Sean Parnell Defends Donald Trump (No Surprise)

Since he won his party primary, the republican candidate for PA17 is now officially Sean Parnell.

And this week Parnell wasted no time jumping back into the national news with this tweet:

THREAD:

Over the last week, America has seen unprecedented anarchy, violence & destruction. Rather than condemning #Antifa - the group responsible for co-opting the well-intentioned demonstrations - Gen Mattis blames @realDonaldTrump for trying to end the mayhem & restore order.

— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) June 4, 2020

Followed with:

As a veteran & fellow warfighter I have an immense amount of respect for General Mattis.
I just think he missed the mark on this one.

— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) June 4, 2020

So what did General Mattis write that triggered this response?

This - from The Atlantic.

Here's how Mattis opens:

I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation.

Look at how differently they each characterize the protests. For Mattis, they're a "wholesome and unifying demand" for "Equal Justice Under Law", insisting that we "we live up to our values." For Parnell, the demonstrations are "well-intentioned" but he spends much more time virtue signaling Mattis for not denouncing Antifa.

Then there's this from Mattis:

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.

And:

We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square.

To Parnell, this means:

Gen Mattis blames @realDonaldTrump for trying to end the mayhem & restore order.

To Mattis, the protests are wholesome and unifying - a demand that we, as a society, live up to our values of equal justice under the law and Trump's response (the teargassing and flashgrenading) is an violation of Constitutional rights and an abuse of executive authority.

For Parnell, the protests, while "well-intentioned", are "mayhem" and Trump was right to try to restore order.

No, Sean. I think YOU'VE missed the point.