Stop Lauding General Milley’s Evasions on Critical Race Theory
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff may have wowed Democrats, but he was out of line.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has spoken.
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
There’s nothing new about military leaders dismissing criticism of their decisions by wrapping themselves in the flag. Progressives used to see it as an authoritarian tactic. Now, though, they are happy to salute — at least when the brass is using that move in defense of their causes.
Two Republican congressmen — Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz, both of Florida — raised questions about “critical race theory” at a House Armed Services Committee hearing. General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the congressmen that it was vital for the military to study different perspectives: “I’ve read Mao Tse-tung. I've read Karl Marx. I've read Lenin. That doesn’t make me a communist.”