He seems to have been handed conflicting missions. On one side he has to protect ICE and the other side he has to protect the citizens of Oregon, many of which are protesters.
The general seems to have two commanding officers. The truth is that no man may serve two masters. Federal law supersedes state law and the minute they are federalized they no longer belong to the Governor of OR. They belong to the feds. That's pretty clear.
The general appears to think that his mission is to protect Oregonians. Actually he does. He has a mission to protect everyone in the state BUT Oregonians have some responsibility, too.
Whole the OHNG has a duty to protect protesters, However the protesters have responsibilities, too. The protesters have to protest in accordance with applicable laws. Once they break the rules and riot then it's game on.
What the good general is doing is trying to roil up things and muddy the waters.
If you are familiar with the military the highest a person can generally go up the food chain simply by being a kickass soldier is O-5, lieutenant colonel. Very rarely can a kickass soldier make colonel because that's where things get pretty political. There's a lot of 'ya gotta know the right people' going on at the higher levels. The old days of George Pattons and Chesty Pullers are long gone.
The commanding general of the OHNG has clearly stopped being a go where they send me and do what they tell me soldier. He's being a political animal and squirming.
Fact is that if the OHNG gets federalized then the good general has to decide is he wants to work for the feds or retire. Is he going to play both ends against the middle or simply retire?
Personally I'd honor the POTUS as my CinC but we shall see what we shall see.
If an officer gets an order he finds distasteful he can either obey the order or resign.
It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.
No comments:
Post a Comment