On May 12, 2025, retired General Stanley McChrystal was interviewed on The Daily Show. Among the wide-ranging topics discussed were personal character and fidelity to the truth. He was asked if he ever called or texted his wife with, “Hey honey, we are bombing Kabul today.” He said certainly not; if he had, he would have immediately resigned. He said a true patriot would resign because of his character and sense of duty.
General McChrystal went on to say, “The thing that upset me the most about that [Secretary of Defense sent classified operational details of the attack on Yemen to his wife and lawyer]was not the mistake. People make mistakes, and we all make them forever. It was after the fact that people went on public news and said the information wasn’t classified. And I don’t like the idea that they would look and say something that I know is not true and that I think they know is not true.”
General McChrystal is no stooge of the Democratic Party. After a magazine article said he was unhappy with the Obama Administration, he resigned from the military and his role as the General in charge of Afghanistan. He probably said some things in the heat of the moment that he may have regretted. However, instead of lying or trying to blame someone else, he apologized to President Obama and resigned his commission.
At the end of his interview, General McChrystal suggested that America must refocus on citizenship. He said that most Americans think their job is done after paying their taxes and voting. He said, “The responsibilities are much broader than that. It is up to every other American, because the nation is only a covenant between citizens. God did not create the United States.”
The General continued with some suggestions. He said that all Americans should return to the country’s fundamental values. Instead of sowing division and hatred, we should all return to the center and agree on basic issues. Aside from simply NOT LYING, how about telling the truth? How about developing a backbone instead of hiding from responsibility or blaming others for failures? Trying to tell the truth and having personal integrity are more important than making money or winning elections.
The following is an excerpt from his interview:
It makes it particularly hard because if we start to have a conversation on character now, a certain group is always going to feel defensive because they think that you are leveraging the word “character” against them. In fact, it can go both ways. People on both ends of the spectrum can feel that, but we have still got to have it. That is why this has got to be a conversation that begins in the center. I think at pretty low levels that starts with saying, we are not going to vote for you. We are not going to buy your products. We are not going to like you on social media. We are not going to do all of those things you want us to do unless we see some level of character. Not perfect character. We are never going to see that, but what we are going to see is a set of forms that say, we respect the requirement that there is character. If you make a mistake, admit it. What can our kids learn from watching this? If they are absolutely disappointed every time they see — or if they just assume, that is the way it is? That will be even worse.
General McChrystal makes some crucial points about some fundamental cultural challenges. If we systematically eliminate truth and personal character in favor of distortion and dishonor, what are we leaving for future generations? Moreover, if our military gives primary allegiance to the President instead of the Constitution, future generations will not grasp the concepts of truth and character.