Over the weekend this story went viral.

In Pico Rivera (not to be confused with the condiment), California, a city councilman named Gregory Salcido, who is also a high school teacher, was caught on video disparaging military service and the young men and women who choose service to their nation as a vocation.

Gregory Salcido, who works at a high school in Pico Rivera said in the video that members of the military fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan were “the lowest of the low,” in a rant about how long the wars overseas have dragged on. The video was reportedly taken in the middle of a history class he was teaching.

“Because we have a bunch of dumbs—s over there,” he said in the video. “Think about the people who you know who are over there. Your freaking stupid Uncle Louie or whatever. They’re dumb(expletive). They’re not like high level thinkers, they’re not academic people, they’re not intellectual people. They’re the lowest of our low.”
…
“So, if you join the military, it’s because you had no other options,” he said. “It’s because you didn’t take care of business academically because your parents didn’t love you enough to push you and then you didn’t love yourself enough to push yourself.”
…
Salcido spoke in loaded terms about the United States’s foes, saying the military was losing to “dudes wearing freaking robes and chanclas (flip-flops)” in the Middle East.

“The data is in, we don’t have a good military,” he said. “We couldn’t beat the Vietnamese. They’re a bunch of people this freaking big throwing rice at us.”

He also criticized military recruiters in public schools.

“It’s a lie that our military is freaking bitching,” he said. “Why after the national anthem do we have a killing machine fly over the freaking stadium? You know, the stealth bomber comes in. Everyone’s all like, ‘Yeah.’ Like, ‘That’s what we kill people with, woo.’ Why would that be something we celebrate?”

The Pentagon registered its displeasure and Salcido seems to have been suspended from his teaching gig. But the ultimate commentary came today from White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. Kelly is a retired Marine four-star and former Commandant of the Marine Corps, or, as he’s called today a “Trump stooge” because he support the president. He had this to say:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/958720326443126784

“I think the guy ought to go to hell. I hope he enjoys the liberties and the lifestyle that we have fought for.”