I too have something to say to the top officers of MY nation:
It may be your Army, Airforce, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard or Space Force, but AMERICA belongs to me, all the civilian citizens, and my fellow veterans holding down the fort. We work our asses off to pay you.
If you voted Republican last November: you deserve what just happened to you. It must be horrible to get a dressing-down in front of the whole country. It has to sting twice as much to get it from two rapey, loser TV guys that are literally psychos. One is a convicted lifelong criminal and the other is suffering from addiction and mania. Master Degrees and PHDs aside, do you even know what a psychopath is? Were you awake at war college?
To the Vice President Harris voters: You didn't deserve that, because Democrats respect service members and like good officers, want to take care of them. I hope you suck it up and stay to protect our troops from our own President and Secretary of Whatever. Document what you see; be our witnesses when the time comes.
All of you, remember the First Amendment and that WE PAY YOU. See you in OUR streets! That phrase has taken-on a whole new meaning.
A broad coalition of organizations — including Public Citizen, Indivisible, MoveOn, and more — are hosting a nationwide organizing call TONIGHT about the government shutdown that Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are forcing upon the American people.
Join us from 8:30 to 9:30 EDT tonight. Sign up here and we’ll send you the info you need to participate.
Yeah, we ALL should ask Joni Ernst after her statement:
“I will work with Pete to create the most lethal fighting force and hold him to his commitments of auditing the Pentagon, ensuring opportunity for women in combat while maintaining high standards, and selecting a senior official to address and prevent sexual assault in the ranks.”
How is THAT working for you? Tell her to support the Democrats and STOP this madness of destruction.
In 2026, Joni is taking her god and going back home to "spend time" with her family, but we should call her just to annoy her. She has lost her damn mind along with TRump and Pete. Thanks for her numbers, Marlo.
How DARE Hegseth quote Thomas Jefferson who strived to prevent egotistical, self-serving idiots like him and Trump from taking office and destroying our constitution and our democracy.
The world is LAUGHING at them. But to us, they are NO JOKE. They are endangering our country. With them at the helm we are VULNERABLE and UNSAFE.
Our opposition must be coordinated and organized. I appeal to anyone who talks to the leadership of Progressive orgs to insist that they stop the daily deluge of a hundred or more different pleas for money.
Even if every org i hear from everyday is legitimate -- and for many, there is no way for me to confirm that -- What is the strategic and tactical level of importance of the fight X or Y needs cash for?
Frankly, this is how we got into this mess to begin with. With every aggrieved group getting their 15 minutes at the microphone, we got numb to the real, core issues.
There has to be a coordinating of priorities for action; a coordination of contribution collection and distribution.
whether it' AOC, or other known names, I reply to requests with a plea for clarity, but the only reply I get in return is another request for money.
The only thing for sure is that we must avoid the corporate national dem org like the plague, so... Does anyone reading Thom, including Thom, know who to talk to to begin fixing this?????
If they spent as much time communicating a clear message, creating truth squads across the nation that correct the lies coming out of tRump 24/7 as they do requesting money, democrats might be in the driver's seat now.
I agree Laghezza the corporate Dems are useless, compromised, Hakeem Jeffries is a disagrace., Chuckie boy, a day late and a dollar short,has finally showed some spine, probably because he realizes he is as popular as small pox among NY Dems.
The only way to fix this is "we the people" taking our own future into our own hands, to rise up, resist, do not obey. sabotage, boycott, a spontaneous general strike, any attempt to organize will be infiltrated, diverted, subverted and persecuted by the Dept of Injustice and FBI.
Thom just covered this on his TV program (Ch: 269, Dish). Given that most solicitations come via text messages, don't click on the links, it is probably a scam.
I don't have a cell phone, I get email requests, and I ignore them. I go to the website of the person I wish to support and donate.
I too am overwhelmed with the daily barrage of emails & texts urgently requesting $ to fight for democracy.
I STOP or unsubscribe to most, other than established groups that have proven their ability to organize, win legal battles & amplify progressive messages. The ACLU, Lincoln Project, MoveOn, Democracy Docket are a few of my trusted groups with proven results.
Saw your comment Daniel after I posted mine. I can confirm the barrage of requests for money from everyone on the planet with an axe to grind. Gavin Newsom, Maxwell Frost are just a few examples.
MAGA controls Daniel, but only because Dems have been asleep at the switch and/or slopping at the same trough as the Republicans, and angling for the same votes.
What is needed is a new fired up Democratic party, ousting the old compromised, spineless guard.
Yes, we won. Now what can we do about it other than bitch and complain. What instruments do we control that can oust the mother fucker from the office he has defiled.?
So I take it one of the reasons the military commanders were called in was to make sure a planned coup was futile but in some ways it may have caused the opposite effect after seeing such an embarrassing display of the 2 speakers.
The question is, what will be the opportune time. I’m sure it was discussed since they fortuitously all happened to be in the same room.
A military coup is impossible. That was not the purpose of the staff meeting. It was to read them the riot act, to put them in their place, to let them know that Trump is going to wage war against the people, and the the cities will be the battlefield, and if they don't like they can walk out or stay.
Those who walked out would find themselves removed from command, and have to retire.
Mr. Farrar. Both Trump and Hegseth are from the entertainment business. To them the purpose of the meeting was to create a backdrop for them to strut and pontificate. To entertain. Or, at least, to act in a way they believed to be entertaining.
Hegseth, is a tattooed fraternity boy, with show-muscles, who never found himself in a knock down/drag em out fight with no holds barred, out there by himself. A genuine Monday-morning quarterback who foolishly thought he had something worthwhile to say to a room full of some of the most well educated, experienced, true tough guys in this country; who have indeed been out there where they were on their own in a fight, when it counts. Man watta contrast!
I usually do not like to talk about physical violence and physical toughness, because it is far too romanticized, misrepresented and celebrated in our massive entertainment industry. But it was too obvious, that phony, tough stuff is what Hegseth is all about. He matured as a man displaying himself on TV screens. The military officers in that room matured as men and women in an altogether different context.
I would like to say that the meeting was a big zero. But it was not. It served to demonstrate, clearly that the president and secretary of defense/war are both unbalanced and out of their depth. To quote Donald Rumsfeld "They do not know what they do not know." This meeting might just be a turning point in the perceptions of many of us.
I do not believe it is they [Hegseth and Trump] who we should fear. But there are more intelligent, informed misanthropes behind them.
As for Trump: it was clear from his lackluster, rambling, disjointed rant that he is out of contact with reality. Loss of contact with reality is virtually the definition of psychosis.
All you say is true Mr Dobbertin. But irrelevant to the purpose and consequence.
The purpose was to prove to the leaders of the Armed Forces, that Hegseth was in control, and to give them marching orders, either obey or leave.
The enemy is within, he has declared war on the people, the cities are training grounds, the gloves are off, you can use deadly force with no consequence.
If you don't agree, then get up and leave, no one got up and left.
That Trump is a rambling fool, his speeches are disjointed and embarrassing is only proof of his power. He can and does make an ass out of himself, every time he opens his mouth, and there is no consequence.
He is the naked Emperor, and the world, the world mind you, comes crawling to kiss his ring, and now he has threatened to invade Venezuela., and he will do it and get away with it.
The Same way George H.W Bush invaded Panama to arrest a CIA bagman, and Ronald Reagan invaded a tiny Island (Grenada, the Rucksack War)
Just because they didn't walk out doesn't mean they support Trump. Many of them are going back to protect their people from what's coming. Who knows what else is going on behind the scenes?
You wish, you hope. Whether they support The Vile Execrensce is immaterial.
I know what is going on behind the scenes, a lot of muttering and many actually agree and applaud, as they were infected with Dominionism in the Academies.
And how are they going to "protect their people" , if they refuse to obey orders, they will be relieved on the spot.
What experience do you have in the miltary, and not as an enlisted, who receives orders, but in a command position?
The generous Lucian Truscott III believes that not a single one of the 800 or so Senior Military Laders flown at huge expense from their bases all over the world to attend The Vile Excrescence’s address to them at Marine Corps Base Quantico yesterday could have failed to note TVE’s racism and misogyny. I suspect they didn’t fail to detect the stench of authoritarianism in his assertion that big cities with Democratic mayors should serve as military training ground.
Well, they showed him, our great SMLs. They didn’t applaud, and only tittered, rather than roared with laughter, at TVE’s attempts at humor. But according to several accounts I’ve read, not a single one stood up and said, loudly and clearly, “It’s the Constitution I serve, rather than you or any politician, and in view of your unmistakable intentions to continue to trampling on it, I’m so outta here.”
My guess is that in the next moment, 20 more would have followed suit, and then 100, and then half or more of them. Seeing which, a Republican congressperson might have been moved to stop telling his conscience to STFU, and would have risen up in the hallowed chamber that TVE’s moronic minions trashed, and said, “Me too!” And he or she, I bet, would have been joined in short order by 50 more, and then 100, and this would be the happiest day in recent American history
Stating who and what you serve as a general in the military and who you are loyal to should be a no-brainer. They took an oath to defend the Constitution against enemies both foreign and domestic. Yet, the Constitution also gives a President, who takes the same pledge, the ability to fire them. Would they make a stand if it could involve loosing their career or being demoted?
Obviously, there are still Americans who are loyal to trump . I wonder how many would throw up the koolaid they swallowed and admit they made a big mistake when they voted for the liar-in-chief, twice? And how many are even concerned that they may be fast losing the rights guaranteed in our Bill of Rights?
Right now only certain government workers, most of whom are not rich, are taking the heat for the decisions and conduct of both the demented fool in office and the GOP reps and senators. Right now they’re the hero’s. They are the ones who are defending those with little are no power who cannot defend themselves against the unfair treatment they are receiving.
Trump and Hegseth told the generals that the war is against the enemy within and that the cities are going to be the training ground, At that they should have got up and walked out, but they are either careerists or, as I fear, infected with Dominionism.
I will make allowances for shock and disbelief, but Trump will and has shown he is serious, invading DC, Memphis, LA, Chicago, and yet none have retired. That is ominous.
I am afraid, that the government workers who remain are Trump humpers, and if not they go along to get along/ they have bills to pay, food to buy, rent to pay or a mortgage
Right now I’m talking about the government workers that have been furloughed because Trump et al won’t bend to needed changes in his so-called BBB. These government workers are the ones without paychecks and whose jobs may be in peril. They are the ones who are being forced to stand for all of us who aren’t in danger of losing our wages. They are the sacrificial lambs who are being used to make a stand for those without the power to stand up for themselves. These people have no choice in the matter. They are strategic pawns in a game. The military big wigs have a job and their’s is to protect and defend—to stand up and protect those who can’t protect themselves, but they surely are not the one’s who are being used or forced to make a stand.
Agree to disagree about the compliance. Would you have walked? They know the Grim Reaper, Cabinet, or Congress could change this volatile situation.
How about applying a little Sun Tzu:
"Sun Tzu's most famous quotes emphasize strategy, self-knowledge, and deception, such as "Know your enemy and know yourself" for assured victory, "All warfare is based on deception," and "The greatest victory is that which requires no battle". Other notable sayings highlight preparedness, seizing opportunity, and the importance of understanding the true nature of conflict."-AI Overview
Same thing with Hitler's generals. None walked out, till none could, And they only grew a pair at the very end when they saw that is all over and then even that failed and he survived the bombing and the generals behind the plot were slowly strangled with piano wire.
Totally familiar with Sun Tzu, but this isn't warfare and the enemy is not from without, but from within, worse it controls all of the organs of power, and then there is this warning "Do no underestimate the enemy".
The opposition is disorganized, that which could be it's leaders, beleive and act like they are working off the same old political playbook.
Thom in his program today, mentioned the dictators playbook, the one used by all from Mussolini, and Hitler, to Orban, Putin and Erdogan. He is following it step by step, yet the DNC, Jeffries, Schumer are acting like it is still a democracy and all they have to do is property message and they will right the ship at the next election.
Get a clue, Mike Johnson, whom some say has a GRINDR account, won't swear in Adelita Grijalva, because she has promised to be the 118th Congress person to sign the Epstein Discharge Petition.
The Democrats can win every election in 2026. It is the Speaker of the House that swears in the new members, , and they in turn elect a new Speaker. So all Mike Johnson has to do is not swear in the new members
If the Speaker of the House does not swear in the new members after a general election, the House cannot transact business. The entire legislative body would be in a state of constitutional crisis and political gridlock until members are sworn in.
At that point Trump will step him and like Hitler take control of the Reichstag er Congress, if he hasn't done so before.
Those who stayed — all of them — could also be playing a longer game. We both saw Trump walk out on that stage, shuffling and hunched over. We looked at his face, weary, almost haggard, but too vain to recognize it. And as for his speech, there wasn't one. Other than his suggestion for the military to use all those enemy cities for training. Trump is on the wane. Not fast enough for both our tastes but fading all the same. We can't tell what will follow once, one way or the other, he's gone but there is no way the Couch Fucker has the charisma necessary to maintain the web of illusions Trump has done such an excellent job of maintaining.
None of that matters Robert, Trump has the hammer and will and is wielding it with impunity, and now he has the Generals under control. They are either careerists or accomplices. You don't believe in MAGA generals and MAGA officers and troops.?
Actually it should frighten you that Trump can walk out on stage, make note that he wasn't welcome (bitched about the lack of an applause, and comment about the tittering (muffled laughter), and still press on telling the assembled generals, that the problem was within, his citizens,, and that the cities are training grounds for the next war.
And that if they don't like it, they can leave, and not a one got up and left.
That should worry you.
I wouldn't spend one minute making myself feel good, and delusional by focusing on his buffonery, ignorance, hypocrisy.
He has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he has unlimited power, and could care less what the minions (us and the generals) think. In fact he never has. I just watched an interview with him from the 1990's and it was pure Trump as we know him. It was his interview with David Letterman, he discounted the fact that he was a thief, cheated his employees and contractors, with basically I am successful that is all that counts, finally he insulted Letterman, issued a warning, got up and stormed off.
He doesn't care about anything, he is cocksure that he will eventually win and intimidate his critics who are his enemy.
Time will sort things out for us, as long as we're still around after the sorting out. Sure, I'm worried about those things, but they're only in addition to all the other things I worry about. Actually, it's pretty far down the line of things I do worry about.
I'm not being dismissive of Trump or minimizing the harm he can — and might yet — do. He's a moron with an arsenal at his disposal. An amoral moron at that. And to top it off, he's the nonpareil narcissist. We might as well be "governed" by Caligula. Sky's the limit.
I grew up in Los Angeles. As elementary school children we had weekly duck-and-cover drills. By the time I was 10 I knew the blast radius of a thermonuclear device. It didn't take long to realize my existence depended on the whims of others. I think most here remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. By that time I was living in San Diego. Sure, I spent a fair amount of autumn scared shitless. Possibly you did as well, though you were probably already serving. So scared of Trump? I'm not scared of the man, I'm fearful of what he might yet do. I'm not suggesting that fright becomes passé after a few brushes with existential dread because, unless one breaks, it doesn't. At the same time, I'm not about to hide, sniveling, in a corner, out of fear of him.
That I acknowledge his buffoonery doesn't for a minute make me feel good; it's a poor substitute for sharing what I actually feel but then I have few other avenues (probably none, now that I think about it) to act or to otherwise express my anger and disgust. So I settle for mockery and sarcasm.
You watched him walk/shamble out on that stage. You saw his expression, heard his voice, listened to his babblings. Do you think he's going to be around for his entire term? I don't.
I think it is a huge mistake to discount Trump because of his obvious dementia, shuffling (you might notice how he walks like he is hunch backed, and stands with his head forward, this is indicative of osteoporosis., however like Hitler and all dictators the more disheveled he is, mentally, the more dangerous he becomes, and there is no observable brakeman on this run a way train.
Each day I get 30 to 40 substacks and other news letters, most of them I just glance at or skim, because they are the same old shit as I saw on MSNBC, beating the dead horse, kvetching over this or that statement or action by Trump and his minions/ How many times do we have to discuss the same thing, it becomes gossip.
I have no patience for endless gossip and kvetching, nor do I need a hallelujah chorus to validate my concerns or keep me company, nor do I need to blow off steam.
We all know what the problem is, what we need are solutions, and solutions require action.
I get frustrated with people who minimize the dire straits that we are in, who believe that this can all be set right by the institutions,. That the whole thing isn't serious, because Trump and Hegseth are comic characters. That what is happening isn't real, that the rule of law still prevails, that the Constitution is our bulwark against tyranny.
That the armed forces will come riding in protecting us from tyranny.
All this despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that the rule of law has been (or almost, been discarded for the rule of one man.
I look at my own life, nothing has seemed to change, I may spend a little more, at the market, I order shit on line and it arrives promptly, My Social Security and military retirement checks are deposited, my wife and I are in relatively good shape , all considered physically and emotionally, definitely financially. I just wish everyone could be as well off as I.
All considered I should be looking bemusedly upon all of this anguish and kvetching, however, unless everything I read and hear, is a lie and I am living in the Matrix or something.
If what I see, hear and read is actually happening, then I am concerned. Concerned for the future of my grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Then unlike many people who comment here and elsewhere I am not into self delusion or wishful thinking.
Whether Trump is around much longer, is irrelevant he is only an avatar, a representation for the zeitgeist of what is called the Republican Party,
The man is vacuous, an empty vessel, a narcissistic, immature,letch,
a greedy and insecure, eternally corrupt, self centered person, and thus easy to manipulate while he is thinking that he is the manipulator.
How did Trump become Trump? Seriously. All on his own, by his own efforts, he has been made, became famous because of Mark Burnett the producer of the Apprentice. And who financed his run for Presidency, he sure didn't. He didn't spend a dime
Trump is an investment, so is JD Vance. The major investors in Trump and Vance are Musk and Thiel.
Musk got a return on his investment, his DOGE, all of the data in all of the important cabinets have been uploaded to the cloud and thus to Palantir,
Here is what AI says about Palantir and Thiel' Peter Thiel's stake in Palantir is significant, though his direct ownership has been decreasing due to substantial sales and share pledging for debt, with entities he controls selling billions in shares in 2024 and 2025. While he no longer holds his original percentage of the company, he and the other co-founders retain a controlling voting interest through Class F shares in the Founder Voting Trust.
Information is power, and Palantir now has total information on just about everyone.
Have you ever thought how ICE can identify a person, walking down the street,riding in a car or working on a fire line in the remote Olympic Mountains of Washington State. Uncanny isn't it.
All of this crap going on, and no one raises a question. No thinks beyond that which is in their face.
The sun will come up tomorrow, don't worry be happy.
It's not Trump that I ultimately am concerned about. And that isn't that I am dismissive of him, it's that there are bigger gears grinding than his. Sure, he could obliterate most of the world within the hour. And yes, I have no doubt he is whacked up enough to do it. But I am not sure people are going to launch the missiles, thereby killing their families and everything else on the planet to assuage the hurt feelings of a 79 year old thumbsucker. If I'm wrong (really wrong) don't bother telling me so. We'll both be dead.
No, what I'm concerned about is l'éminence grise. I've suggested before that Project 2025 didn't erect all their scaffolding in the belief that Trump was going to live forever. These are not stupid people; they're in for the kill. They want the American Experiment to be over, preferably now. Otherwise, I can't see why they would have invested the time, effort and money into Project 2025 just to see it shredded by a resurgent and very angry Democratic majority in 2026. I can't conceive of any of this Trumpishness having happened without their direct involvement, or without their intent to establish unitary executive rule. I hope I'm wrong. Any positive thoughts would help.
Just in case I haven't been clear, I know that Trump is the most immediate evil internal threat this nation has ever experienced. This more because of his ineptitude and his downright stupidity than anything else. I just happen to see – perhaps falsely — that there is greater danger behind the curtain. Threat, yes. Ultimate threat, no (I hope, I hope). I'm quite aware of Trump's impending mortality. All of this isn't going to stop with him.
I don't necessarily believe that the military is going to save us from the looming specter that is Donald J Trump, but at the same time I don't know that they wouldn't, or that they would remain staunchly neutral.
So, which is going to be, William, the Red pill or the Blue pill? That we're in some variant of the Matrix is obvious enough. The vast majority of people are happy eating their Swanson's Meat Loaf TV dinners while watching Howdy Doddie. They get angry when they're disturbed.
I'm skipping around here. My apologies, I'm glad your wife is well, mine isn't. She had a rough day of it and I'm a bit frazzled. And tired.
So, the person in the Olympics... My father was an aeronautical engineer back in the day and used to have a subscription to Aviation Week, later to become Aviation Week and Space Technology. I got to be the first kid on the block to see the U-2 runs over Cuba. I remember images from the first spy satellites, at least the ones they allowed us to see, from about 60 years ago. I was impressed with the quality then; I have no doubt it's orders of magnitude greater now, down to some approximation of the size necessary to determine the gender of a flea from LEO. Their problem is knowing where to look for that flea, or for the person 15 miles up the Hoh River Valley. You don't have the coordinates, you're highly unlikely to find him. Enter the cellphone and you're anyone's game — such a nifty target! Same way, and I've pointed this out before, if they want to know what we think, they just rifle through our posts. I don't know how secure the Dark Web is but if the feds can crack it at will they certainly aren't going to talk about it.
So, yes the Sun will rise tomorrow and, at least where I live, it's going to be quite beautiful. A Fall day after the rain, sunny, temperature predicted to be 71° Am I not going to worry. No, I will. I'll be situationally happy — we have a great granddaughter here trying to figure out how to roll over. As I'll be happy that my wife's reaction to the chemo won't be as severe as it was today. But on the larger map, no, not happy at all. If we don't erase ourselves and virtually everything on this planet tomorrow, it has a good chance of happening in the latter half of this century. The less we do now to prevent it, the more likely it will come to pass. I give it~90%.
I'm sure some of them talked about it in private about a coup, but that's a long way from doing anything. The issue has been raised by various writers, and their conclusion has been that it is virtually impossible here.
First, the U.S. government does not leave one general in charge of troops for so long that they develop personal loyalty to him. The Romans made that mistake and in the later stages of both the republic and empire had to deal with armies under the control of one man, so that's out.
Second, loyalty to the national government and its civilian administration has been drilled into our officers and it is hard to see how enough subordinates would go along with a coup engineered at the top (unless they didn't realize what was happening).
And finally too many people over far too large an area would have to be involved and if just one talked it would all be over. For an example of how such a leak could occur see, "Seven Days in May", which postulated exactly this scenario.
Basically we have just too large a country and it has far too many forces spread around the world to coordinate a change. Expecting a smooth transition by all our forces to a new (and technically illegal) American government is very unlikely.
That's not to say it couldn't happen, especially if Trump and his gang go completely off the rails. A small group at the top could take over; if you read Khrushchev's autobiography he describes how after Stalin died the Kremlin leaders got together and took down Beria, the terrible secret police chief. But today those in similar positions are all Trump loyalists.
What I suspect would have to occur is a bottom-up thing. Probably it would be like in Haiti when the police refused Duvalier's orders to fire on protestors. Then it would be much easier for the armed forces to switch sides. But barring some tipping point--Kent State writ large, perhaps--I don't think we're anywhere near there yet. Maybe we should be.
It would take leadership, which we all observed was plenty in attendance. Just like any large company, sports team or even a country w a 40 trillion dollar economy, it just takes a few people to get the rest on board. The structure is there. Instead of Seven days in May, try 3 days of the condor.
Your opening picture is proof that this rebellion should be called the Sleepyhead Rebellion since it is only undertaken by the un-woke, the mostly asleep, or those choosing to close their eyes to reality. They're called Sleepies for short.
I put a link to this in my comment on the Sinclair station's article about the Trump ICE protests. You and I both live a short drive from downtown Portland. We know what is going on there and that it isn't what Turmp says it is, not by along shot. Sabrina Haake wrote about this in her excellent Substack "Oregon's knitted gloces are off" here https://sabrinahaake.substack.com/p/oregons-knitted-gloves-are-off and I wrote about what she wrote, and more in "Leave it to my friend Sabrina Haake to write the best article about what Trump is doing to my city of Portland. This also led me to register on the local Sinclair station so I could post a link to her Substack there." Here: https://halbrown.substack.com/p/leave-it-to-my-friend-sabrina-haake
I am a VN vet. I was ROTC. I was a liberal arts major. I could have gotten a deferral to go to grad school. I put it off to do my duty (even though I could not figure out why we were in Viet Nam). I spent a long hot summer at Fort Bragg getting ready for the very difficult road ahead. In my last few months studying at Fort Lee VA to learn logistics for my tour a broad,I never particularly cared for army life but….i came to admire every regular army person I encountered, officer or enlisted. They taught me, inspired me, taught me what it meant to be disciplined. When I got out, I was a better person, a better student, I knew what comradeship meant.
I trust that the people who sat silently and listened to the garbage spewed blather yesterday will not be swayed to allow being set loose on their fellow citizens.
I hope that they will make that clear and stick to their oaths.
We must all get behind that hope and dream of the America that WE the people wrested from the British Monarchy. Join me as we stand behind that sacred dream. Speak out. Appeal to our military leadership. Say that we support them in our trust.
I started to his "like" but I served with a minority who were "confederates" or "hunters," not worthy of trust.
After my tour in 'Nam, I was stationed at a "transfer point" where we processed a lot of psychos..some who were adjudicated as not worthy of honrable discharges.
I also heard some cases involving some of the Blackwater murderers, several others who committed violations.
Some generals and admirals have been convicted of crimes involving "moral tujrpitude."
Then many years later, I have to say Abu Ghraib broke my heart. The documentary Taxi To The Dark Side too. Kicking down doors, rounding up every male, terrorizing families, Guantanamo, fake WMD, using Powell, longest war. I still despise Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld.
Thank you, Professor Hartmann, for telling it exactly like it is. The regime is pushing the fascist ball forward faster than ever. This address to the military is our biggest 🚩 red flag yet. The regime is deadly serious about taking total control.
What all of the stoic faces in that auditorium said, without vocalizing it, was that "this is nothing but a clown show." They will go back to their commands and implement any physical training or new grooming standards that come down, as long as it doesn't affect the ability of the troops to carry out their duties. The bottom line is this. They've seen stuff like this before, although not on this level of stupidity but they'll power through it and do their jobs like the professionals they are. The generals and admirals will stand and protect the country as dictated in their oaths. What they won't do, is deploy any active duty troops, in violation of federal law, to U.S. cities for 'training exercises'.
It's becoming obvious that Trump is suffering from some sort of health issue, based on the last two big speeches he has given. Why aren't the democrats looking at that? Those long, rambling speeches, and half slurred words, are indicative of a health problem. We already know why the legacy media isn't saying the obvious part out loud, but what about the rest of us?
Yesterday. actually while Trump was giving his unhinged speech to the generals. I wrote about this in Trump: "I love my signature, actually everybody loves my signature. In 40 years of clinical practice I only saw symptoms like Trump's in patients who went off their anti-psychotic medication." https://halbrown.substack.com/p/trump-i-love-my-signature-actually I picked out the signature comment. Others have focused on various insane things he rambled of into with his word salad speech, for example about walking down flights of stairs slowly and obsessively blaming Biden for everything. Trump may or may not have a physical health problem like dementia, but take from a therapist with 40 years of clinical experience, he does have a serious MENTAL health problem.
Long before Rachel Maddow (whom I revere) cited it, Olga Lautman was FIRST to write about the steps to an authoritarian dictatorship in her Substack newsletters of which she has many:
Most of the MAGAs I talk with have one thing in common - they brag that they do not pay attention to politics. They might justify their behavior by asserting all politicians are corrupt, so it does not matter who is in charge. They assert that Red or Blue, the drudge of their life is unlikely to change. It is hard not to interpret their worldview as foremost being oriented toward denying painful facts. They acknowledge that bad things happen - just not to them. Toughguy Trump is insulating them from all the violence from foreign criminals and cartels.
Of course, what Trump is really doing is turning the GOP into the MAGA Cartel for Billionaires. The MAGA toady Congress members are co-conspirators who think that the cartel will keep them in comfort - SCOTUS too shares a similar worldview. Democracy is alive and well. It is just no longer in the USA - only in the EU (Hungary notwithstanding).
My age peers have all passed male life expectancy. Over a quarter of my HS classmates are deceased. The rest of us will soon be exiting. If this is what the younger generations want, they are welcome to their HG Wellsian Eloi life. Morlock is just another term for billionaire.
Understood,Tom, but democracy is alive and well in the states and locally. It is the little engine that could.
These are the "best" bad examples we could hope for, just like yesterday. They are literally into killing and making people suffer. Their sadistic enjoyment is obvious. Give it a minute, the slow people will "get it" when it lands on their doorstep and they find their job gone or wallet empty.
I dread the casualties, but this is the path to a better country.
I'm 81. Not many males have achieved my age. In my HS class, only 2 or 3 Vietnam Vets left. In my Army units, I am propbaly the only survivor.
I'm in discussion groups where 95% of the former MAGATs have been neutralized if not actually converted. The lone holdouts are members of the Federalist Society, who admit that they are in the wrong -- but don't give a shit.
What has happened in my home town is that former Dems are universally MAGA and former Reps are now independents or Dem. In my home town, the NCAAP is Republican. All politics is (and are) local.
Alis, I applaud your enthusiasm, and appreciate that there is a human tendency to assume that one's own neighborhood reflects a national norm. However, I live in the fascist state of Florida, where our governor (an ex-Navy lawyer whose job was to justify torture in America's Guantanamo gulag) is purging all public school and university textbooks of unflattering facts and DEI. He even removed a memorial rainbow crosswalk in front of a gay bar in Orlando where there was a mass shooting.
If a Florida teacher even says the word "Gay" they can be fired. No Chinese citizen may purchase houses or land in Florida. DeSantis is purging all state universities of liberal faculty. He continues to harass Disney for its liberal posture and is trying to load MAGAs onto as many boards of directors as he can extort. He is also the founder of the famous gulag called Aligator Alcatraz. His Surgeon General is a clueless antivaxxer, and he groomed Florida's rightwing toady Attorney General, who is now our US Attorney General, Blondi Bondi.
Understood RE your neighborhood comment. But do you also understand that I already knew everything you said about Florida? The rainbow was even worthy of nationwide coverage, much less Alligator Alcatraz. News flies in all directions from a multitude of sources on any smart TV.
You have 15 months left of that asshole, and then there's the Casey problem with the $10 million.
When I hit the streets here, it's for the fascism in all 50, but I have to admit FL and TX are the worst. TX doesn't have term limits and Abbott is going for number 4. UGH!
Knowing what I said about Florida is not the same as living it, much the same way that knowing about Hitler was not the same of living in the 3rd Reich. I know, because I have interviewed a number of Silent Gen Germans over the years. What they shared with me is what we are experiencing now.
I am SO frightened for the future of this once noble nation. Not for me, but for my grand- and great grandchildren. Absolutely cannot understand anyone who aligned with this current government. We so desperately need an intervention!
CONTACT your congresspeople and the Joint Chiefs and remind them of the oath they took to defend the Constitution and we the people. You can write to JCS or post on their FB page. Also I told JCS I was embarrassed for them and regretted the great inconvenience they and their families suffered having to show up at that shameful meeting.
It almost sounds like B-rated 1950s' science fiction. We live in an Age of Reruns: All of this has played out before, and most likely will again. It wasn't good the first time around, whether it be 57 Communists in the State Department, or the specter of miscegenation sweeping our land, or The Red Menace. Trump finds enemies of democracy in the very people who work the hardest to honor our constitution. Portland is war-ravaged (Portland is war-ravaged?) and so the very people sworn to protect it with their very lives if need be are to use those hostile American cities (redux Portland?) for training. Training for what, to invade other American cities who refuse to bend the knee to a bloated pompous jackass?
Continuing with the 1950s' theme, his cabinet might just as well have been composed of the Mouseketeers.
Hitler had the Jews, the Roma, and so many more who would prevent Him from establishing the 1000 Year Reich. Therefore, they had to be eliminated to preserve Aryan purity.Trump has The Enemy Within, aka the Democratic Party, and all the brown people invading our borders, taking all the jobs true Americans would have otherwise (sorry, I got taken away for a m m moment). Trump, needless to say, has El Salvador and Sudan. Stalin had his secret police, Trump has his ICE. Mussolini had his Labor Charter, whereas Trump is just now toeing the waters of governmental ownership of the private sector (think Intel).
Sometimes it seems that the only people left off of his enemies' list are high-ranking pedophiles.
I can't think of anything more vulgar and absurd than this bloviated farce of a man imagining he will be the savior of our Once Great Nation, a second Lincoln as it were, who by sheer power of will and an unswerving commitment to the truth, etc, etc. Oh, and washed in the Blood of the Lamb!
Had it not for his bone spurs, he would have defeated the Viet Cong on Day1.
I too have something to say to the top officers of MY nation:
It may be your Army, Airforce, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard or Space Force, but AMERICA belongs to me, all the civilian citizens, and my fellow veterans holding down the fort. We work our asses off to pay you.
If you voted Republican last November: you deserve what just happened to you. It must be horrible to get a dressing-down in front of the whole country. It has to sting twice as much to get it from two rapey, loser TV guys that are literally psychos. One is a convicted lifelong criminal and the other is suffering from addiction and mania. Master Degrees and PHDs aside, do you even know what a psychopath is? Were you awake at war college?
To the Vice President Harris voters: You didn't deserve that, because Democrats respect service members and like good officers, want to take care of them. I hope you suck it up and stay to protect our troops from our own President and Secretary of Whatever. Document what you see; be our witnesses when the time comes.
All of you, remember the First Amendment and that WE PAY YOU. See you in OUR streets! That phrase has taken-on a whole new meaning.
Obvious that they want an all male, all white military.
Call out all the Repuplican female veteran officeholders -- especially his toady Joni Ernst. https://www.ernst.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ernst-statement-after-hegseth-hearing
Ernst (R-IA): retired Iowa Army National Guard lieutenant colonel who commanded a company during the Iraq War.
Representatives
Sheri Biggs (R-SC): A retired lieutenant colonel from the Mississippi Air National Guard.
Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA): A former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot.
Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL): An Air Force veteran who served in the Air National Guard.
Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA): A 24-year Army veteran.
Ya, we should remind them the next step might be to "clean-up" the Congress.
Or abolish it.
A broad coalition of organizations — including Public Citizen, Indivisible, MoveOn, and more — are hosting a nationwide organizing call TONIGHT about the government shutdown that Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are forcing upon the American people.
Join us from 8:30 to 9:30 EDT tonight. Sign up here and we’ll send you the info you need to participate.
https://www.mobilize.us/healthcarenotauthoritarianism/event/851068/?utm_source=PublicCitizen
Yeah, we ALL should ask Joni Ernst after her statement:
“I will work with Pete to create the most lethal fighting force and hold him to his commitments of auditing the Pentagon, ensuring opportunity for women in combat while maintaining high standards, and selecting a senior official to address and prevent sexual assault in the ranks.”
How is THAT working for you? Tell her to support the Democrats and STOP this madness of destruction.
Phone:
202-224-3254
319-365-4504
712-352-1167
563-322-0677
515-284-4574
712-252-1550
In 2026, Joni is taking her god and going back home to "spend time" with her family, but we should call her just to annoy her. She has lost her damn mind along with TRump and Pete. Thanks for her numbers, Marlo.
How DARE Hegseth quote Thomas Jefferson who strived to prevent egotistical, self-serving idiots like him and Trump from taking office and destroying our constitution and our democracy.
The world is LAUGHING at them. But to us, they are NO JOKE. They are endangering our country. With them at the helm we are VULNERABLE and UNSAFE.
I don't think most of the world have been laughing at us for months. We have the most powerful military in the world in the hands of madmen/women.
I said laughing at Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb - NOT “US.”
More an appeal than comment...
Our opposition must be coordinated and organized. I appeal to anyone who talks to the leadership of Progressive orgs to insist that they stop the daily deluge of a hundred or more different pleas for money.
Even if every org i hear from everyday is legitimate -- and for many, there is no way for me to confirm that -- What is the strategic and tactical level of importance of the fight X or Y needs cash for?
Frankly, this is how we got into this mess to begin with. With every aggrieved group getting their 15 minutes at the microphone, we got numb to the real, core issues.
There has to be a coordinating of priorities for action; a coordination of contribution collection and distribution.
whether it' AOC, or other known names, I reply to requests with a plea for clarity, but the only reply I get in return is another request for money.
The only thing for sure is that we must avoid the corporate national dem org like the plague, so... Does anyone reading Thom, including Thom, know who to talk to to begin fixing this?????
D. Laghezza
If they spent as much time communicating a clear message, creating truth squads across the nation that correct the lies coming out of tRump 24/7 as they do requesting money, democrats might be in the driver's seat now.
I agree Laghezza the corporate Dems are useless, compromised, Hakeem Jeffries is a disagrace., Chuckie boy, a day late and a dollar short,has finally showed some spine, probably because he realizes he is as popular as small pox among NY Dems.
The only way to fix this is "we the people" taking our own future into our own hands, to rise up, resist, do not obey. sabotage, boycott, a spontaneous general strike, any attempt to organize will be infiltrated, diverted, subverted and persecuted by the Dept of Injustice and FBI.
So how do we get past this fire-wall of messages just asking for money without explaining what the plan is???
Thom just covered this on his TV program (Ch: 269, Dish). Given that most solicitations come via text messages, don't click on the links, it is probably a scam.
I don't have a cell phone, I get email requests, and I ignore them. I go to the website of the person I wish to support and donate.
Makes sense... It's a start, in any case. I do wish there could be even a modicum of coordination, and not a free for all.
D.
I too am overwhelmed with the daily barrage of emails & texts urgently requesting $ to fight for democracy.
I STOP or unsubscribe to most, other than established groups that have proven their ability to organize, win legal battles & amplify progressive messages. The ACLU, Lincoln Project, MoveOn, Democracy Docket are a few of my trusted groups with proven results.
Thank you. I for one need as much info as possible on which orgs others believe are moving the line, positively.
D.
But, but, money did so much good last time! Why, look at all the Democrats were elected with a billion dollar advantage over the Republicans! Oh...
Are you a plant?
Saw your comment Daniel after I posted mine. I can confirm the barrage of requests for money from everyone on the planet with an axe to grind. Gavin Newsom, Maxwell Frost are just a few examples.
I was going to ask you the same thing... Or a guy who just woke up after 50 years and discovered Eugene McCarthy lost.
I case you missed it, MAGA, not Dems control everything. All politics is (and are) local and comes bottom up, not top down.
https://blueprint.democrats.org/
MAGA controls Daniel, but only because Dems have been asleep at the switch and/or slopping at the same trough as the Republicans, and angling for the same votes.
What is needed is a new fired up Democratic party, ousting the old compromised, spineless guard.
We wuz screwed. We actually won.
You guys have been parroting psy ops for Russia, Koch bros, etc, not necessarily in that order. Divide to conquer.
Yes, we won. Now what can we do about it other than bitch and complain. What instruments do we control that can oust the mother fucker from the office he has defiled.?
So I take it one of the reasons the military commanders were called in was to make sure a planned coup was futile but in some ways it may have caused the opposite effect after seeing such an embarrassing display of the 2 speakers.
The question is, what will be the opportune time. I’m sure it was discussed since they fortuitously all happened to be in the same room.
Can you imagine what went through those generals' veins while listening to this gibberish from this date rapist frat boy?
Do you mean Hegseth, Trump, or both?
A military coup is impossible. That was not the purpose of the staff meeting. It was to read them the riot act, to put them in their place, to let them know that Trump is going to wage war against the people, and the the cities will be the battlefield, and if they don't like they can walk out or stay.
Those who walked out would find themselves removed from command, and have to retire.
Those who stayed will comply.
No one walked out.
Mr. Farrar. Both Trump and Hegseth are from the entertainment business. To them the purpose of the meeting was to create a backdrop for them to strut and pontificate. To entertain. Or, at least, to act in a way they believed to be entertaining.
Hegseth, is a tattooed fraternity boy, with show-muscles, who never found himself in a knock down/drag em out fight with no holds barred, out there by himself. A genuine Monday-morning quarterback who foolishly thought he had something worthwhile to say to a room full of some of the most well educated, experienced, true tough guys in this country; who have indeed been out there where they were on their own in a fight, when it counts. Man watta contrast!
I usually do not like to talk about physical violence and physical toughness, because it is far too romanticized, misrepresented and celebrated in our massive entertainment industry. But it was too obvious, that phony, tough stuff is what Hegseth is all about. He matured as a man displaying himself on TV screens. The military officers in that room matured as men and women in an altogether different context.
I would like to say that the meeting was a big zero. But it was not. It served to demonstrate, clearly that the president and secretary of defense/war are both unbalanced and out of their depth. To quote Donald Rumsfeld "They do not know what they do not know." This meeting might just be a turning point in the perceptions of many of us.
I do not believe it is they [Hegseth and Trump] who we should fear. But there are more intelligent, informed misanthropes behind them.
As for Trump: it was clear from his lackluster, rambling, disjointed rant that he is out of contact with reality. Loss of contact with reality is virtually the definition of psychosis.
All you say is true Mr Dobbertin. But irrelevant to the purpose and consequence.
The purpose was to prove to the leaders of the Armed Forces, that Hegseth was in control, and to give them marching orders, either obey or leave.
The enemy is within, he has declared war on the people, the cities are training grounds, the gloves are off, you can use deadly force with no consequence.
If you don't agree, then get up and leave, no one got up and left.
That Trump is a rambling fool, his speeches are disjointed and embarrassing is only proof of his power. He can and does make an ass out of himself, every time he opens his mouth, and there is no consequence.
He is the naked Emperor, and the world, the world mind you, comes crawling to kiss his ring, and now he has threatened to invade Venezuela., and he will do it and get away with it.
The Same way George H.W Bush invaded Panama to arrest a CIA bagman, and Ronald Reagan invaded a tiny Island (Grenada, the Rucksack War)
Just because they didn't walk out doesn't mean they support Trump. Many of them are going back to protect their people from what's coming. Who knows what else is going on behind the scenes?
You wish, you hope. Whether they support The Vile Execrensce is immaterial.
I know what is going on behind the scenes, a lot of muttering and many actually agree and applaud, as they were infected with Dominionism in the Academies.
And how are they going to "protect their people" , if they refuse to obey orders, they will be relieved on the spot.
What experience do you have in the miltary, and not as an enlisted, who receives orders, but in a command position?
They should have walked
Try this, from https://johnmendelssohn.substack.com/p/the-happiest-day-in-recent-america
The generous Lucian Truscott III believes that not a single one of the 800 or so Senior Military Laders flown at huge expense from their bases all over the world to attend The Vile Excrescence’s address to them at Marine Corps Base Quantico yesterday could have failed to note TVE’s racism and misogyny. I suspect they didn’t fail to detect the stench of authoritarianism in his assertion that big cities with Democratic mayors should serve as military training ground.
Well, they showed him, our great SMLs. They didn’t applaud, and only tittered, rather than roared with laughter, at TVE’s attempts at humor. But according to several accounts I’ve read, not a single one stood up and said, loudly and clearly, “It’s the Constitution I serve, rather than you or any politician, and in view of your unmistakable intentions to continue to trampling on it, I’m so outta here.”
My guess is that in the next moment, 20 more would have followed suit, and then 100, and then half or more of them. Seeing which, a Republican congressperson might have been moved to stop telling his conscience to STFU, and would have risen up in the hallowed chamber that TVE’s moronic minions trashed, and said, “Me too!” And he or she, I bet, would have been joined in short order by 50 more, and then 100, and this would be the happiest day in recent American history
That would have made a great Frank Capra movie
Stating who and what you serve as a general in the military and who you are loyal to should be a no-brainer. They took an oath to defend the Constitution against enemies both foreign and domestic. Yet, the Constitution also gives a President, who takes the same pledge, the ability to fire them. Would they make a stand if it could involve loosing their career or being demoted?
Obviously, there are still Americans who are loyal to trump . I wonder how many would throw up the koolaid they swallowed and admit they made a big mistake when they voted for the liar-in-chief, twice? And how many are even concerned that they may be fast losing the rights guaranteed in our Bill of Rights?
Right now only certain government workers, most of whom are not rich, are taking the heat for the decisions and conduct of both the demented fool in office and the GOP reps and senators. Right now they’re the hero’s. They are the ones who are defending those with little are no power who cannot defend themselves against the unfair treatment they are receiving.
Trump and Hegseth told the generals that the war is against the enemy within and that the cities are going to be the training ground, At that they should have got up and walked out, but they are either careerists or, as I fear, infected with Dominionism.
I will make allowances for shock and disbelief, but Trump will and has shown he is serious, invading DC, Memphis, LA, Chicago, and yet none have retired. That is ominous.
I am afraid, that the government workers who remain are Trump humpers, and if not they go along to get along/ they have bills to pay, food to buy, rent to pay or a mortgage
Right now I’m talking about the government workers that have been furloughed because Trump et al won’t bend to needed changes in his so-called BBB. These government workers are the ones without paychecks and whose jobs may be in peril. They are the ones who are being forced to stand for all of us who aren’t in danger of losing our wages. They are the sacrificial lambs who are being used to make a stand for those without the power to stand up for themselves. These people have no choice in the matter. They are strategic pawns in a game. The military big wigs have a job and their’s is to protect and defend—to stand up and protect those who can’t protect themselves, but they surely are not the one’s who are being used or forced to make a stand.
Agree to disagree about the compliance. Would you have walked? They know the Grim Reaper, Cabinet, or Congress could change this volatile situation.
How about applying a little Sun Tzu:
"Sun Tzu's most famous quotes emphasize strategy, self-knowledge, and deception, such as "Know your enemy and know yourself" for assured victory, "All warfare is based on deception," and "The greatest victory is that which requires no battle". Other notable sayings highlight preparedness, seizing opportunity, and the importance of understanding the true nature of conflict."-AI Overview
Same thing with Hitler's generals. None walked out, till none could, And they only grew a pair at the very end when they saw that is all over and then even that failed and he survived the bombing and the generals behind the plot were slowly strangled with piano wire.
Totally familiar with Sun Tzu, but this isn't warfare and the enemy is not from without, but from within, worse it controls all of the organs of power, and then there is this warning "Do no underestimate the enemy".
The opposition is disorganized, that which could be it's leaders, beleive and act like they are working off the same old political playbook.
Thom in his program today, mentioned the dictators playbook, the one used by all from Mussolini, and Hitler, to Orban, Putin and Erdogan. He is following it step by step, yet the DNC, Jeffries, Schumer are acting like it is still a democracy and all they have to do is property message and they will right the ship at the next election.
Get a clue, Mike Johnson, whom some say has a GRINDR account, won't swear in Adelita Grijalva, because she has promised to be the 118th Congress person to sign the Epstein Discharge Petition.
The Democrats can win every election in 2026. It is the Speaker of the House that swears in the new members, , and they in turn elect a new Speaker. So all Mike Johnson has to do is not swear in the new members
If the Speaker of the House does not swear in the new members after a general election, the House cannot transact business. The entire legislative body would be in a state of constitutional crisis and political gridlock until members are sworn in.
At that point Trump will step him and like Hitler take control of the Reichstag er Congress, if he hasn't done so before.
What would I have done, if I were a general in that room.
First off, I were a general in that room, I would have between 20 and 30+ years of service, more than enough to retire.
I would have walked out of that room, and submitted my retirement papers.
Hegseth and Trump could have relieved me of my command, as they did others, but so what I would be retiring anyway.
That is what I would do.
Those who stayed — all of them — could also be playing a longer game. We both saw Trump walk out on that stage, shuffling and hunched over. We looked at his face, weary, almost haggard, but too vain to recognize it. And as for his speech, there wasn't one. Other than his suggestion for the military to use all those enemy cities for training. Trump is on the wane. Not fast enough for both our tastes but fading all the same. We can't tell what will follow once, one way or the other, he's gone but there is no way the Couch Fucker has the charisma necessary to maintain the web of illusions Trump has done such an excellent job of maintaining.
Après moi, le déluge.
None of that matters Robert, Trump has the hammer and will and is wielding it with impunity, and now he has the Generals under control. They are either careerists or accomplices. You don't believe in MAGA generals and MAGA officers and troops.?
Actually it should frighten you that Trump can walk out on stage, make note that he wasn't welcome (bitched about the lack of an applause, and comment about the tittering (muffled laughter), and still press on telling the assembled generals, that the problem was within, his citizens,, and that the cities are training grounds for the next war.
And that if they don't like it, they can leave, and not a one got up and left.
That should worry you.
I wouldn't spend one minute making myself feel good, and delusional by focusing on his buffonery, ignorance, hypocrisy.
He has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he has unlimited power, and could care less what the minions (us and the generals) think. In fact he never has. I just watched an interview with him from the 1990's and it was pure Trump as we know him. It was his interview with David Letterman, he discounted the fact that he was a thief, cheated his employees and contractors, with basically I am successful that is all that counts, finally he insulted Letterman, issued a warning, got up and stormed off.
He doesn't care about anything, he is cocksure that he will eventually win and intimidate his critics who are his enemy.
Trump declares war on American citizens: https://saltypolitics.substack.com/p/breaking-trump-declares-war-on-american
Time will sort things out for us, as long as we're still around after the sorting out. Sure, I'm worried about those things, but they're only in addition to all the other things I worry about. Actually, it's pretty far down the line of things I do worry about.
I'm not being dismissive of Trump or minimizing the harm he can — and might yet — do. He's a moron with an arsenal at his disposal. An amoral moron at that. And to top it off, he's the nonpareil narcissist. We might as well be "governed" by Caligula. Sky's the limit.
I grew up in Los Angeles. As elementary school children we had weekly duck-and-cover drills. By the time I was 10 I knew the blast radius of a thermonuclear device. It didn't take long to realize my existence depended on the whims of others. I think most here remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. By that time I was living in San Diego. Sure, I spent a fair amount of autumn scared shitless. Possibly you did as well, though you were probably already serving. So scared of Trump? I'm not scared of the man, I'm fearful of what he might yet do. I'm not suggesting that fright becomes passé after a few brushes with existential dread because, unless one breaks, it doesn't. At the same time, I'm not about to hide, sniveling, in a corner, out of fear of him.
That I acknowledge his buffoonery doesn't for a minute make me feel good; it's a poor substitute for sharing what I actually feel but then I have few other avenues (probably none, now that I think about it) to act or to otherwise express my anger and disgust. So I settle for mockery and sarcasm.
You watched him walk/shamble out on that stage. You saw his expression, heard his voice, listened to his babblings. Do you think he's going to be around for his entire term? I don't.
So how do you propose we meet this moment?
I think it is a huge mistake to discount Trump because of his obvious dementia, shuffling (you might notice how he walks like he is hunch backed, and stands with his head forward, this is indicative of osteoporosis., however like Hitler and all dictators the more disheveled he is, mentally, the more dangerous he becomes, and there is no observable brakeman on this run a way train.
Each day I get 30 to 40 substacks and other news letters, most of them I just glance at or skim, because they are the same old shit as I saw on MSNBC, beating the dead horse, kvetching over this or that statement or action by Trump and his minions/ How many times do we have to discuss the same thing, it becomes gossip.
I have no patience for endless gossip and kvetching, nor do I need a hallelujah chorus to validate my concerns or keep me company, nor do I need to blow off steam.
We all know what the problem is, what we need are solutions, and solutions require action.
I get frustrated with people who minimize the dire straits that we are in, who believe that this can all be set right by the institutions,. That the whole thing isn't serious, because Trump and Hegseth are comic characters. That what is happening isn't real, that the rule of law still prevails, that the Constitution is our bulwark against tyranny.
That the armed forces will come riding in protecting us from tyranny.
All this despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that the rule of law has been (or almost, been discarded for the rule of one man.
I look at my own life, nothing has seemed to change, I may spend a little more, at the market, I order shit on line and it arrives promptly, My Social Security and military retirement checks are deposited, my wife and I are in relatively good shape , all considered physically and emotionally, definitely financially. I just wish everyone could be as well off as I.
All considered I should be looking bemusedly upon all of this anguish and kvetching, however, unless everything I read and hear, is a lie and I am living in the Matrix or something.
If what I see, hear and read is actually happening, then I am concerned. Concerned for the future of my grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Then unlike many people who comment here and elsewhere I am not into self delusion or wishful thinking.
Whether Trump is around much longer, is irrelevant he is only an avatar, a representation for the zeitgeist of what is called the Republican Party,
The man is vacuous, an empty vessel, a narcissistic, immature,letch,
a greedy and insecure, eternally corrupt, self centered person, and thus easy to manipulate while he is thinking that he is the manipulator.
How did Trump become Trump? Seriously. All on his own, by his own efforts, he has been made, became famous because of Mark Burnett the producer of the Apprentice. And who financed his run for Presidency, he sure didn't. He didn't spend a dime
Trump is an investment, so is JD Vance. The major investors in Trump and Vance are Musk and Thiel.
Musk got a return on his investment, his DOGE, all of the data in all of the important cabinets have been uploaded to the cloud and thus to Palantir,
Here is what AI says about Palantir and Thiel' Peter Thiel's stake in Palantir is significant, though his direct ownership has been decreasing due to substantial sales and share pledging for debt, with entities he controls selling billions in shares in 2024 and 2025. While he no longer holds his original percentage of the company, he and the other co-founders retain a controlling voting interest through Class F shares in the Founder Voting Trust.
Information is power, and Palantir now has total information on just about everyone.
Have you ever thought how ICE can identify a person, walking down the street,riding in a car or working on a fire line in the remote Olympic Mountains of Washington State. Uncanny isn't it.
All of this crap going on, and no one raises a question. No thinks beyond that which is in their face.
The sun will come up tomorrow, don't worry be happy.
Okay, so now I'm alive again. Strange universe.
It's not Trump that I ultimately am concerned about. And that isn't that I am dismissive of him, it's that there are bigger gears grinding than his. Sure, he could obliterate most of the world within the hour. And yes, I have no doubt he is whacked up enough to do it. But I am not sure people are going to launch the missiles, thereby killing their families and everything else on the planet to assuage the hurt feelings of a 79 year old thumbsucker. If I'm wrong (really wrong) don't bother telling me so. We'll both be dead.
No, what I'm concerned about is l'éminence grise. I've suggested before that Project 2025 didn't erect all their scaffolding in the belief that Trump was going to live forever. These are not stupid people; they're in for the kill. They want the American Experiment to be over, preferably now. Otherwise, I can't see why they would have invested the time, effort and money into Project 2025 just to see it shredded by a resurgent and very angry Democratic majority in 2026. I can't conceive of any of this Trumpishness having happened without their direct involvement, or without their intent to establish unitary executive rule. I hope I'm wrong. Any positive thoughts would help.
Just in case I haven't been clear, I know that Trump is the most immediate evil internal threat this nation has ever experienced. This more because of his ineptitude and his downright stupidity than anything else. I just happen to see – perhaps falsely — that there is greater danger behind the curtain. Threat, yes. Ultimate threat, no (I hope, I hope). I'm quite aware of Trump's impending mortality. All of this isn't going to stop with him.
I don't necessarily believe that the military is going to save us from the looming specter that is Donald J Trump, but at the same time I don't know that they wouldn't, or that they would remain staunchly neutral.
So, which is going to be, William, the Red pill or the Blue pill? That we're in some variant of the Matrix is obvious enough. The vast majority of people are happy eating their Swanson's Meat Loaf TV dinners while watching Howdy Doddie. They get angry when they're disturbed.
I'm skipping around here. My apologies, I'm glad your wife is well, mine isn't. She had a rough day of it and I'm a bit frazzled. And tired.
So, the person in the Olympics... My father was an aeronautical engineer back in the day and used to have a subscription to Aviation Week, later to become Aviation Week and Space Technology. I got to be the first kid on the block to see the U-2 runs over Cuba. I remember images from the first spy satellites, at least the ones they allowed us to see, from about 60 years ago. I was impressed with the quality then; I have no doubt it's orders of magnitude greater now, down to some approximation of the size necessary to determine the gender of a flea from LEO. Their problem is knowing where to look for that flea, or for the person 15 miles up the Hoh River Valley. You don't have the coordinates, you're highly unlikely to find him. Enter the cellphone and you're anyone's game — such a nifty target! Same way, and I've pointed this out before, if they want to know what we think, they just rifle through our posts. I don't know how secure the Dark Web is but if the feds can crack it at will they certainly aren't going to talk about it.
So, yes the Sun will rise tomorrow and, at least where I live, it's going to be quite beautiful. A Fall day after the rain, sunny, temperature predicted to be 71° Am I not going to worry. No, I will. I'll be situationally happy — we have a great granddaughter here trying to figure out how to roll over. As I'll be happy that my wife's reaction to the chemo won't be as severe as it was today. But on the larger map, no, not happy at all. If we don't erase ourselves and virtually everything on this planet tomorrow, it has a good chance of happening in the latter half of this century. The less we do now to prevent it, the more likely it will come to pass. I give it~90%.
I'm sure some of them talked about it in private about a coup, but that's a long way from doing anything. The issue has been raised by various writers, and their conclusion has been that it is virtually impossible here.
First, the U.S. government does not leave one general in charge of troops for so long that they develop personal loyalty to him. The Romans made that mistake and in the later stages of both the republic and empire had to deal with armies under the control of one man, so that's out.
Second, loyalty to the national government and its civilian administration has been drilled into our officers and it is hard to see how enough subordinates would go along with a coup engineered at the top (unless they didn't realize what was happening).
And finally too many people over far too large an area would have to be involved and if just one talked it would all be over. For an example of how such a leak could occur see, "Seven Days in May", which postulated exactly this scenario.
Basically we have just too large a country and it has far too many forces spread around the world to coordinate a change. Expecting a smooth transition by all our forces to a new (and technically illegal) American government is very unlikely.
That's not to say it couldn't happen, especially if Trump and his gang go completely off the rails. A small group at the top could take over; if you read Khrushchev's autobiography he describes how after Stalin died the Kremlin leaders got together and took down Beria, the terrible secret police chief. But today those in similar positions are all Trump loyalists.
What I suspect would have to occur is a bottom-up thing. Probably it would be like in Haiti when the police refused Duvalier's orders to fire on protestors. Then it would be much easier for the armed forces to switch sides. But barring some tipping point--Kent State writ large, perhaps--I don't think we're anywhere near there yet. Maybe we should be.
It would take leadership, which we all observed was plenty in attendance. Just like any large company, sports team or even a country w a 40 trillion dollar economy, it just takes a few people to get the rest on board. The structure is there. Instead of Seven days in May, try 3 days of the condor.
Von trump derailed more and more day after day. Fuck the media billionaires supporting him. Bunch of traitors to the nation!
Your opening picture is proof that this rebellion should be called the Sleepyhead Rebellion since it is only undertaken by the un-woke, the mostly asleep, or those choosing to close their eyes to reality. They're called Sleepies for short.
I put a link to this in my comment on the Sinclair station's article about the Trump ICE protests. You and I both live a short drive from downtown Portland. We know what is going on there and that it isn't what Turmp says it is, not by along shot. Sabrina Haake wrote about this in her excellent Substack "Oregon's knitted gloces are off" here https://sabrinahaake.substack.com/p/oregons-knitted-gloves-are-off and I wrote about what she wrote, and more in "Leave it to my friend Sabrina Haake to write the best article about what Trump is doing to my city of Portland. This also led me to register on the local Sinclair station so I could post a link to her Substack there." Here: https://halbrown.substack.com/p/leave-it-to-my-friend-sabrina-haake
I am a VN vet. I was ROTC. I was a liberal arts major. I could have gotten a deferral to go to grad school. I put it off to do my duty (even though I could not figure out why we were in Viet Nam). I spent a long hot summer at Fort Bragg getting ready for the very difficult road ahead. In my last few months studying at Fort Lee VA to learn logistics for my tour a broad,I never particularly cared for army life but….i came to admire every regular army person I encountered, officer or enlisted. They taught me, inspired me, taught me what it meant to be disciplined. When I got out, I was a better person, a better student, I knew what comradeship meant.
I trust that the people who sat silently and listened to the garbage spewed blather yesterday will not be swayed to allow being set loose on their fellow citizens.
I hope that they will make that clear and stick to their oaths.
We must all get behind that hope and dream of the America that WE the people wrested from the British Monarchy. Join me as we stand behind that sacred dream. Speak out. Appeal to our military leadership. Say that we support them in our trust.
I swore to uphold the Constution—so will they.
I liked your comment, Clay and Daniel's, because they are your truths.
I'm a vet that will never tell anyone what it's going to be like or to not join. Instead I say that I'm glad I served, but I would never do it again.
" every regular army person..."
I started to his "like" but I served with a minority who were "confederates" or "hunters," not worthy of trust.
After my tour in 'Nam, I was stationed at a "transfer point" where we processed a lot of psychos..some who were adjudicated as not worthy of honrable discharges.
I also heard some cases involving some of the Blackwater murderers, several others who committed violations.
Some generals and admirals have been convicted of crimes involving "moral tujrpitude."
Was an MP---I saw some too.
Then many years later, I have to say Abu Ghraib broke my heart. The documentary Taxi To The Dark Side too. Kicking down doors, rounding up every male, terrorizing families, Guantanamo, fake WMD, using Powell, longest war. I still despise Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld.
Thank you, Professor Hartmann, for telling it exactly like it is. The regime is pushing the fascist ball forward faster than ever. This address to the military is our biggest 🚩 red flag yet. The regime is deadly serious about taking total control.
What all of the stoic faces in that auditorium said, without vocalizing it, was that "this is nothing but a clown show." They will go back to their commands and implement any physical training or new grooming standards that come down, as long as it doesn't affect the ability of the troops to carry out their duties. The bottom line is this. They've seen stuff like this before, although not on this level of stupidity but they'll power through it and do their jobs like the professionals they are. The generals and admirals will stand and protect the country as dictated in their oaths. What they won't do, is deploy any active duty troops, in violation of federal law, to U.S. cities for 'training exercises'.
It's becoming obvious that Trump is suffering from some sort of health issue, based on the last two big speeches he has given. Why aren't the democrats looking at that? Those long, rambling speeches, and half slurred words, are indicative of a health problem. We already know why the legacy media isn't saying the obvious part out loud, but what about the rest of us?
Yesterday. actually while Trump was giving his unhinged speech to the generals. I wrote about this in Trump: "I love my signature, actually everybody loves my signature. In 40 years of clinical practice I only saw symptoms like Trump's in patients who went off their anti-psychotic medication." https://halbrown.substack.com/p/trump-i-love-my-signature-actually I picked out the signature comment. Others have focused on various insane things he rambled of into with his word salad speech, for example about walking down flights of stairs slowly and obsessively blaming Biden for everything. Trump may or may not have a physical health problem like dementia, but take from a therapist with 40 years of clinical experience, he does have a serious MENTAL health problem.
And yet he denies his signature when it appears upon Epstein's birthday card.
Al hamdoulillah !!
Long before Rachel Maddow (whom I revere) cited it, Olga Lautman was FIRST to write about the steps to an authoritarian dictatorship in her Substack newsletters of which she has many:
Authoritarianism 101
Unmasking Russia
Trump Tyranny Tracker
Most of the MAGAs I talk with have one thing in common - they brag that they do not pay attention to politics. They might justify their behavior by asserting all politicians are corrupt, so it does not matter who is in charge. They assert that Red or Blue, the drudge of their life is unlikely to change. It is hard not to interpret their worldview as foremost being oriented toward denying painful facts. They acknowledge that bad things happen - just not to them. Toughguy Trump is insulating them from all the violence from foreign criminals and cartels.
Of course, what Trump is really doing is turning the GOP into the MAGA Cartel for Billionaires. The MAGA toady Congress members are co-conspirators who think that the cartel will keep them in comfort - SCOTUS too shares a similar worldview. Democracy is alive and well. It is just no longer in the USA - only in the EU (Hungary notwithstanding).
My age peers have all passed male life expectancy. Over a quarter of my HS classmates are deceased. The rest of us will soon be exiting. If this is what the younger generations want, they are welcome to their HG Wellsian Eloi life. Morlock is just another term for billionaire.
Understood,Tom, but democracy is alive and well in the states and locally. It is the little engine that could.
These are the "best" bad examples we could hope for, just like yesterday. They are literally into killing and making people suffer. Their sadistic enjoyment is obvious. Give it a minute, the slow people will "get it" when it lands on their doorstep and they find their job gone or wallet empty.
I dread the casualties, but this is the path to a better country.
I'm 81. Not many males have achieved my age. In my HS class, only 2 or 3 Vietnam Vets left. In my Army units, I am propbaly the only survivor.
I'm in discussion groups where 95% of the former MAGATs have been neutralized if not actually converted. The lone holdouts are members of the Federalist Society, who admit that they are in the wrong -- but don't give a shit.
What has happened in my home town is that former Dems are universally MAGA and former Reps are now independents or Dem. In my home town, the NCAAP is Republican. All politics is (and are) local.
Alis, I applaud your enthusiasm, and appreciate that there is a human tendency to assume that one's own neighborhood reflects a national norm. However, I live in the fascist state of Florida, where our governor (an ex-Navy lawyer whose job was to justify torture in America's Guantanamo gulag) is purging all public school and university textbooks of unflattering facts and DEI. He even removed a memorial rainbow crosswalk in front of a gay bar in Orlando where there was a mass shooting.
If a Florida teacher even says the word "Gay" they can be fired. No Chinese citizen may purchase houses or land in Florida. DeSantis is purging all state universities of liberal faculty. He continues to harass Disney for its liberal posture and is trying to load MAGAs onto as many boards of directors as he can extort. He is also the founder of the famous gulag called Aligator Alcatraz. His Surgeon General is a clueless antivaxxer, and he groomed Florida's rightwing toady Attorney General, who is now our US Attorney General, Blondi Bondi.
Understood RE your neighborhood comment. But do you also understand that I already knew everything you said about Florida? The rainbow was even worthy of nationwide coverage, much less Alligator Alcatraz. News flies in all directions from a multitude of sources on any smart TV.
You have 15 months left of that asshole, and then there's the Casey problem with the $10 million.
When I hit the streets here, it's for the fascism in all 50, but I have to admit FL and TX are the worst. TX doesn't have term limits and Abbott is going for number 4. UGH!
Knowing what I said about Florida is not the same as living it, much the same way that knowing about Hitler was not the same of living in the 3rd Reich. I know, because I have interviewed a number of Silent Gen Germans over the years. What they shared with me is what we are experiencing now.
I am SO frightened for the future of this once noble nation. Not for me, but for my grand- and great grandchildren. Absolutely cannot understand anyone who aligned with this current government. We so desperately need an intervention!
CONTACT your congresspeople and the Joint Chiefs and remind them of the oath they took to defend the Constitution and we the people. You can write to JCS or post on their FB page. Also I told JCS I was embarrassed for them and regretted the great inconvenience they and their families suffered having to show up at that shameful meeting.
Well, I'm done for....
I respectfully disagree if you are still seeking the truth and some history from Thom and Company.
We are under invasion from... The Whitehouse.
It almost sounds like B-rated 1950s' science fiction. We live in an Age of Reruns: All of this has played out before, and most likely will again. It wasn't good the first time around, whether it be 57 Communists in the State Department, or the specter of miscegenation sweeping our land, or The Red Menace. Trump finds enemies of democracy in the very people who work the hardest to honor our constitution. Portland is war-ravaged (Portland is war-ravaged?) and so the very people sworn to protect it with their very lives if need be are to use those hostile American cities (redux Portland?) for training. Training for what, to invade other American cities who refuse to bend the knee to a bloated pompous jackass?
Continuing with the 1950s' theme, his cabinet might just as well have been composed of the Mouseketeers.
Hitler had the Jews, the Roma, and so many more who would prevent Him from establishing the 1000 Year Reich. Therefore, they had to be eliminated to preserve Aryan purity.Trump has The Enemy Within, aka the Democratic Party, and all the brown people invading our borders, taking all the jobs true Americans would have otherwise (sorry, I got taken away for a m m moment). Trump, needless to say, has El Salvador and Sudan. Stalin had his secret police, Trump has his ICE. Mussolini had his Labor Charter, whereas Trump is just now toeing the waters of governmental ownership of the private sector (think Intel).
Sometimes it seems that the only people left off of his enemies' list are high-ranking pedophiles.
I can't think of anything more vulgar and absurd than this bloviated farce of a man imagining he will be the savior of our Once Great Nation, a second Lincoln as it were, who by sheer power of will and an unswerving commitment to the truth, etc, etc. Oh, and washed in the Blood of the Lamb!
Had it not for his bone spurs, he would have defeated the Viet Cong on Day1.