Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis: In his own words

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http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/12/02/top-15-quotes-secretary-defense-nominee-james-mattis/

A Look into the Mind of Gen. James Mattis:  15 Quotes from Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pick

Alex Wong / Getty

by John Hayward  2 Dec 2016

Retired Marine Corps General James Mattis is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense, and he is one of the most quotable figures in modern public life.

He rarely gives a speech without saying something that should be emblazoned on coffee mugs, or in some cases stenciled on the side of bombs.  Here are some of his greatest hits:

1. “Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.” – from a speech Mattis delivered to Marines arriving in Iraq in 2003.  This is widely acclaimed as the ultimate Mattisism, winning extra cool points for being compatible with Patrick Swayze’s famous advice to new bouncers in Road House.
2. “No war is over until the enemy says it’s over.  We may think it over, we may declare it over, but in fact, the enemy gets a vote.” – probably the other most widely-repeated Mattisism, it has been quoted in contexts ranging from the Iraqi troop withdrawal to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.
3. “You are part of the world’s most feared and trusted force.  Engage your brain before you engage your weapon.  Share your courage with each other as we enter the uncertain terrain north of the Line of Departure.  Keep faith in your comrades on the left and right and Marine Air overhead.  Fight with a happy heart and strong spirit.” – from a letter Mattis wrote to the 1st Marine Division, the day before they began their assault on Iraq in 2003.  He [has] restated his point about using your head on the battlefield many times; another popular formulation was, “The most important six inches on the battlefield are between your ears.”
4. “From our first days at San Diego, Parris Island, or Quantico, NCOs bluntly explained to us that the Corps would be entirely satisfied if we gave 100%, and entirely dissatisfied if we gave 99%.  And those NCOs taught us the great pleasure of doing what others thought impossible.” – from a speech Mattis gave when receiving the Marine Corps University Foundation’s 2014 Semper Fidelis Award.
5. “Now from a distance, I look back on what the Corps taught me:  to think like men of action, and to act like men of thought!” – from the same 2014 Semper Fidelis Award speech.
6. “I’ve never found it to be useful.  I’ve always found, give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers, and I do better with that than I do with torture.” – Mattis’ thoughts on waterboarding, according to Donald Trump.
7. “Every morning I woke up and the first three questions I had, had to do with Iran, and Iran, and Iran.  It remains the single most belligerent actor in the Middle East.” – Mattis on Iran, from an April speech to the Center for Strategic & International Studies.
8. “You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil.  You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway.  So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.” – Mattis on the Taliban, at a 2005 panel discussion in San Diego, California.  This one caused some trouble for Mattis.  Marine Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee defended him, but said “should have chosen his words more carefully.”
9. “There are some people who think you have to hate them in order to shoot them.  I don’t think you do.  It’s just business.” – Mattis choosing his words more carefully, after the above-mentioned controversy.
10. “The first time you blow someone away is not an insignificant event.  That said, there are some assholes in the world that just need to be shot.  There are hunters and there are victims.  By your discipline, cunning, obedience and alertness, you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim.  It’s really a hell of a lot of fun.  You’re gonna have a blast out here!  I feel sorry for every son of a bitch that doesn’t get to serve with you.” – Mattis drawing an important distinction between assholes and sons of bitches to a group of Marines in Iraq, as quoted by Thomas E. Ricks in his book Fiasco:  The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003 to 2005.
11. “I come in peace.  I didn’t bring artillery.  But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes:  If you f**k with me, I’ll kill you all.” – Mattis to Iraqi tribal leaders, also quoted by Ricks in Fiasco.
12. “In a country with millions of people and cars going everywhere, the enemy is going to get a car bomb out there once in a while.  There are going to be good days and bad days.  Bottom line.” – Mattis on the grim realities of counter-terrorism operations in a 2007 interview.  He was talking about Iraq, but unfortunately his observation would be valid anywhere.
13. “I think it’s very clear that this enemy has decided that the war, the real war for them, will be fought in the narrative, in the media.  This is not a place where we’re going to take the enemy’s capital and run up our flag and drink their coffee and that sort of thing.” – from the same interview.
14. “Marines don’t know how to spell the word defeat.” – proudly cited by the USMC as the retired General’s salute to the indomitable spirit of the Corps.  Misusing this quote to tease Marines about their spelling abilities is not recommended.
15. “I get a lot of credit these days for things I never did.” – Mattis on his own legend, to midshipmen at the Naval Academy in 2004.  He also gets a lot of credit for things he never said, as hilariously satirized in a Twitter hashtag full of phony #MattisQuotes.  (A sample:  “Build a man a fire and he will be warm for a night. Set a man on fire and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.”)

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society, psychoses and weapons: what to do? pt. 2

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America, assault rifles, assisting living, attorneys, Bill of Rights, Bob Dylan, BringChange2Mind, conservatorship, crazies, criminal assault, Dave Grossman, dialogue, exponentially morphing technology, facebook, freedom, gaming violence, Gannett News Service, Glenn Close, guardianship, gun owners, institutions, It's All Good, Jesus affirmations, Journal News, legalities, mass killings, media violence, mental illness, Mother Jones, NAMI, NDAA bill, partisan rhetoric, Peyton Manning, philosophy, politics, prayer, psychoses, reason, Sandy Hook tragedy, schizo-affective disorder, Second Amendment, social media, societal castaways, societal ills, society, Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill, The Division Bell, Tom Brady, tyranny, weapons

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Division_Bell

 

This is a Facebook post I just sent to someone as a response to their post regarding reaction to the 14 December 2012 Sandy Hook tragedy.  I’ve taken individual references to actual friends/family out, but I wanted to share it [a followup to my previous post:  society, psychoses and weapons:  what to do?], as it contains information that people might take the time to look up for themselves.  Also, it reaffirms my own position on this most important issue that faces, not just America, but all societies.  I expanded the post in some cases where I thought clarification would help:

I agree in how small this discussion seems in the grand scheme of things, but then again, I believe that all dialogue is good and not just a “speck of dust.”  Too much of what passes for dialogue today is nothing more than partisan rhetoric with its only intent being to slam the opposition.

This site [the Facebook site I originally posted on]  has some of the best discussions around.  On my site, friends and family seem many times to want to talk about Peyton Manning or Tom Brady or just to post Jesus affirmations.  In all fairness, I’ve done that too, and hey, what’s social media for if not to socialize.  All reasonable dialogue is worthwhile.  To steal the title of a recent Bob Dylan song, “It’s All Good.”  Even if friends/family don’t participate in the political/philosophical dialogue, at least they hear how I feel, and that’s good enough for me.  Notably, and appreciatively to me, there are some who do participate.

I see the problem of mass killings as complex, with three elements:  societal ills (media violence, gaming violence and exponentially morphing technology), the increase of psychoses, especially among males in their early thirties.  Mother Jones did a recent article with specific stats:  [“Half of the cases involved school or workplace shootings (12 and 19, respectively); the other 31 cases took place in locations including shopping malls, restaurants, government buildings, and military bases.  Forty four of the killers were white males.  Only one of them was a woman.  (See Goleta, Calif., in 2006.)  The average age of the killers was 35, though the youngest among them was a mere 11 years old.  (See Jonesboro, Ark., in 1998.)  A majority were mentally ill—and many displayed signs of it before setting out to kill.”]:  http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map), and finally the presence of weapons (not just guns, but fire, bombs, machetes, vehicles…).

Weapons are not going to go away.  Societal ills can be worked on, although there is much money in not toning down the violence in movies, TV and gaming (see the book by Dave Grossman (http://www.amazon.com/Stop-Teaching-Our-Kids-Kill/dp/0609606131#_).  As far as working on mental illness, there are great organizations doing great work (NAMI and actress Glenn Close’s BringChange2Mind site), but their hands are too often tied by legalities.

I once had to become legal guardian for a relative with schizo-affective disorder.  After multiple police encounters with the person in his trying to live alone, I still had to go to court with an attorney.  The relative was assigned an attorney.  The hearing determined, after arguments, that this person indeed needed a guardian.

I could only take the experience and heartbreak  for two years.  Then, I went to court again, with attorneys on both sides, to assign a new guardian and conservator, and to place the person in assisted living.  These proceedings, I wholeheartedly admit, are necessary.  Otherwise, anyone can just lock up some “crazy” off the street, or have some family member arrested or institutionalized, maybe with eyes on an inheritance.

There is no easy answer to societal ills (with exponentially morphing technology in which people are spun out into castaways more-and-more with heated anger toward society) or to mental illness, with lawyers in the middle, or finally weapons rightfully guaranteed by the Second Amendment to protect one’s home and family against assault from criminals or from a tyrannical government.  We’re free not to buy guns.  We’re free not to pray.  But, when our home is broken into and our family is in danger, the first thing a person without a gun would do is call for someone with a gun and pray that that person arrives in time.  Who is one going to call if the government comes after them, now that they can, for any reason at all?  See the new NDAA bill signed into effect by “our” president.

Perhaps I’m overreacting.  I just felt like dialogue is never a “speck of dust,” even though I agree that it seems that way.  It’s all good, and it’s what’s needed more.  Like many today, my mind is heavy regarding the killings, and like many, I have to get it out.  The Journal News in New York and Gannett News Service (it’s corporate owner) are idiots who couldn’t reason their way out of a paper bag as far as their publishing, interactively, the names, homes and addresses of gun owners and then their hiring armed security guards to protect themselves.

http://bringchange2mind.org/

http://www.nami.org/

http://www.killology.com/

society, psychoses and weapons: what to do?

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3D, action movies, Alice Cooper, assault, assault rifles, Aurora shooting, Barack Obama, Bill of Rights, Blueray, capitalist profit, catharsis, celebrities, censorship, citizens, criminal background checks, Demand A Plan, Demand A Plan? Demand Celebrities Go **** Themselves!, entertainment, evolution, fantasy, Felipe Calderon, filmmakers, fire, fuel, gun control, gun laws, gun lobbyists, gun trafficking, HD, Horror, hypocrisy, interactive holographics, Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, make-believe, mass killings, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Mike Opelka, Mitt Romney, moviegoers, oxygen, psychoses, Resident Evil IV, right to bear arms, Robert McGammon, Sandy Hook tragedy, Second Amendment, social media, society, spark, Swan Song, technology, The Avengers, The Hunger Games, TheBlaze.com, Tuscon shooting, Vincent Price, violent movies, Virginia Tech shooting, weapon makers, weapons

In response to the recent 14 December 2012 Sandy Hook tragedy, filmmakers have a right to make any movie they want.  Moviegoers have a right to pay to see any movie they want.  This discussion has to do with the issue of gun control as a solution to the phenomenon of assault-rifle mass killings, as well as the hypocrisy of filmmakers and actors in glorifying gun violence on the screen while issuing a Public Service Announcement (PSA) for stringent gun control aimed at American citizens.  My view is that an assault rifle is a rifle to defend citizens against “assault.”  This is guaranteed by the Second Amendment.  Filmmakers and moviegoers have their rights.  Citizens have a right to bear arms in defense against assault of their home or person.  I have a followup to this post at [society, psychoses and weapons:  what to do?  pt. 2].

1.) The following is a recent article from TheBlaze.com:  http://www.theblaze.com/stories/new-video-mocks-celebrities-demand-a-plan-gun-control-psa/

New Video Mocks Celebrities’ ‘Demand A Plan’ Gun Control PSA

• Posted on December 31, 2012 at 7:24am by Mike Opelka

Many celebrities have spoken out about gun control. Some of the biggest names in Hollywood have even stepped up and offered to use their fame to change the current gun laws. Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Will Ferrell, Beyonce, Chris Rock, Steve Carrell, Ellen Degeneres, and others have appeared in a video called “Demand A Plan.”

Image: Demand A Plan screen capture

[ For video, please see:  http://www.theblaze.com/stories/new-video-mocks-celebrities-demand-a-plan-gun-control-psa/ ]

While it is perfectly acceptable for famous folks to trade on their celebrity status to promote causes they deem to be important, it has also been noted that many of the people in the video have earned fortunes by appearing in movies and TV shows that promote guns and gun violence.

A new video is quick to point out this hypocrisy. The alternative campaign called “Demand A Plan? Demand Celebrities Go **** Themselves!” has surfaced on the web [caution: violent themes and images]. It uses a combination of clips from the actual “Demand A Plan” video and intercuts it with violent scenes from virtually every single star in the PSA.

For the record, the “Demand A Plan” campaign is an effort from “Mayors Against  Illegal Guns” and the San Francisco-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Both group’s websites host the 1:22 video calling for American citizens to contact their elected officials and demand action on gun laws.

From Demand A Plan’s website, here are their three specific requests regarding gun laws:

• Require a criminal background check for every gun sold in America
• Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines
• Make gun trafficking a federal crime, including real penalties for “straw purchasers”

It should be noted that every state in the union requires a criminal background check when a licensed firearms dealer sells a gun, any gun. The first item on the list seems tied to a push requiring background checks on private gun sales and those made at gun shows.

Hat Tip: Sailing Manuel for inspiring the full video version.

2.) The following is a mission statement from:  http://www.demandaplan.org/

ABOUT DEMAND A PLAN

After the July 2012 mass shooting in Aurora, President Obama and Governor Romney made moving statements that echoed the sorrow we all felt. But we need more from our leaders than a moment of silence. We need a moment of action.
More than 48,000 Americans will be murdered with guns during the President’s next term. How can President Obama face that chilling fact without a strategy to end gun violence?
It’s time to demand a plan. That’s why in July 2012 Mayors Against Illegal Guns partnered with survivors of recent mass shootings — including Aurora, Tuscon and Virginia Tech — and the families of the victims to launch www.DemandAPlan.org.
Throughout the election season, we demanded to hear what each of the presidential candidates planned to do about gun violence. We didn’t get real answers, even when President Obama and Governor Romney were asked directly at a presidential debate what they would do to keep guns away from dangerous people.
Now that Election 2012 is over, we and more 900,000 supporters will continue to demand that the President and Congress tell us the concrete steps they will take to prevent 33 Americans from being murdered with guns each and every day. And we will continue to press all of our elected leaders to protect every American’s right to safety and security, without living in fear of gun violence.
3.) The following is an exchange I had on Tuesday, January 1, 2013, on the following Facebook site, People Over Politics:  https://www.facebook.com/notes/me/#!/photo.php?fbid=549464635066307&set=a.361837760495663.95686.176963112316463&type=1&theater

Steve Bort:  A relative just showed my wife and I “Resident Evil IV” and “The Avengers” last night.  He loves action movies.  I think there were more guns, bigger guns and more blood in those movies than I had ever heard of or seen in real life.  They’re paid big bucks to use those guns and spill that blood, but you know what–it sells.  As soon as it stops selling, then Hollywood stops producing those movies.  Here’s an action item:  Boycott Hollywood action movies which glorify gun violence.

R.L.: Make believe; that’s like saying “ban cartoons, that glorify immaturity.”  Unless you have lived under a rock for the last 100 years, everyone knows movies are make believe.  Gun Lobbyists are real life, supporting companies that create weapons which end up in the hands of children and sick people.

Steve Bort: Make-believe is created by filmmakers for profit. Moviegoers justify it as make-believe, which transcends make-believe with every new technological advance-HD, Blueray, 3D.  How long before interactive holographics?  Would that be make-believe also?  The filmmakers are the biggest hypocrites on the blue planet as the true 1% whom they criticize, and the gun control that they preach (like Mexico’s president who chastises the U.S. for gun control when their citizens are defenseless and look for work across the border in “el Norte” while all the guns and money are with the el Presidente, the Drug Lords and the extortionist Mexican Prison officials).  There’s make believe; there’s capitalist profit (out the wazoo in Hollywood’s case), and there’s reason. There’s no reason for turning make-believe violence (the Road Runner) into interactive holographics for profit.  It’s pure hypocrisy.

R.L.: For them it is profit, for us it is entertainment, and from the dawn of man, we have always wanted better and better.  It is the natural evolution of that media form. When holographic entertainment is realised then yes, it will still be make believe, because you will be playing a part, in a digital fantasy world, that only exists while you are there.  We are talking real life here; guns really kill people.  Normal people, sick people, are killing other people WITH GUNS.  These real life killing machines, machines which were created for no other reason that to hurt and/or kill the person it is pointed at, as efficiently as possible.

Steve Bort: “Evolution” towards “playing a part.”  Wow!  Okay, so “The Hunger Games” is somewhat of an update of “Logan’s Run.”  Jenny Agutter, of “Logan’s Run” even appears in “The Avengers.”  Alice Cooper was my favorite concert of 1973 with his Billion Dollar Babies tour.  I still watch Vincent Price movies.  I love Robert McGammon’s “Swan Song.”  There’s a place for the entertainment of Horror, and it’s found in the “catharsis” that’s found in many stories, or entertainments.  I say there’s hypocrisy in the evolution of “playing a part” for profit, brought on by exponential “advances” in technology.  When does “The Hunger Games” become real—the ultimate evolution of playing a part?  Besides, and this is a whole other argument, you eliminate fire by eliminating one of three elements–oxygen, fuel or a spark.  With mass killings or gun crime, you have to eliminate society, psychoses or weapons of any kind–guns, machetes, bombs, fire, etc.  Only a reasonable human being can eliminate weapons.  Forget eliminating society or psychoses.  Creating defenseless-of-guns citizens will not create defenseless-of-weapons or non-retaliatory citizens, just like posted “Fire-BAN” signs in a forest will not prevent people from throwing a cigarette out of their window.

R.L.: I think you will find that the majority of the western/1st world, gets on perfectly fine without having the citizens armed.  In fact, there are strict gun laws in the majority of those countries, and their gun-crime rates are at a minimum. This isn’t coincidence. As for your first part, I stick to my original point; it is the difference between fantasy and reality.  Fantasy doesn’t happen.  We know it isn’t real.  We know these people aren’t actually the characters they are playing.  Hunger Games is held in a dystopian future, post apocalypse style world. This isn’t cinema, or literature or TV.  Intelligence comes into it.  We have a different world.  We cannot start censoring entertainment based of people’s sensibilities.  Now I’m going to stop since that is a WHOLE different convo, lol.