General John Kelly is far from his Irish roots when dealing with today's immigrant communities.
John Kelly, the Boston Irish Chief of Staff to President Trump, is starting to sound like his master's voice with his racially inflammatory sentiments.
This is the man, remember, who lauded Confederate General Robert E. Lee and stated: “the lack of an ability to compromise led to the Civil War” as if there could ever be a compromise with slavery.
Perhaps he forgot Lincoln’s immortal words: “I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free.”
Maybe under the Kelly compromise, slaves could have been free say Monday and Tuesday and slaves again the rest of the week?
This week, Kelly was rattling the racist chains again, charging that hundreds of thousands of Hispanics were too lazy to sign up to the original DACA.
Kelly has said some were too afraid to sign up for DACA while “others would say (they) were too lazy to get off their asses, but they didn't sign up."
Read more: General Kelly, there is no compromise with slavery – you are dead wrong
John Kelly has forgotten his Irish heritage.
Others clearly include himself. No doubt he has a few racist bones in his body and likes to display them more and more. The black or Hispanic slumped on the couch eating watermelon or tacos is probably the Kelly view on minorities. Not content to aggressively pursue deportation of young adults, some of who came to America as babies, he wants to stereotype them too.
The lazy Hispanics is a stinging racial remark, right out of the Trump playbook but we should not be surprised. Kelly clearly has no empathy with the new immigrants who are seeking the same things his forefathers sought when they came from Ireland.
He has become a malevolent force. In mid-January it looked like Trump, the GOP and the Democrats had a deal on DACA and Trump spoke emotionally of treating them with love. But it looks like Trump was overruled by his own Chief of Staff.
After Trump’s comments, Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Alan Durbin showed up in the White House with an agreed bill, one Trump had agreed in private to sign.
Read more: Ryan, Kelly, O’Donnell… oh my! America’s racist thunderstorm
Senator Lindsey Graham. Image: WikiCommons.
Kelly had asked them to come over but when they go there to the Oval Office, it was clear Kelly had changed Trump’s mind. The two senators were met by a phalanx of anti-immigrant Republican politicians. Kelly had made the calls, it was obvious, and killed the DACA deal, a fact Graham acknowledged.
“I think somebody on his staff gave him really bad advice between 10 o’clock to 12 o’clock on Thursday,” he stated.
Graham went on to say that Kelly is “a fine man, but he’s part of the staff.”
The warning sounds were out about Kelly day one in the Trump administration when he was named Homeland Security Czar.
He was called “the deportation machine” by The Nation magazine and heartlessly considered separating children from their parents in order to speed up the system.
Read more: Why General Kelly won't succeed as Trump chief of staff in “Mission Impossible’ White House
Kelly gives every indication of being the power behind the throne of a president who's clearly at sea on numerous issues. Kelly is not using that power in a humane manner, preferring instead to mouth racist cliches and shoot down deals fair to both sides.
He is certainly not living up to the best aspects of his Irish immigrant heritage. As the song goes “Has Anyone Here Seen Kelly”? When it comes to issues requiring fairness and empathy, afraid not.
But wait. When Kelly deputy Scott Porter was identified in the Daily Mail as abusing his two wives, Kelly was quick to defend him.
sr admin official tells @AndrewRestuccia that
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) February 7, 2018
a) chief of staff John Kelly already knew Rob Porter had a restraining order against him
b) Porter, whose job was reviewing all documents that go to the president, didn't have full security clearance b/c of ithttps://t.co/9y9cMMppyT
“Rob Porter is a man of true integrity and honor and I can’t say enough good things about him,” Kelly said.
“He is a friend, a confidante and a trusted professional. I am proud to serve alongside him.”
There you go. Wife-beaters may apply but keep those Hispanics, blacks, and immigrants outside in the cold.
How telling.
What do you think of General Kelly's performance so far? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section, below.
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