Yes, Tom, exactly. Forget Garland; he is a big zero and has been since he was appointed. But Biden? One would think the guy still has an ounce of patriotic blood left after all these years of service. Or is he that far around the bend at 82? God help us if SOMEONE near the top doesn't stop this madness. It's crystal clear that the American electorate isn't interested.
I honestly feel at this point that the only force capable of turning this tragedy around is the US military. I would rather see a coup by the Pentagon prior to January 20, complete with summary executions of all complicit in this treason including Trump, Vance, Musk and six members of SCOTUS, than to watch the United States go down with a whimper. As a veteran I know that there are still good people in military leadership who would act honorably and restore our democracy. The alternative is a civil war.
I’d prefer to disagree, but honestly, none of the other people best positioned to forcefully address this existential crisis seem inclined to do so. I, too, am a veteran, and at the very least wonder whether senior active duty officers are prepared to honor their oaths and disobey illegal orders. Whatever MAGA thinks of the Constitution, and whatever its flaws, it remains the governing foundation of the United States of America. Patriots are honor bound to uphold it.
And Tom, the top brass in the military chain of command took an oath, the same oath that you and I took, to defend the constitution aginst all enemies, both foreign and DOMESTIC. And if Donald Trump is not a domestic terrorist, I have no idea who could possibly qualify. As far as I'm concerned, the bastard should have been stood up against a wall and executed on January 7, 2021.
As a retired Navy Captain, I cannot disagree with your assertion. However, do not underestimate the civilian "Deep State." During his first term, once it was obvious that Trump's loose lips would start sinking ships, the intel community stopped sharing intel that he might react to recklessly. I was surprised by how long it took our spooks to retrieve the stollen secrets - likely to extort favors from the globalist oligarchy without regard for the "losers" in uniform that his extortion might kill.
Also, keep in mind that Hegseth and Trump's flag-officer hit-list are a bold attempt to undermine the integrity of the officer corps which stymied Trump's first coup. My Marine DI in OCS reminded us Ensigns-to-be that "A tattoo is permanent evidence of a temporary lapse in judgment. " Hegseth, unlike 99% of non-prior-enlisted military officers, is covered with serial evidence of bad judgement.
As a retired mustang, rank irrelevant, just commissioned via Officer training via a long career as an enlisted man. I hold the officer corps suspect, especially academy graduates. They have been infected with Dominionism, Christian warriors. It started in 62 when the AF Academy opened it's doors, and evangelical mega churches flooded in to Colorado springs. Since they they have been pumping out Christian warriors and the infection spread to West Point and Annapolis.
Examples are Ret Col Martha McSalley and Gen Stanley A McChrystal commander of forces in Afghanistan who descibed it as a Christian Crusade.
Two non academy grads whose allegiance to the constitution are inquestion are ret lt Gen Michael Flynn and his brother ret Gen Charles Flynn who as Chistropher Millers assistant sat at his desk on Jan 6 and let the phone ring off the hook, as Pelsoi was calling to release the National Guard.
Biden repaid Charles treachery by appointing mi 1st, Commander Pacific Forces, then promoting him to four stars.
Gen Milley was commissioned via ROTC, I do not trust any Academy grads..
Most officers I served with are flat out careerists, their career and promotions come first.
I shudder for the country, to think of how many Generals and subordinate officers will obey all commands that come down the chain of command., especially since SCOTUS has sanctified all orders issued by the president.
Biden has two months left to stop this jump into dictatorship, but he will do nothng. He appointed a fifth columnist as AG, and has not twisted Chuck Schumers arm to advance a progressive agenda, by using the nuclear option. probably because he doesn't believe in the progressive agenda
I think your characterization of generals has a lot has to do with the view from afar. Until you make O-5, all contact with the top brass is remote and trickle-down - often retranslated by several officers of lower rank. That creates a very distorted picture of leadership. Like you, my Navy career began at bootcamp, then later OCS. I served an in-country tour in Rung Sat in the Saigon jungles, then another on the Vietnam coast as flagship navigator. In 1974, I became a "peace dividend" but stayed in the "active" reserves to make car payments while getting my psychology doctorate. At that stage of my Navy career, I shared your "careerist" stereotype of senior officers. But then I got a rare opportunity to sit in a room full of admirals on a regular basis, and my stereotype did a 180.
During my 3rd year on a med school faculty managing a psychiatry lab, the Navy SG called to invite me to return to active service to head up a huge Navywide study. That study was such a huge hit that I was asked to stay in uniform, and I soon I got my first Pentagon job on the personal staff of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations overseeing his R&D programs. Within 6 months, he asked me to sit in on all board meetings as a consultant. Watching 8 admirals deal with policies, practices and scandals was an eye-opener. They were all very focused on doing the right thing by their people, and often asked me if we had any study results that might help inform changes to make things better for the troops. Almost monthly I was asked to commission new studies to help them with data-based decision-making. I only met a couple of rear admirals who fit the "careerists" stereotype, and they wound up retiring as Captains due to poor performance.
I too was shocked by Flynn as I had never worked with a 3-star as whacky as him. The personnel system is not perfect. As for the academies, two of my mentors were mustangs who were commissioned at Annapolis. One was CO of my first ship. The other was CO of the entire US Navy. Neither struck me as different from non-mustang officers. Your tale about Christian nationalist is quite troubling, but I am not sure how dominant their numbers are today. I retired in 2000 – not so current.
LeMoine Surlamont: I agree. I felt that t signed his death warrant when he announced what his intentions toward the military were. As much as I hate the thought of this actually happening, with Biden acting like an incompetent fool, I see no other choice. As I keep saying, the Oath of Allegiance is to the Constitution and not to any person, political party, or religion.
Mr. Surlamont, your suggestion is exactly what makes a banana republic a banana republic. If the current military leadership takes that course of action; there will be no turning back, none. We will be lost for good.
At this nauseating juncture point, as we stare in horror at the abyss of our immediate future, are we not CURRENTLY lost for good? During the past 4 years of Democratic small-margin power, resistance to MAGA takeover has been thwarted by loopholes in our constitutional law, as well as still-mysterious holding back by those who held the power to have acted. Any remaining resistance to MAGA takeover seems disabled by the enormous power that our hesitancy has offered Trump, our (soon-certified) First American Dictator.
Thus, I ask, are we not CURRENTLY being "hung by our own petard"?
I do not recommend any particular action to mitigate the peril we face. I cannot think of any. I argue only with your verb construction (will be), which implies that we are not currently "lost for good".
I believe that we are lost for good (or at least for the rest of my life, which began in 1950) unless some unprecedented and bold intervention is mounted. And, quickly! I cannot imagine what it might be.
I would “Like” your comment if Substack would but permit me do so, LeMoine. Yeah, had Garland become a Justice he’d have doubtless recused from all controversial cases, which is to say all cases.
It isn't guts he lacked, but he was on the other team at the outset.
He was a right wing Republican Sandra, vetted to Obama by the most extreme right Senator in congress at the time, Orrin Hatch R Ut. All Obama wanted was a win, he didn't care about principle or values. Garland also worked for the Federalist Society.
He did not prosecute or investigate the Jan 6 conspirators inside the house, and he only appointed Jack Smith after taking heat from his peers
He jumped at the chance of appointing a Trump humper, David Weiss, to prosecute Hunter Biden. He moved the classified documents case to Florida under false pretenses, then appointed Aileen Cannon to oversee the trial.
Guts was not is not the issue, he is a fox in the henhouse and Joe Biden is to blame.
OMG. This is a line of thought that causes my husband to accuse me of falling for conspiracy theories, but which causes ME to feel chills ... because it resonates as TRUTH. The accumulation of facts and opinions I've ingested since Trump came down that escalator, leads me to believe what you describe. You offer details which explain many mysteries I've pondered.
These specifics would make a great plot for a best-seller spy novel, but I'd rather not be living here, as it plays out in my homeland. Unfortunately, there's nowhere to run, and I'm too old to relocate. .... So be it.
For me, it's time to stop worrying about my own sorry skin, and start caring for the most vulnerable among us.
There are conspiracy theories and their are conspiracies. Those who engage in conspiracies and have gravitas, power,influence belittle the notion, and why not , ridicule works.
If anyone mentioned seeing a UFO (UAP) they were ridiculed as a kook, a krank, if a pilot they would be grounded, now they are taken seriously.
Jan 6 was a conspiracy. Trump is a conspiracy, out in the open, and that's the way to do it.
Life is nothing but conspiracy, If you see two businessmen having drinks or dinner together, be assured a conspiracy is afoot.
A spouse on the phone to a lover, another conspiracy.
Some conspiracy theories are bonkers, but not all.
It is like populism, there is left wing populism, like Bernie Sanders,, and right wing populism like Trump.
But all populism has been tainted by the likes of William Jennings Bryan, Huey Long, Adolph Hitler and Trump.
Am I being a hopeful Pollyanna by thinking/hoping that Biden, as he has done before, is working quietly behind the scenes to do an end run on the openly promised evil to defeat their planned national coup?
There has to be a way to stop the presidency of trump. Abe Lincoln halted the unruly confederates with suspending habeas corpus. We got a civil war, but that would be better than a fascist USA. Biden must act. No question.
Thom cited and interviewed Stephen Spoonamore, who was CEO or CTO at seven high technology firms including two that specialized in hacking and counter-hacking operations. He wrote a memo alleging that to "a near certainty" the results have been changed at a scale which reversed the election. He recommends a hand recount to most likely require reversal. He cites to a letter from 7 experts in computer science who go into detail. https://freespeechforpeople.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/letter-to-vp-harris-111324.pdf
I don't think Spoonamore knows jack about law. Many of the acts alleged may be crimes -- either state and/or federal.
Every other state has similar provisions. AZ and NV apparently aberrant...that may be enough. But note that Greg Palast also says 2.7 million votes are missing.
The requirements for TROs are usually iminent and imediate threats..
We had Consitutional crises before...Bush v Gore. A civil war.
I watch -- not really...time is fleeting. MSNBC has NYT and WAPO editors and columnists every day. Are not called out.
Trump spread the big lie. His Jan 6 message was "stop the steal" This time, he apparently, with Musk's and Russkie help, performed a steal.
The most inflential talking head on MSNBC is Diaz Balart. Has one brother who is a MAGAT member of Congress -- Mario. Older Brother Lincoln was also in Congress -- in essence was Republican kingmaker in Florida. Also on Telemundo, which is now the Spanish language Fox.
Write to the WH. There needs to be a groundswell of support for a simple hand count. It could save our democracy. We have to be active participants. We can't retreat and wait for someone else to do it.
Because Kamala couldn't wait to concede, 5 hrs after the last vote was cast she conceded while votes were being counted, she sanctified the election by getting on the phone to Trump, she couldn't wait to concede and sold out every person who voted for and donated to her.
Daniel, I did not know that Hartmann interviewed Stephen Spoonamore. However my question revolves around the elephant in the room, a hacked election. My hair is on fire, with each revelation Hartmann describes. It seems to me if he agrees with Spoonamore, why hasn't he made it a central focus of the letter. I wrote to the WH. Everyone should be doing that. Biden/Harris are also unusually silent on the issue.
Daniel, why hasn't Hartmann, Reich and HCR made this a central issue of their newsletter? Am I missing something? Spoonamore and Professor Haldemann have voiced the vulnerabilities of these machines. Spoonamore goes so far as to name the time Musk used Starlink to alter the results of the 2024 election. Biden/Harris have shown no interest so far in addressing this. https://tinfoilmatt.substack.com/p/security-expert-says-vote-tabulators-hacked
MSNBC has not reported on stuff like this....the real story since 2016 has been Russians in our youtrow. Mueller convicted national security advisor Michael Flynn and the chair of the Trump presidential campaign, Paul Manafort. The investigation resulted in charges against 34 individuals and 3 companies, 8 guilty pleas, and a conviction at trial.
Mueller did not reach a conclusion about possible obstruction of justice by Trump, citing a Justice Department guideline that prohibits the federal indictment of a sitting president. That pisses me off. It's uo to a jury to determine whether there was complicity. I thought that Mueller was farblonget and Weissman, who MSNBC has elevated to expert, should, at least have preserved Trump's testimony,
Even Midastouch has failed to investigate.
I'm sure that there are experts who can state, to a reasobable degree of probability, whether the Russian threats, intimmidation, proopaganda had an effect. If so, to what extent?
Are willing idiots complicit?
MSNBC should be reporting in the blue wall and other states. All I hear is Trump. In Pa, there are dozens of voting lawsuits. What do local DAs say?
Daniel, I agree. However, Barr was a major factor in distorting Mueller's testimony. When Mueller testified, he did not have the verve, stamina etc. He looked like an old man, whose time had passed. I joined Bluesky. I have not heard from them, but they are another avenue to get the message out. I also think if people like you contacted O'Donnell about the hacked election, you might be more successful than me in getting a response.
There is, SCOTUS gave Biden unlimited power so long as he can claim he is acting in his capacity as President.
If it were Trump, he would precipitate a crisis, cause an uproar, demonstrations, which would be used by agents provocateur to cause violence and property damage, which would then be a pretext for declaring a national emergency, and martial law, and suspend habeas corpus and call out the military to use against the people.
In fact that is exactly what Trump will do, to shred the constitution. The laws are there, all he has to do use them.
An order to Seal -Team 6 to take out those who are destroying our country would certainly be an action of official presidential business and therefore making the president immune from any legal action.
Trojan Horses? For those of us who follow the trump cabal I'm pretty sure we aren't fooled by these horses. It's the under-educated, under-informed & most importantly the UNDER-INTERESTED that buy all the swill. Do we really think they are paying attention to the cabinet picks? I highly doubt if you asked a typical trump voter who Gabbard, Hegseth, Noem are, their eyes would glaze over they'd probably recognize RFK Jr name but only because it's Kennedy. They wouldn't have a clue about what any of these sycophants are about to do & since they don't trust the government & haven't got a clue how important these departments are they quite frankly "don't give a damn"!
This would be comical if it was an Austin Powers flick with Dr. Evil. But, this is not a comedy in theatres. Millions of lives and livelihoods are on the line.
I want to take this opportunity to note, that a regular pro Putin commenter whom I called Boris and claimed to be a Jewish D.O. is,as predicted, noticeably absent, and has been since Nov 6th. His services are no longer needed.
I guess I’m a bit surprised that our current administration, intelligence agencies and military are not doing anything to stop this overthrow of Democracy. I wish this was a movie where Mar a Lago is raided, arrests are made and the American people are saved from this treason. Mind blowing🤯
Biden and our current AG Merrick Garland just seem to have vanished, even though they still have 2 months in office. Are they actually in cahoots with what’s going on with Trump, Russia, etc.??? I can’t believe that they are, and yet, their absence is just deafening. What the hell is going on???
Democrats have been pretty fond of sitting on their hands. Grow some balls or better yet hand control over to the women who seem to take things more seriously.
I went to high school with Garland. I am totally embarrassed.
A lot of this seems to be something that Biden could have released a long time ago and definitely should now. The People had a right to know, and the People need to know this now. The Resistance could be larger if people could see what the hell is happening. The Democratic Party has too much faith in the institutions and always seem to take the high road but look where this has gotten us.
Our 350 million people have power—and yet, what power do we really have when our people are divided in both mindset and by distance into thirds in this country with a substantial middle section so opposed to the outer 2 thirds?
This has been so neatly accomplished. We are being herded as a people. Separated in both ideology and assets. How quickly will it be before the undereducated and greedy to be installed as leaders and completely engulf the whole population in laws that stifle any sort of justice or future for the US? How long will it take for the richest country in the world to be pillaged and gutted and the puppet All the people spoken of in this article hate the people of this country, and couldn’t care less about what we’ve been working to establish for the last 248 years.
Traitor Trump is going on this way and the GOP is happy to spread fear everywhere they can. The joy in causing people pain especially if they think differently than their own group. Just freaking amazing.
Sir Okie. Have you ever watched the William Shatner series of Star Trek? Remember the Borg?
The Borg weren't stupid, they were part of a collective, That's what Virus' are, and that is what MAGA is, a collective.
The irony is that communism is their greatest epithet, but MAGA is as communist as you can get, although composed of individuals, they act like an individual
While a single jellyfish appears as one individual, it is technically considered a colony of cells, meaning it is not composed of multiple distinct individuals, but rather a single organism made up of many cooperating cells; So goes MAGA
Stupidity has nothing to do with his ability to manipulate people.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said of Sherlock Holmes, when it came to light that he knew nothing of geography, Holmes response was basically it is irrelevant information.
Al Capone, a Trump hero, was stupid. His emotional IQ though is off the charts, if not he would not have become a billionaire and so powerful, despite having declared bankruptcy, what is it three times.
He is the paragon of pscyhopathy, unashamed, unabashed, no conscience, and able to project power and a charisma that has enemies and idiots alike enthralled.
Show me one Newspaper, one TV Channel, that hasn't mentioned his name at least once, if not more often in the last 9 years.
All those people you named that suffered and died because of him is not because of his stupidity, but because he doesn't give a shit.
You care, I care, so you project your sentiments onto him, and then excuse him by saying he is stupid.
Nah, he isn't stupid Okie, he just doesn't care, the only thing that matters in Trump world is Trump.
If it serves him it is good, if it doesn't it is irrelevant and if it stands in his way, it is bad.
No Okie they are not strawman fallacies, they directly address your claim that Trump is stupid. You need to clarify your definition of stupid.
In your response you did. Whether he can be analogized to a drug dealer selling fentanyl is another story. Only time will tell.
I take your example to Hitler. Hitler was also stupid, his meglamania and belief that he was smarter than his generals, brought the ruin of Germany and his own death.
But stupid people don't become Der Furhrer, Stupid people don't become President twice.
My wife was a building official, one of her inspectors was stupid, but smart in the way of finessing people. She actually tutored him when they were both students and because of her tutoring he passed and became a building inspector, previously he had been a carpenter and poured concrete.
He was shit as an inspector, made snide comments about her being book smart, but not street smart. I wouldn't live in a home that he inspected, he got by by schmoozing the contractors, until he didn't.
Trump is book stupid, but street smart, and that is the point I was making
Thank you Thom for the in-depth rhetorical question as to whether or not Trump's aim is to tear down our government. His latest Clown-Car Cabinet pick, TV quack MD, Dr. Oz wants to privatize Medicare for 65 million disabled and retired Americans by forcing us in private Medicare Advantage Programs. Those programs have increasingly been shown to be $cams that denied coverages and bled fees.
Like you, I have thought all along that Trump's goal has been to tear down our government and turn us into a 3rd-World economy and oligarch haven. That Trump is psychotic does not require a PhD in psychology (although I have one). The Documentary "The Apprentice" offers hints, but the basis for his sociopathy is irrelevant to preventing the pending harm you noted.
Our only hope is the "Deep State," of which I was a proud member for decades. These are the military and civilian employees who put the constitution first. We knew how to prevent illegal and unconstitutional policies from taking root. We knew to not provide access to information that would enable harm to the republic. It almost seems like we might need some 007s to stop Trump's scorched-government initiatives.
The only remaining question is where is the reaction to this insanity to nip it in the bud? Having had a number of conversations with elder relatives of my German friends back in the 90s, they all told me that Hitler just sort of happened gradually until the Reichstag fire, and then it was too late to stop and WWII kicked in. Putin in Ukraine is like Hitler in Poland. What does it take to wake up America?
This article outlines the true reason the Supreme Court gave presidential immunity for official acts. Trump and his minions have all committed treason. The lack of serious prosecution for these crimes can be traced back to The Wall Street Putsch where important parts of the Congressional report were redacted and no one was prosecuted. The names of the persons and organizations involved were not revealed. It is the rich and predator class protecting each other and seeking to divide the rest of us against each other.
I think you are right, he might well "angrily" withdraw the worst nominations and replace them with equally repulsive but more normal seeming people, all to show that he can be "reasonable". Incidentally if these allegations are correct, and I believe them, the only thing in American history that comes close is when in the 1780s General James Wilkinson became a secret agent for the Spanish Empire. He then tried to turn economic control of the American settlements in Kentucky over to that power, which would have shut us out of the Mississippi Valley.
Future generations will be amazed at the gullibility of the American people. But you know right now Trump is right about one thing. He has repeatedly said that the world is laughing at America. It is, but not for the reasons he thinks.
My question is--with such a long history of sketchy behavior and connections to global enemies, how was Trump ever allowed to run for president at all? It seems like we have a vetting and screening of all Federal office-holders for national security concerns--except the president. We just trust the parties or the people to be wise enough to stop a Manchurian candidate from rising to the highest office in the strongest country in the world.
It has been more than obvious to me for some time, at least as far back as the George W. Bush administration, but if you want to bring down agencies within our government rather than making big waves and loud noises by firing all the staff and canceling the agency, you simply put an antagonist in charge of the agency. It can be an antagonist with no qualifications who threw ineptitude and their dislike of the agency they’ve been put in control of will run it into the ground, or you can put someone who is just downright incompetent and destroy the agency from within. It’s pretty obvious to me that that is one of Trump’s primary strategies to neuter our government and ultimately our constitution.
… and if the heads of all these agencies are horrid in every way possible, the employees will just quit without having to be fired, thereby foregoing the usual severance fee.
Is Joe Biden aware he’s still President? Is Merrick Garland aware he’s still AG? Our lame ducks appear to be comatose.
Yes, Tom, exactly. Forget Garland; he is a big zero and has been since he was appointed. But Biden? One would think the guy still has an ounce of patriotic blood left after all these years of service. Or is he that far around the bend at 82? God help us if SOMEONE near the top doesn't stop this madness. It's crystal clear that the American electorate isn't interested.
I honestly feel at this point that the only force capable of turning this tragedy around is the US military. I would rather see a coup by the Pentagon prior to January 20, complete with summary executions of all complicit in this treason including Trump, Vance, Musk and six members of SCOTUS, than to watch the United States go down with a whimper. As a veteran I know that there are still good people in military leadership who would act honorably and restore our democracy. The alternative is a civil war.
I’d prefer to disagree, but honestly, none of the other people best positioned to forcefully address this existential crisis seem inclined to do so. I, too, am a veteran, and at the very least wonder whether senior active duty officers are prepared to honor their oaths and disobey illegal orders. Whatever MAGA thinks of the Constitution, and whatever its flaws, it remains the governing foundation of the United States of America. Patriots are honor bound to uphold it.
And Tom, the top brass in the military chain of command took an oath, the same oath that you and I took, to defend the constitution aginst all enemies, both foreign and DOMESTIC. And if Donald Trump is not a domestic terrorist, I have no idea who could possibly qualify. As far as I'm concerned, the bastard should have been stood up against a wall and executed on January 7, 2021.
Me too! Perhaps hung in the square!
As a retired Navy Captain, I cannot disagree with your assertion. However, do not underestimate the civilian "Deep State." During his first term, once it was obvious that Trump's loose lips would start sinking ships, the intel community stopped sharing intel that he might react to recklessly. I was surprised by how long it took our spooks to retrieve the stollen secrets - likely to extort favors from the globalist oligarchy without regard for the "losers" in uniform that his extortion might kill.
Also, keep in mind that Hegseth and Trump's flag-officer hit-list are a bold attempt to undermine the integrity of the officer corps which stymied Trump's first coup. My Marine DI in OCS reminded us Ensigns-to-be that "A tattoo is permanent evidence of a temporary lapse in judgment. " Hegseth, unlike 99% of non-prior-enlisted military officers, is covered with serial evidence of bad judgement.
As a retired mustang, rank irrelevant, just commissioned via Officer training via a long career as an enlisted man. I hold the officer corps suspect, especially academy graduates. They have been infected with Dominionism, Christian warriors. It started in 62 when the AF Academy opened it's doors, and evangelical mega churches flooded in to Colorado springs. Since they they have been pumping out Christian warriors and the infection spread to West Point and Annapolis.
Examples are Ret Col Martha McSalley and Gen Stanley A McChrystal commander of forces in Afghanistan who descibed it as a Christian Crusade.
Two non academy grads whose allegiance to the constitution are inquestion are ret lt Gen Michael Flynn and his brother ret Gen Charles Flynn who as Chistropher Millers assistant sat at his desk on Jan 6 and let the phone ring off the hook, as Pelsoi was calling to release the National Guard.
Biden repaid Charles treachery by appointing mi 1st, Commander Pacific Forces, then promoting him to four stars.
Gen Milley was commissioned via ROTC, I do not trust any Academy grads..
Most officers I served with are flat out careerists, their career and promotions come first.
I shudder for the country, to think of how many Generals and subordinate officers will obey all commands that come down the chain of command., especially since SCOTUS has sanctified all orders issued by the president.
Biden has two months left to stop this jump into dictatorship, but he will do nothng. He appointed a fifth columnist as AG, and has not twisted Chuck Schumers arm to advance a progressive agenda, by using the nuclear option. probably because he doesn't believe in the progressive agenda
I think your characterization of generals has a lot has to do with the view from afar. Until you make O-5, all contact with the top brass is remote and trickle-down - often retranslated by several officers of lower rank. That creates a very distorted picture of leadership. Like you, my Navy career began at bootcamp, then later OCS. I served an in-country tour in Rung Sat in the Saigon jungles, then another on the Vietnam coast as flagship navigator. In 1974, I became a "peace dividend" but stayed in the "active" reserves to make car payments while getting my psychology doctorate. At that stage of my Navy career, I shared your "careerist" stereotype of senior officers. But then I got a rare opportunity to sit in a room full of admirals on a regular basis, and my stereotype did a 180.
During my 3rd year on a med school faculty managing a psychiatry lab, the Navy SG called to invite me to return to active service to head up a huge Navywide study. That study was such a huge hit that I was asked to stay in uniform, and I soon I got my first Pentagon job on the personal staff of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations overseeing his R&D programs. Within 6 months, he asked me to sit in on all board meetings as a consultant. Watching 8 admirals deal with policies, practices and scandals was an eye-opener. They were all very focused on doing the right thing by their people, and often asked me if we had any study results that might help inform changes to make things better for the troops. Almost monthly I was asked to commission new studies to help them with data-based decision-making. I only met a couple of rear admirals who fit the "careerists" stereotype, and they wound up retiring as Captains due to poor performance.
I too was shocked by Flynn as I had never worked with a 3-star as whacky as him. The personnel system is not perfect. As for the academies, two of my mentors were mustangs who were commissioned at Annapolis. One was CO of my first ship. The other was CO of the entire US Navy. Neither struck me as different from non-mustang officers. Your tale about Christian nationalist is quite troubling, but I am not sure how dominant their numbers are today. I retired in 2000 – not so current.
Tom, it is a natural tendency to defend a group to which one belongs.. but not everyone is of that ilk.
You say you were shocked by Flynn, called him whacky.
Whacky is dismissive, he is not whacky but dangerous and how about his brother Charles, who enabled Jan 6th and got rewarded.
There are enough Dominionists and self serving careerists among officer ranks to raise concerns.
We will find out in two months won't we? Let's see what officers survive the purge and serve dear Leader.
LeMoine Surlamont: I agree. I felt that t signed his death warrant when he announced what his intentions toward the military were. As much as I hate the thought of this actually happening, with Biden acting like an incompetent fool, I see no other choice. As I keep saying, the Oath of Allegiance is to the Constitution and not to any person, political party, or religion.
Mr. Surlamont, your suggestion is exactly what makes a banana republic a banana republic. If the current military leadership takes that course of action; there will be no turning back, none. We will be lost for good.
At this nauseating juncture point, as we stare in horror at the abyss of our immediate future, are we not CURRENTLY lost for good? During the past 4 years of Democratic small-margin power, resistance to MAGA takeover has been thwarted by loopholes in our constitutional law, as well as still-mysterious holding back by those who held the power to have acted. Any remaining resistance to MAGA takeover seems disabled by the enormous power that our hesitancy has offered Trump, our (soon-certified) First American Dictator.
Thus, I ask, are we not CURRENTLY being "hung by our own petard"?
I do not recommend any particular action to mitigate the peril we face. I cannot think of any. I argue only with your verb construction (will be), which implies that we are not currently "lost for good".
I believe that we are lost for good (or at least for the rest of my life, which began in 1950) unless some unprecedented and bold intervention is mounted. And, quickly! I cannot imagine what it might be.
I would “Like” your comment if Substack would but permit me do so, LeMoine. Yeah, had Garland become a Justice he’d have doubtless recused from all controversial cases, which is to say all cases.
Let Garland retire! He doesn’t have the guts to play this game!
It isn't guts he lacked, but he was on the other team at the outset.
He was a right wing Republican Sandra, vetted to Obama by the most extreme right Senator in congress at the time, Orrin Hatch R Ut. All Obama wanted was a win, he didn't care about principle or values. Garland also worked for the Federalist Society.
He did not prosecute or investigate the Jan 6 conspirators inside the house, and he only appointed Jack Smith after taking heat from his peers
He jumped at the chance of appointing a Trump humper, David Weiss, to prosecute Hunter Biden. He moved the classified documents case to Florida under false pretenses, then appointed Aileen Cannon to oversee the trial.
Guts was not is not the issue, he is a fox in the henhouse and Joe Biden is to blame.
OMG. This is a line of thought that causes my husband to accuse me of falling for conspiracy theories, but which causes ME to feel chills ... because it resonates as TRUTH. The accumulation of facts and opinions I've ingested since Trump came down that escalator, leads me to believe what you describe. You offer details which explain many mysteries I've pondered.
These specifics would make a great plot for a best-seller spy novel, but I'd rather not be living here, as it plays out in my homeland. Unfortunately, there's nowhere to run, and I'm too old to relocate. .... So be it.
For me, it's time to stop worrying about my own sorry skin, and start caring for the most vulnerable among us.
There are conspiracy theories and their are conspiracies. Those who engage in conspiracies and have gravitas, power,influence belittle the notion, and why not , ridicule works.
If anyone mentioned seeing a UFO (UAP) they were ridiculed as a kook, a krank, if a pilot they would be grounded, now they are taken seriously.
Jan 6 was a conspiracy. Trump is a conspiracy, out in the open, and that's the way to do it.
Life is nothing but conspiracy, If you see two businessmen having drinks or dinner together, be assured a conspiracy is afoot.
A spouse on the phone to a lover, another conspiracy.
Some conspiracy theories are bonkers, but not all.
It is like populism, there is left wing populism, like Bernie Sanders,, and right wing populism like Trump.
But all populism has been tainted by the likes of William Jennings Bryan, Huey Long, Adolph Hitler and Trump.
Am I being a hopeful Pollyanna by thinking/hoping that Biden, as he has done before, is working quietly behind the scenes to do an end run on the openly promised evil to defeat their planned national coup?
Gaily it is scary indeed to look reality in the face.
There has to be a way to stop the presidency of trump. Abe Lincoln halted the unruly confederates with suspending habeas corpus. We got a civil war, but that would be better than a fascist USA. Biden must act. No question.
Thom cited and interviewed Stephen Spoonamore, who was CEO or CTO at seven high technology firms including two that specialized in hacking and counter-hacking operations. He wrote a memo alleging that to "a near certainty" the results have been changed at a scale which reversed the election. He recommends a hand recount to most likely require reversal. He cites to a letter from 7 experts in computer science who go into detail. https://freespeechforpeople.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/letter-to-vp-harris-111324.pdf
I don't think Spoonamore knows jack about law. Many of the acts alleged may be crimes -- either state and/or federal.
Proof of crime might trigger it, depending on the facts and statute. Feds: https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-frauds-and-scams/election-crimes-and-security
Pa. https://govt.westlaw.com/pac/Document/NE9692E70343011DA8A989F4EECDB8638?originationContext=document&transitionType=StatuteNavigator&needToInjectTerms=False&viewType=FullText&ppcid=4373140374c44d6283d5fa30147210e8&contextData=%28sc.Default%29
https://whyy.org/articles/lancaster-county-voter-registration-fraud-investigation-elections-2024/
Every other state has similar provisions. AZ and NV apparently aberrant...that may be enough. But note that Greg Palast also says 2.7 million votes are missing.
The requirements for TROs are usually iminent and imediate threats..
We had Consitutional crises before...Bush v Gore. A civil war.
YES. Why hasn't this been done? Even Musk said that hacking the vote would be "easy." Trump always cheats. So: why hasn't the recount begun?
Rowland, I've written to the White House to demand a hand count of the ballots.
Need AGs in all jurisdictions involved. As I say, supra, may be crimes.......
Daniel, Nicole Wallace said that she thought Biden/Harris are engaged in doing that.
I watch -- not really...time is fleeting. MSNBC has NYT and WAPO editors and columnists every day. Are not called out.
Trump spread the big lie. His Jan 6 message was "stop the steal" This time, he apparently, with Musk's and Russkie help, performed a steal.
The most inflential talking head on MSNBC is Diaz Balart. Has one brother who is a MAGAT member of Congress -- Mario. Older Brother Lincoln was also in Congress -- in essence was Republican kingmaker in Florida. Also on Telemundo, which is now the Spanish language Fox.
Write to the WH. There needs to be a groundswell of support for a simple hand count. It could save our democracy. We have to be active participants. We can't retreat and wait for someone else to do it.
Because Kamala couldn't wait to concede, 5 hrs after the last vote was cast she conceded while votes were being counted, she sanctified the election by getting on the phone to Trump, she couldn't wait to concede and sold out every person who voted for and donated to her.
Daniel, I did not know that Hartmann interviewed Stephen Spoonamore. However my question revolves around the elephant in the room, a hacked election. My hair is on fire, with each revelation Hartmann describes. It seems to me if he agrees with Spoonamore, why hasn't he made it a central focus of the letter. I wrote to the WH. Everyone should be doing that. Biden/Harris are also unusually silent on the issue.
Would stealth be advisable? Of course, we all know how easy it is to keep a secret 🤣
Gally, you're asking a question Daniel is more capable of answering.
Daniel, why hasn't Hartmann, Reich and HCR made this a central issue of their newsletter? Am I missing something? Spoonamore and Professor Haldemann have voiced the vulnerabilities of these machines. Spoonamore goes so far as to name the time Musk used Starlink to alter the results of the 2024 election. Biden/Harris have shown no interest so far in addressing this. https://tinfoilmatt.substack.com/p/security-expert-says-vote-tabulators-hacked
Got me. How about MSM, NYT, Wapo, et cet.
Call Musk to the stand....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV58O0USCaY
NYT and MSM are lost causes. However, Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell are gifts that keep on giving.
It's worth contacting them.
MSNBC has not reported on stuff like this....the real story since 2016 has been Russians in our youtrow. Mueller convicted national security advisor Michael Flynn and the chair of the Trump presidential campaign, Paul Manafort. The investigation resulted in charges against 34 individuals and 3 companies, 8 guilty pleas, and a conviction at trial.
Mueller did not reach a conclusion about possible obstruction of justice by Trump, citing a Justice Department guideline that prohibits the federal indictment of a sitting president. That pisses me off. It's uo to a jury to determine whether there was complicity. I thought that Mueller was farblonget and Weissman, who MSNBC has elevated to expert, should, at least have preserved Trump's testimony,
Even Midastouch has failed to investigate.
I'm sure that there are experts who can state, to a reasobable degree of probability, whether the Russian threats, intimmidation, proopaganda had an effect. If so, to what extent?
Are willing idiots complicit?
MSNBC should be reporting in the blue wall and other states. All I hear is Trump. In Pa, there are dozens of voting lawsuits. What do local DAs say?
Daniel, I agree. However, Barr was a major factor in distorting Mueller's testimony. When Mueller testified, he did not have the verve, stamina etc. He looked like an old man, whose time had passed. I joined Bluesky. I have not heard from them, but they are another avenue to get the message out. I also think if people like you contacted O'Donnell about the hacked election, you might be more successful than me in getting a response.
There is, SCOTUS gave Biden unlimited power so long as he can claim he is acting in his capacity as President.
If it were Trump, he would precipitate a crisis, cause an uproar, demonstrations, which would be used by agents provocateur to cause violence and property damage, which would then be a pretext for declaring a national emergency, and martial law, and suspend habeas corpus and call out the military to use against the people.
In fact that is exactly what Trump will do, to shred the constitution. The laws are there, all he has to do use them.
An order to Seal -Team 6 to take out those who are destroying our country would certainly be an action of official presidential business and therefore making the president immune from any legal action.
Trojan Horses? For those of us who follow the trump cabal I'm pretty sure we aren't fooled by these horses. It's the under-educated, under-informed & most importantly the UNDER-INTERESTED that buy all the swill. Do we really think they are paying attention to the cabinet picks? I highly doubt if you asked a typical trump voter who Gabbard, Hegseth, Noem are, their eyes would glaze over they'd probably recognize RFK Jr name but only because it's Kennedy. They wouldn't have a clue about what any of these sycophants are about to do & since they don't trust the government & haven't got a clue how important these departments are they quite frankly "don't give a damn"!
This would be comical if it was an Austin Powers flick with Dr. Evil. But, this is not a comedy in theatres. Millions of lives and livelihoods are on the line.
Existential -- "dark" comedy. Wasn't Sartre a commie?
We knew all this...and so did the media and DOJ.
And Aristotle said the sixth act of tragedy is comedy (and vice versa).
I want to take this opportunity to note, that a regular pro Putin commenter whom I called Boris and claimed to be a Jewish D.O. is,as predicted, noticeably absent, and has been since Nov 6th. His services are no longer needed.
I guess I’m a bit surprised that our current administration, intelligence agencies and military are not doing anything to stop this overthrow of Democracy. I wish this was a movie where Mar a Lago is raided, arrests are made and the American people are saved from this treason. Mind blowing🤯
I can’t believe we are going to hand over our country to Russia.
Biden and our current AG Merrick Garland just seem to have vanished, even though they still have 2 months in office. Are they actually in cahoots with what’s going on with Trump, Russia, etc.??? I can’t believe that they are, and yet, their absence is just deafening. What the hell is going on???
I can't believe Trump was even allowed to run for President after reading this recap.
Agree. What are they doing???? I hope there is a quiet plan being put in place, but somehow I seriously doubt it. Dumbfounded as we await our fate.
Democrats have been pretty fond of sitting on their hands. Grow some balls or better yet hand control over to the women who seem to take things more seriously.
I went to high school with Garland. I am totally embarrassed.
A lot of this seems to be something that Biden could have released a long time ago and definitely should now. The People had a right to know, and the People need to know this now. The Resistance could be larger if people could see what the hell is happening. The Democratic Party has too much faith in the institutions and always seem to take the high road but look where this has gotten us.
Our 350 million people have power—and yet, what power do we really have when our people are divided in both mindset and by distance into thirds in this country with a substantial middle section so opposed to the outer 2 thirds?
This has been so neatly accomplished. We are being herded as a people. Separated in both ideology and assets. How quickly will it be before the undereducated and greedy to be installed as leaders and completely engulf the whole population in laws that stifle any sort of justice or future for the US? How long will it take for the richest country in the world to be pillaged and gutted and the puppet All the people spoken of in this article hate the people of this country, and couldn’t care less about what we’ve been working to establish for the last 248 years.
Traitor Trump is going on this way and the GOP is happy to spread fear everywhere they can. The joy in causing people pain especially if they think differently than their own group. Just freaking amazing.
Trump? He's not unlike COVID.
He latches onto and invades a cell, turns it into a virus replication factory.
A factory which germinates replicants which invade other cells.
I call Donald PUVID 25 [Putin's Virus Disease 2025].
Why do viruses kill the host? Because the virus is ultimately stupid.
Our job? Stop P25 transmission any which way we can.
Sir Okie. Have you ever watched the William Shatner series of Star Trek? Remember the Borg?
The Borg weren't stupid, they were part of a collective, That's what Virus' are, and that is what MAGA is, a collective.
The irony is that communism is their greatest epithet, but MAGA is as communist as you can get, although composed of individuals, they act like an individual
While a single jellyfish appears as one individual, it is technically considered a colony of cells, meaning it is not composed of multiple distinct individuals, but rather a single organism made up of many cooperating cells; So goes MAGA
1,300,000 Americans died due to Donald's C19 stupidity.
When he yanks:
- Food Stamps
- Healthcare
- Social Security
- School Meals
- Random benefits
More Americans will die.
It's like pushers who cause their clientele to OD and die.
They have decimated their marketplace.
Donald will do the same w/ his voters..
Why? Because, at bottom, he's stupid. No other way to put it.
Flat stupid.
Age? Genes? Both? I couldn't care less about the why. He just is what he is.
Stupidity has nothing to do with his ability to manipulate people.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said of Sherlock Holmes, when it came to light that he knew nothing of geography, Holmes response was basically it is irrelevant information.
Al Capone, a Trump hero, was stupid. His emotional IQ though is off the charts, if not he would not have become a billionaire and so powerful, despite having declared bankruptcy, what is it three times.
He is the paragon of pscyhopathy, unashamed, unabashed, no conscience, and able to project power and a charisma that has enemies and idiots alike enthralled.
Show me one Newspaper, one TV Channel, that hasn't mentioned his name at least once, if not more often in the last 9 years.
All those people you named that suffered and died because of him is not because of his stupidity, but because he doesn't give a shit.
You care, I care, so you project your sentiments onto him, and then excuse him by saying he is stupid.
Nah, he isn't stupid Okie, he just doesn't care, the only thing that matters in Trump world is Trump.
If it serves him it is good, if it doesn't it is irrelevant and if it stands in his way, it is bad.
Both counter-replies above are Strawman fallacies.
Trump is altogether stupid in the same way dope dealers are stupid.
You do not kill your clients with fentanyl et al. Nor your constituents.
Trump's megalomania has always gotten the better of him.
He needs voters. Without them he's absolute-zero, bupkis, nada, zip, nothing.
He cannot see that b/c his success has forever been based on effing people over. Including the women he's molested and/or raped.
And when he kills off enough his constituents figuratively and literally, he will find out.
n.b.: Strawman fallacies are given no quarter here.
No Okie they are not strawman fallacies, they directly address your claim that Trump is stupid. You need to clarify your definition of stupid.
In your response you did. Whether he can be analogized to a drug dealer selling fentanyl is another story. Only time will tell.
I take your example to Hitler. Hitler was also stupid, his meglamania and belief that he was smarter than his generals, brought the ruin of Germany and his own death.
But stupid people don't become Der Furhrer, Stupid people don't become President twice.
My wife was a building official, one of her inspectors was stupid, but smart in the way of finessing people. She actually tutored him when they were both students and because of her tutoring he passed and became a building inspector, previously he had been a carpenter and poured concrete.
He was shit as an inspector, made snide comments about her being book smart, but not street smart. I wouldn't live in a home that he inspected, he got by by schmoozing the contractors, until he didn't.
Trump is book stupid, but street smart, and that is the point I was making
Best to define terms Okie.
.
Agree to disagree.
Trump is stupid, but he is cunning.
Foxes are cunning until the hounds of a fox hunt rip them to shreds.
Trump is dumb as a bag of hammers, but he has a feral cunning.
The most important aspect of DJT?
HE'S a TRAITOR.
Why? Because he is too stupid to make money legally. Manhattan real estate tycoons dismiss him as a fop. A FOP.
So how does he fund his beater of a Boeing jet. His 'copter. His fake golf-courses?
2 ways: Branding w/ his fake name.
But most of all by SELLING OUT HIS COUNTRY !!!
If traitorism were sex, Trump'd be a 5 decade old nymphomaniac.
And, yes, your counterarguments are tent-poled by logical fallacies.
Now, I invite you to have the last word. Cheers.
Thank you Thom for the in-depth rhetorical question as to whether or not Trump's aim is to tear down our government. His latest Clown-Car Cabinet pick, TV quack MD, Dr. Oz wants to privatize Medicare for 65 million disabled and retired Americans by forcing us in private Medicare Advantage Programs. Those programs have increasingly been shown to be $cams that denied coverages and bled fees.
Like you, I have thought all along that Trump's goal has been to tear down our government and turn us into a 3rd-World economy and oligarch haven. That Trump is psychotic does not require a PhD in psychology (although I have one). The Documentary "The Apprentice" offers hints, but the basis for his sociopathy is irrelevant to preventing the pending harm you noted.
Our only hope is the "Deep State," of which I was a proud member for decades. These are the military and civilian employees who put the constitution first. We knew how to prevent illegal and unconstitutional policies from taking root. We knew to not provide access to information that would enable harm to the republic. It almost seems like we might need some 007s to stop Trump's scorched-government initiatives.
The only remaining question is where is the reaction to this insanity to nip it in the bud? Having had a number of conversations with elder relatives of my German friends back in the 90s, they all told me that Hitler just sort of happened gradually until the Reichstag fire, and then it was too late to stop and WWII kicked in. Putin in Ukraine is like Hitler in Poland. What does it take to wake up America?
This article outlines the true reason the Supreme Court gave presidential immunity for official acts. Trump and his minions have all committed treason. The lack of serious prosecution for these crimes can be traced back to The Wall Street Putsch where important parts of the Congressional report were redacted and no one was prosecuted. The names of the persons and organizations involved were not revealed. It is the rich and predator class protecting each other and seeking to divide the rest of us against each other.
I am sure as hell going to lose sleep over this one …
This is simply Trump Brand, Bait & Switch. To waste the Senate's time and energy as a set-up for more extreme Agency-destroying choices.
I think you are right, he might well "angrily" withdraw the worst nominations and replace them with equally repulsive but more normal seeming people, all to show that he can be "reasonable". Incidentally if these allegations are correct, and I believe them, the only thing in American history that comes close is when in the 1780s General James Wilkinson became a secret agent for the Spanish Empire. He then tried to turn economic control of the American settlements in Kentucky over to that power, which would have shut us out of the Mississippi Valley.
Future generations will be amazed at the gullibility of the American people. But you know right now Trump is right about one thing. He has repeatedly said that the world is laughing at America. It is, but not for the reasons he thinks.
My question is--with such a long history of sketchy behavior and connections to global enemies, how was Trump ever allowed to run for president at all? It seems like we have a vetting and screening of all Federal office-holders for national security concerns--except the president. We just trust the parties or the people to be wise enough to stop a Manchurian candidate from rising to the highest office in the strongest country in the world.
It has been more than obvious to me for some time, at least as far back as the George W. Bush administration, but if you want to bring down agencies within our government rather than making big waves and loud noises by firing all the staff and canceling the agency, you simply put an antagonist in charge of the agency. It can be an antagonist with no qualifications who threw ineptitude and their dislike of the agency they’ve been put in control of will run it into the ground, or you can put someone who is just downright incompetent and destroy the agency from within. It’s pretty obvious to me that that is one of Trump’s primary strategies to neuter our government and ultimately our constitution.
… and if the heads of all these agencies are horrid in every way possible, the employees will just quit without having to be fired, thereby foregoing the usual severance fee.
There is no severance fee in civil service.