So goes a popular joke circulating on the internet, but the situation it makes fun of is deadly serious to a democracy and some new conservative voices are starting to speak out against Mr. Trump because of it.

First, a brief review of the facts: A peaceful march near the White House protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer was broken up by the US Park Police and other government agencies. They used horses and (at a minimum) pepper balls and smoke canisters, which cause results similar to, and fall under the general category of, tear gas to disperse these Citizens, who were peacefully exercising their 1st Amendment rights. Mr. Trump also threatened use of the U.S. military to quell other ongoing demonstrations across the country.

(The White House denies tear gas was used on protesters, but the results were the same - here one protester's eyes are washed. Image from Redux)

The government actions in D.C. were taken per the direction of the Trump administration and occurred at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the June 1st evening curfew. Having been criticized by all sides for "hiding out in his bunker" during the ongoing Floyd protests, Mr. Trump ordered the government response so he could march across that same street, accompanied by Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, to stand outside St. John's Episcopal Church and hold up a Bible. His campaign team took numerous photographs and videos of the procession and of the posing, which will be used in Trump re-election ads.

Violating the Constitutional rights of peaceful Citizens and threatening use of the nation's military to do so is what one would expect from a third-world dictator, not a President of the United States. (Mr. Trump always is quick to support a Citizen's 2nd Amendment rights, but he doesn't appear to care much about the other Amendments. Unlike the contributors to this website who, as our banner proclaims, support ALL the Amendments.) But as Mr. Trump faces more situations that he can't bully or intimidate via his early morning tweets and as his political standing continues to weaken, many observers expect these types of over-reactions to continue as he becomes more and more overwhelmed and desperate.

(Trump-ordered response to peaceful protesters near St. John's Church - image from Getty)

Which is why it was gratifying to hear the immediate negative responses of many military and political figures who have worked for or with the Trump administration. Some examples of these critical comments include those of:

Former Trump Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, who wrote in The Atlantic: "When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens - much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside."

Retired Marine Corps General John Allen, who commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said that Trump "failed to project any of the higher emotions or leadership desperately needed in every quarter of this nation during this dire moment."

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who voted to acquit Mr. Trump during his Senate impeachment trial, said she supported Mr. Mattis' comments and is re-evaluating her support of Mr. Trump.

Retired Admiral Mike Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in The Atlantic that the president "laid bare his disdain for the rights of peaceful protest in this country, gave succor to the leaders of other countries who take comfort in our domestic strife, and risked further politicizing the men and women of our armed forces."

2012 GOP Presidential nominee, Senator Mitt Romney said: "From the news clips I have seen, the protesters across from the White House were orderly and non-violent. They should not have been removed by force and without warning, particularly when the apparent purpose was to stage a photo op."

We'll end with one more quote from Mr. Mattis:

"Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people - does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort."

Well said, Mr. Mattis, and welcome to the public resistance.

{Update - June 11: In a commencement speech at the National Defense University today, Chairman Milley of the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that it was a mistake for him to have participated in Mr. Trump's photo op, telling the graduates, "I should not have been there…My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics. As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it."}

P.S. #1: We also read reports that Mr. Trump may have displayed the "wrong" Bible at his photo-op. As the accompanying photo shows, Mr. Trump is holding up a Revised Standard Version Bible, which most of his conservative evangelical supporters would not consider to be the authoritative word of God. Among other things, it translates Mary as being a "young woman", not as a virgin.

(Trump photo op at St. John's Church - image from AP)

P.S. #2: In reading about Defense Secretary Esper, we saw that prior to joining the Trump administration in 2017 as Secretary of the Army, he had been a lobbyist for a defense contractor. So much for draining the swamp.

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