That... recontextualizes Milley's own action. His big 'fuck you' was ensuring that everyone knew the chain of command for launching nukes. The call with China is debatable, and really can be read as "You'll get an official declaration of war, not a surprise attack". Which is shitty but a far cry from pure treason under tumultuous circumstances.
But if we take this at face value, it means the big one could have been for more than Trump, ensuring nobody does something stupid. Including the democrats.
Addendum: Right, to expand. Milley is accused of two things.
1: Asserting himself as the middleman in between Trump and the Football.
2: Telling the Chinese he'd warn them if the nukes were to be dropped.
This hasn't sat well with me for a while, because it only made sense if Milley legitimately feared Trump launching nukes at China, which was farcical. But now consider a different light, you have an Admin coming in with clear ties to china, a Speaker seeking to gain the nuclear launch codes herself, a long and documented history of viewing Trump as the most evil thing ever, and a clearly fraudulent election to unseat him. So, what is a general to do in this situation?
1: Make sure he is a barrier to -anyone- misusing the codes.
2: Sooth over the most likely victim to prevent preemptive assault in case the other faction decides to play dirty.
Well... fuck. It fits. Also means I can't hate Milley as much, because legitimately it makes his actions the best thing he could have done in the situation.
Addendum 2: So, the above is based on the title alone, a consideration of implications, to be followed by in depth look. So what is in the article?
"General Mark Milley defended his calls with Chinese officials, which he says were to “cool down” tensions with his counterpart amid rumors of a forthcoming military attack, and discussed a phone call he had with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), whom he suggested encouraged him to undermine the president’s ability to launch a nuclear attack."
Confirmation of 2.
"“Speaker of the House Pelosi called me to inquire about the president’s ability to launch nuclear weapons,” he confirmed. “I sought to assure her that nuclear launch is governed by a very specific and deliberate process. She was concerned and made various personal references characterizing the president. I explained to her the president is the sole nuclear launch authority and he doesn’t launch them alone and that I am not qualified to determine the mental health of the President of the United States.”"
Low key confirmation of 1.