# Kelly wants us to judge him by "what Trump didn't do" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 1, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045 "2019-01-01T17:40:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/1 "2019-01-01T17:40:17Z")
That’s the tag-line from Kelly’s interview with the [Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-john-kelly-exit-interview-20181230-story.html): > [@](#): > > In the phone interview Friday, Kelly defended his rocky tenure, arguing that it is best measured by what the president did not do when Kelly was at his side. Okay, let’s take a look at what Trump didn’t do when Kelly was Chief of Staff: • Trump **didn’t** condemn white supremacists at Charlotteville, instead saying they were “good people”; • Trump **didn’t** keep together families who crossed the border illegally, instead separating young children from their parents; • Trump **didn’t** work together with the US’s long-standing allies on trade issues, instead preferring to support autocrats; • Trump **didn’t** condemn the execution of a US journalist on the orders of the Saudi Crown Prince; • Trump **didn’t** live up to long-standing commitments to the US’s Kurdish allies, instead throwing them to the mercy of their Turkish enemies, at the request of the increasingly-autocratic President of Turkey; • Trump **didn’t** accept the unanimous advice from the US intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered in US elections, instead accepting the word of the President of Russia that Russia would never do such a thing; • Trump **didn’t** keep the US government open and functioning. Heck of a job there, Kelly! ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/2 "2019-01-01T18:25:20Z")
Kelly’s proven to be a dishonorable, dishonest man. It’s sad that he was able to make it to flag level in the military. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/3 "2019-01-01T18:35:41Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Kelly’s proven to be a dishonorable, dishonest man. It’s sad that he was able to make it to flag level in the military. QFT. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/4 "2019-01-01T19:00:23Z")
It’s almost as if Trump is a stress-test for virtue and ethics. Everyone he picks starts revealing deep flaws, which may not have been known before. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/5 "2019-01-01T20:47:17Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Kelly’s proven to be a dishonorable, dishonest man. It’s sad that he was able to make it to flag level in the military. Especially when contrasted with his fellow Marine, James Mattis. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/6 "2019-01-01T22:04:22Z")
Fuck that empty barrel. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/7 "2019-01-01T22:13:38Z")
sorry, my dick isn’t big around enough to touch the sides. OH! Did you mean like there’s a hole drilled into the side of the barrel, with more realistic dimensions, that should get fucked? Yeah, _that_ I could probably manage. Still, pass… ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/8 "2019-01-01T22:50:13Z")
Until Kelly provides a detailed list of all the horrible stuff he prevented he can go fuck himself. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/9 "2019-01-01T22:58:22Z")
Look at all the things Trump didn’t do. He wasn’t caught in bed with a dead girl–or a live boy. He didn’t shoot someone on Broadway. He didn’t start a war with Canada. Give Kelly some credit. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/10 "2019-01-01T23:18:12Z")
More importantly, he didn’t _lose_ a war with Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/11 "2019-01-01T23:46:26Z")
More rant, really. Off to the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/12 "2019-01-01T23:59:49Z")
I thought I was being restrained! :). But, comme tu veux. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/13 "2019-01-02T01:48:22Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Look at all the things Trump didn’t do. He wasn’t caught in bed with a dead girl–or a live boy. He didn’t shoot someone on Broadway. He didn’t start a war with Canada. Give Kelly some credit. That we know of. . . yet. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/14 "2019-01-02T02:00:05Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Look at all the things Trump didn’t do. {snip} > [@](#): > > He didn’t start a war with Canada. Not for want of trying. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/15 "2019-01-02T04:10:51Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Until Kelly provides a detailed list of all the horrible stuff he prevented he can go fuck himself. I suspect the list might be forthcoming in a few years. I’m willing to withhold judgment on certain members of Trump’s national security team; I’ll include Kelly in that list. Somebody has to step in if the 72 year old President starts fiddling with the launch codes. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/16 "2019-01-02T04:41:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Kelly wants us to judge him by “what Trump didn’t do” Good. I wonder what further things Kelly could prevent Trump from doing by publicly speaking out and using his personal credibility to bring to light Trump’s actions as president. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/17 "2019-01-02T06:02:05Z")
> [@digs](#): > > More importantly, he didn’t _lose_ a war with Canada. At this point, the fact that Trump didn’t lose a war with Canada is disappointing. Can we just surrender now? I want that socialised medicine! ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/18 "2019-01-02T13:06:46Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Especially when contrasted with his fellow Marine, James Mattis. Yes it’s honorable to throw a hissy fit when you’re being ignored. I must laugh at all of these military clowns going down in flames these past few years. At no other time in US history has a group of obvious military bunglers been bestowed such undeserved reverence as the time before Trump. Let these idiots collect their checks and go away. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/19 "2019-01-02T13:51:28Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > …sociali **s** ed… iswydt ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045/20 "2019-01-02T14:14:41Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > At this point, the fact that Trump didn’t lose a war with Canada is disappointing. He \*has \*made them want to build a wall, and make the Americans pay for it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kelly-wants-us-to-judge-him-by-what-trump-didnt-do/827045.md?page=2)