath of office.  He earned them by serving the Deep State and its interests.

As much as I detest Mattis and his faux patriotism along with cultivating the image of a simple and loyal soldier that serves his country, Mattis is not nearly as dangerous as other nutjobs in Trump's administration.  In fact, he's turning into a voice of sanity when compared to John Bolton.

While Mattis is an ambitious dude who has obviously played his cards well in getting what he wants out of life and career, he's not a flaming psychopath like Bolton who is lusting to bomb, bomb and bomb Iran and maybe even Russia and North Korea, as well as anybody else his demented imagination perceives as an enemy.

As Secretary of Defense, Mattis has nowhere else to go except to hang out with his defense contractor pals who control the MIC funded think tanks in America.  He's not going to be president and is at the apex of his long career.  At this juncture, legacy is all that is left.

To be sure, Mattis is no dummy and in fact is very smart, something his long and upward moving career prove beyond a reasonable doubt.  He understands the world far more deeply than Trump because of his military and NATO experience but this no way implies that Mattis is right.  While Trump obviously respects Mattis for his achievements, these men are opposites.  Mattis the deep thinker is likely to think an issue to death while our shoot from the hip president and his notorious outbursts are likely to drive a man like Mattis nuts.  What Trump has that Mattis lacks are incredible instincts and a 'talk outloud' attitude.  Trump may be a bit crazy but in a crazy world sometimes crazy is all that is left that will work, as in the case of North Korea where 2 supposedly crazies managed to lay the groundwork for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

I'm sure that Mattis was duly horrified by Trump's Tweet war with Kim Jung-un. Mattis operates under the cover of stealth, organizations, bureaucracies and the chain of command, all things that Trump really has no use for.  As a speaker it would be hard to find anybody more scripted than Mattis as he methodically and boringly reads prepared speeches; he's not an extemporaneous speaker so getting into his head isn't easy; he discloses little. Of course, being severely scripted is probably how Mattis survived decades in DC and walking away with 4 stars. 

The world is rapidly changing from a US unipolar world where the US and its bombs rule the planet to a multipolar world where other nations do indeed have the power to challenge the US Empire and fight back.

On some level, Mattis understands this and he is extremely reluctant agitate Russia into a war, least of all in Syria.  While Mattis was reportedly fired by the Obama regime over his opposition to the Iran deal (JCPOA), he defended it as Trump's Secretary of Defense which of course royally pissed off the neocons in Trump's administration. I blogged about the JCPOA, here, and believe that Trump made a huge mistake by withdrawing from it.

Everybody with half a brain cell understands that Assad did NOT gas his own people.  Yet, Trump ordered that Syria be bombed twice.  In April 2017 Trump ordered Mattis to bomb Syria and Mattis hurled 59 Tomahawk missiles (at a cost of roughly $2 million each) into Syria.  An airbase was damaged and there were a few death; it was also reported that Russian and other important aircraft had been removed.  In April 2018, Trump again ordered Mattis to bomb Syria. There were no deaths and not much damage.  It's clear that the DOD heavily coordinated with Russia to avoid engaging the Russian military.  The neocons were FURIOUS at Trump and Mattis and wanted substantial devastation in Syria. They didn't care if Damascus, a city of 1.75 million, was leveled.

The NYT penned a piece titled 'Trump Talked Tough. But His Strike on Syria Was Restrained'.  Restrained it was.  The neocon WSJ wrote a blistering piece attacking Trump for giving in to the Pentagon.

Trump Bowed to Pentagon Restraint on Syria StrikesPresident was dissuaded from more robust action, in first test of new national-security team

President Donald Trump deferred to his Pentagon chief’s caution and tempered his preference for a more robust attack on Syria over allegations it used deadly gas on civilians, the first hints at the direction of his revamped national-security team.

The neocons and Deep State are not happy with Mattis or Trump.  As for Trump and his clearly undefined foreign policy, there are reasons for concern that Trump will take a neocon turn.

Making Bolton his National Security Advisor sickened antiwar activists such as myself.  Trump recently hinted that Mattis may leave and said he was 'sort of a Democrat'.

Trump says Mattis is 'sort of a Democrat' and that the defense secretary 'may leave' the administration

It's my view that a Mattis departure would constitute a huge victory for the neocons and not because Mattis isn't himself a well documented neocon but because Mattis is sufficiently sane to NOT explode the world into bigger and more destructive wars.  The neocons do not share the restrained views of Mattis and would without the slightest hesitation envelop the world under mushroom clouds.  Raining death and destruction upon humanity is done by the neocons without any concern for human death and suffering.

Also, Mattis is not a Democrat, he's just a man who understands history, military capabilities and he's served Republican and Democrat masters.  He's as non-political as anybody in the beltway can be. Who got America into WW I, WW II, Korean War, Vietnam War and the Balkan Wars?  All liberal, progressive Democrats: Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman, Johnson and Clinton. The cumulative death tolls of those Democrat wars is over 100 million folks.

While I'm no fan of Mattis, what Trump needs right now is MORE Mattis and not less because Mattis as Secretary of Defense is proving himself to be the least lethal option.  God forbid that Bolton and gang should ever takeover the US military and/or control Trump foreign policy decisions.  Yes, Trump could definitely do a whole lot worse than Mattis who presently is the lone voice of sanity in his neocon heavy administration.

Finally, Trump ran as an antiwar candidate which earned him the votes of Libertarians, antiwar activists, Paulites, Constitutionalists and independents.  Trump didn't intend to be a neocon president and frequently tweeted as much.  However, the foreign policy that he campaigned on could very well turn out to be a lie.

"These 'Freedom Fighters' Fly Planes Into Our Buildings" - A List Of All The Times Trump Warned Against Attacking Syria

As the neocons concentrate power in the Trump Administration, Mattis is definitely slated for the chopping block and this is very bad for peace and a more peaceful foreign policy.  I'm hoping that Mattis will continue to fight the insanity even if it results in a forced resignation (resign or be fired), something I believe could happen after midterms.  At least I would acquire a whole new level of respect for Mattis for doing the right thing at the right time by refusing to join the neocon mob.  Despite a long history of serving nefarious folks and their grand schemes, Mattis has one whopper of an opportunity to seal his legacy.

If Trump turns neocon, ditches Mattis and Bolton-izes his brain, I'm through with him.  He will just be added to my column of evil rat bastards.

And just maybe Mattis does indeed have a conscience after all......