As tRUMP moves closer and closer to invoking the insurrection act..... The country is on the precipice of a "Civil War II" .....This vile nazi vermin, occupying and desecrating the Oval Office, is out to provoke the slightest bit of violence he can using his personal gestapo thug militia to intimidate any peaceful protesters he can.....then employing the military to enact martial law.
Good to see you both here and on my Substack. I will be at the protest about a 20 minute drive from where Thom lives and broadcasts from. Portland's biggest will no doubt be downtown but we're going to what will probably be the 2nd biggest which is in the suburb of Clackamas, the city Trump's labor secretary used to be mayor of. There should be another huge on across the river from Portland and where Thom lives. It is in Vancouver WA: https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/842547/
Any general or flag officer who did not walk out of the circus act put on my Hegseth and Trump is a self serving careerist or worse a Dominionist.
These people don't have to resign, all they have to do is put in their retirement papers, relax and enjoy life, like I've done and like tomonthebeach has done.
One of the reasons they hang on is post retirement jobs, they are usually gobbled up by some corporation in the defense industry, are hired as consultants, by their real asset, is who they know that can benefit the corporation.
Yes, retired officers can be recalled to active duty. know that regular retired officers can, like myself. There are two types of commission, reserve and retired. Most officers are commissioned into the Reserves, but serve on active duty.
Those who graduate from a service academy, or who graduate in the top 3 tp 7% of their class at ROTC or one of the Officer Training Schools are offered a Regular commission after they graduate and are commissioned a Reserve officer. If they accept they are discharged from the reserves and then commissioned as a regular officer, that was route to accession
As a regular officer I am still subject to the UCMJ and my oath of commissioning, as is, by the way, Michael Flynn . I could be recalled, but hardly worth the effort if they knew I was not a Trump loyalist
There are more than enough amoral psychopathic careerists, or flat out Christian extremists to to do the job.
You can add General and flag officer to the following list
Professions with the most psychopathic traits
Several studies highlight a list of professions that tend to attract individuals with psychopathic traits. It is important to note that this does not mean all people in these fields are psychopaths. Psychopathy exists on a spectrum, and people in these professions may just possess some of the traits.
The jobs with the highest prevalence of psychopathic traits are:
CEO High-pressure leadership positions attract psychopathic tendencies like fearlessness and charisma, which can be perceived as strong leadership qualities.
Lawyer The adversarial nature of the legal field, especially for litigators, can be a draw for people with psychopathic traits like emotional detachment and persuasiveness.
Media (TV/Radio) Professional Success in media can be fueled by a need for attention and a charismatic, calm-under-pressure demeanor, which are common psychopathic traits.
Salesperson The competitive, high-reward environment of sales, where charm and manipulation can be effective, attracts individuals with psychopathic traits.
Surgeon While most physicians do not score high on psychopathic traits, some studies show surgeons do. Traits like the ability to remain calm under extreme stress and arrogance can be found in the field.
Journalist The fast-paced, deadline-driven nature of journalism favors traits such as focus, ruthlessness, and charm.
Police Officer The ability to be cool-headed under pressure and in dangerous situations is a psychopathic trait that is highly beneficial for police officers.
Clergy Person As seen in various scandals, positions of religious authority can attract manipulative individuals who exploit their power and legitimacy.
Chef High-pressure, chaotic kitchen environments can be a good fit for people who thrive under stress and chaos.
Civil Servant Roles that involve bureaucracy and power over others' lives can appeal to individuals who prioritize rigid adherence to rules over empathy.
Why certain professions attract psychopaths
Psychopathic traits can be an asset in demanding, high-stress occupations that require difficult, objective decisions. These fields often reward a lack of emotion and a willingness to manipulate, allowing individuals with these traits to succeed. In contrast, professions with the fewest psychopathic tendencies often involve empathy, human connection, and creativity.
Air Force generals, being mostly Academy graduates, are infected with the Dominionist virus.
After the Academy opened its doors in Colorado Springs, megachurches moved in and after the freshman year, where they attend services on campus, they are allowed to attend cervices off campus and these megachurches have bus schedules posted in dorm., and cadets are thrilled to get off campus and meet young ladies.. I wouldn't be surprised if most of them marry the a female they met in one of those churches.
I am quite sure that Gen Dan Caine is one of them, that is why Trump chose him.
Chev,great post,agree 100%. In watching all the incredibly negative events over the past 9 months,I keep wondering,who are the real facilitators? It can't just be Stephen Miller,Russell Vought,Trump,Bredan Carr(FCC),thebuffon Howard Ludnick,Fox cable. There has to be a much larger participation that the media has not identified. Who has the power,control,intellec to pull this off?Who or what virtually controls everything we do everyday? My guess is big Tech. Microsoft,Meta ( Facebook) ,Nvidia,Google,Amazon,Musk,Wall Street,churches synogogues.None of these entities have criticized for one moment the rise of " Neo Nazism" .I could be wrong,but invite any input. Thank you.
What's the difference between them calling us the vermin and we calling them the vermin? The immediate response to the insult, regardless of side, would be "We are'nt the vermin, they are!). Better to pound away on their ultimately indefensible positions, in particular their full-fledged attack on the Constitution. That's what's at the heart of "No Kings". They either have to honor it or declare their animosity toward it. So far, I have yet to hear a peep about their allegiance to it. Don't resort to their 5th grade retorts, rip their beating hearts out of their chests with hard evidence.
Really Robert ?...I certainly don't need a lecture from you...btw...there is a big difference between me describing them as a vermin....because that is what they are due to their actions....big difference Robert....so piss off !!!
The only way forward is to take the House and Senate. We can do this if we work together toward that one mission. The October 18, 2025 protest is drawing nigh. I made a batch of 126 free protest signs for you and your group. Please share, restack, copy and paste the link. Have a printing company do these for you! Subscribe for updates. Here they are:
The MAGA pols are doing their best to undermine 2026 voting - assuming that if they negate black voter districts, the Democrats will lose, not gain, seats. That strategy assumes broke MAGAs will not be fed up by next year. So, they are also trying to find ways to rig the elections in various illegal ways as noted by some journalists. Voting machines are still a target, and Pillow-Mike is still not in a mental hospital.
A lot of really nasty stuff can come down between October of 2025 and November of 2026; look at.what Trump and Project 2025 have accomplished in 9 months.
While driving home a few evenings ago, I saw this HUGE plane flying very low over the residential area near our regional airport.
From AI Overview: "The C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft, developed by Boeing and used for a wide range of missions including cargo and troop transport, tactical airlift, and aeromedical evacuations. It is powered by four Pratt & Whitney F117-PW-100 turbofan engines and can land on short and unpaved airfields. Its capabilities include carrying 102 troops or up to 170,900 pounds of cargo.".
I stopped by the airport to see if the Noem propaganda was playing in the TSA area. It was. I asked about the plane and was told that the military flew the C-17 in here for routine training.
All I can say about the coup happening WITHIN our military is that the officers are educated and know exactly what they are looking at. Thanks Thom, for opening OUR eyes too. They must resist. We must resist. See you in the streets.
Is it time yet for at least some, and hopefully most, of the brass to organize a 'bomb plot' like the one against Hitler? This one will have to be against POTUS, Vantz, Johnson and the whole 2025 gang. I really wonder.
As a veteran I cannot imagine that there is no plan developing amongst retired and active military personnel to retake command of the military in a widespread refusal of obedience to illegal orders from the White House scum that would set the stage for an emergency move to protect the constitution.
My post above. Those who didn't walk out of the circus act of Pete and Donald, , have gone over to the dark side.
Everyone of those 0-7's through 0-10's can retire tomorrow, all they had to do was put in their papers. Those that stay are Trump humpers like Dan Caine was a retired lt Gen, that Trump pulled out of the pit, gave him four stars made him Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces.
Why wou;ld he do that to a retired lt Gen. Well we all know that he only appoints and promotes loyalist.
So Dan Caine is a Trump loyalist, and will not only obey his commander in chief, but most assuredly take "hints"
Trump may not know much, but he knows that the plot to kill Hitler failed and all the perps were executed.
We've had other "purges"within the military. I remember the Truman/MacArthur dispute. MacArthur went to Congress to give the "old soldiers" speech. To paraphrase Ike, "Old golfers never die, they just lose their balls." By the 1960's we knew there was a cake melting in MacArthur park, but otherwise his memory had faded.
Loyalty. Trump had, as one of my colleagues once told me, more fake military experience as a cadet at the New York Military Academy than some of his appointees, and that lack of knowledge and their blind faith in him is why he appointed them. Same with the law. He literally convicted himself in the NY fraud case and now is a 34 X felon. The main reason he named Bondi is loyalty. The No 2 at DOJ was his lawyer who lost the NY fraud case.
A president has not invoked the Insurrection Act since 1992, when George H. W. Bush sent troops to quell riots in Los Angeles, though that was done in accordance with the mayor’s and governor’s wishes. The situation in Portland or Chicago, which Trump has described as lawless hellscapes, is very different, with local officials vociferously opposing the moves.
He tried to use it peviously. But there’s no factual or legal justification to invoke the Insurrection Act, and Trump has renewed his call on Congress to change the law.
On other sites we've been discussing how MAGA paranoid schizoid behavior affects the markets. Inside the tech bros, there's a "Growing Blowback." When one of his supporters asked him to send troops to San Francisco, there were major objections and his company stock tanked. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/business/dealbook/salesforce-benioff-trump-ice.html
Daniel,I would appreciate blowback from Tech but I see absolutely none. As I have mentioned in the past,where the hell are the churches and synogogues? They are awol and history will treat them very badly as will history destroy the legacy of the Supreme Court.
First MSM reports virtually nothing, but financial papers, even WSJ, report on it daily. The tarrifs, for example are arbitrary, capricious and hurt the economy. E.G. Andrew Ross Sorkin, who wrote the article above is on MSNBC, CNBC every day. Virtually every CEO, when pushed, has to admit that Trump is hazadrous to business.
Second, many of the deals he and his family do come at the expense of US companies. E.G. he has given away the store to Gulf state regimes to the detriment of US companies.
His hatred and attacks on the alternative energy business cuts against science as well as the poskets of shareholders in related industries. Trump apparently hates/resents the fact that Nvidia, the largest company in the world, is run by a Chinese American. As Nvidia goes, so go the markets.
Sad to say somehow I knew this was coming. Yes I like to know and learn all sorts of history but I have pretty much always been into the people part of it. As a nurse I've studied people, I think folks are infinitely interesting but I never thought there would come a day when I couldn't stand to be around my friends and family. There isn't a place in my little hometown where I can go and just be myself...none and that means stores, bank, post office. There is a loneliness that comes with widowhood that is so far beyond what anyone who is not a widow can come close to but having all of my cousins except one to turn against me hasn't helped. I've gone from suicidal to militant in the last few years. I have started listening to "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", I had read it before many years ago so i sort of recognized things coming here in the Disjointed States of Columbus but who could imagine it was right out of the pages of the book. This morning I was listening to how Hitler got so got on his "high horse" and he thought that was his God-given "place". It is DJT ('digit' because we seem to have been thrown the finger). I don't think he can read or retain well enough to have read Mein Kampf, I can't say. Maybe he did a book report on it but I doubt it. He probably paid someone to do his book reports. This country is becoming very Orwellian. Please go read '1984' if you haven't yet. I believe we have to fight back. I think Stephen Miller is a huge part of the problem. I know he isn't Satan incarnate but he sure is a archetype. If you believe in Satan and Hell which I do I will say that he is laughing at us because his plan seems to be working for him...but guess what...
The reason the brass are not quitting en masse is to prevent chaos if Trump tries to turn DOW against US citizens who oppose replacing democracy with a fascist dictatorship. It is worth noting that the admiral in charge of the Caribbean area, Adm Holsey, resigned yesterday after the latest attack on a "presumed" drug cartel boat. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/us/politics/southern-command-head-stepping-down.html.
Keep in mind that the National Guard is not the military. They are a constitutionally permitted state militia that can be used to augment the US military in times of war or insurrection. In practice, as the humorous Texas National Guard fatties picture demonstrated, these once-a-month weekend warriors have more in common with the Boy Scouts than the US Army. Nevertheless, they are armed and dangerous - unlike Boy Scouts.
That is a stereotype that does not jibe with my experience. My admirals were amazing. We had 8 on staff when I was at OPNAV at the Pentagon as an O-4. I sat in on all board meetings at the request of THE admiral. Once in a while, a loser is promoted - almost always due to political pressure - "Promote my guy or see a budget cut." They were amazingly effective at getting rid of them in under a year.
It takes real talent to lead almost 400,000 people - my last Navy boss's job was eventually admiral of the Navy. He also was my mentor after the Surgeon General assigned me to his staff. Since the paygrade of O-2 in Nam until retirement at O-6, I have worked for admirals (and some generals (JCS), as well as a president (Clinton)).
Typically, many junior officers, especially National Guard majors, have no idea what flag officers do and the stress they are under.
I finally retired to move over to NIH when I got the call that I was to be promoted. It is a thankless job with only a presigeous job title to justify the misery.
I'm sorry but MOST I knew were (and still are) drunks.
Many, if not most of the competent field officers were seen as competition to comnmand officers. Several of my colleagues had. been trial counsel and or judges in cases like Tailhook. Virtually all of the women had stories about hands on assaiult -- even at the DOD.
There might be a difference between JAG and line officers. JAGs do not have to lead people into battle. Lawyering does not require teamwork in the hundreds to achieve a mission. Just to keep a Navy destroyer moving takes 250 men - each with specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities. When under fire, you have to help them focus on their work and not on the noise of the ship's guns blasting away and having rounds going off close to the ship - sometimes the enemy hits the ship. Damage control and rescue cannot distract the rest of the crew from getting the hell out of there before the entire ship is sunk.
Similarly, when in combat ashore (my first tour in Nam), the officers focus on reassuring the team and encouraging them to dig in and return fire - or - knowing when not to. My fave example was when I was sitting in the back of a pickup as the caged cab (cage to prevent looters) so I could read the NYT. We picked up a new guy while in Saigon getting some supplies so the cab was full. It was easier to read in the truck bed as we zipped through the jungles to return to base. Midway, my newspaper flew out of my hands as a sniper hit it vs me. I just reached down and continued reading. When we got back to base, my chief asked why I did not alert them to the attack. I explained that he would have stopped, making us an easy target. He gave me an "I gottcha" smile, nodded and walked off.
My point was not whether a JAG general ever saw combat, but that the nature of most staff corps jobs is lite on leadership demands - unlike the line. Having participated in a number of promotion boards for Navy line officers, it is clear that leadership skill is the primary criterion for promotion for O-4 and above.
To quote our Nobel laureate bard “you don’t need a weather man to know which way the wind blows”. Nevertheless, Thom’s post today should be seen as a forecast that the conditions are building which portend a political hurricane which could render the country unrecognizably transformed.
Trump's actions have gotten this secular Jeiwsh atheist to write about God here: "The MAGA Republicans know they have to remain in power because if the Democrats ever depose them they will rightfully be on the recieving end of a revenge tour de force" https://halbrown.substack.com/p/the-maga-republicans-know-they-have
Whence the arms entwined march to the feet of Jefferson and Washington? This is at least as big as the March for the civil rights of former slaves, more inclusive. There are no civil rights for any of us if Democracy fails and falls. Doctor King would have been front and center for this one and the great Ms. Anderson would have sung long and hard on the grass where America began…and where it might yet end. This is no joke; passive submission is unthinkable. We cannot wait until the next voting cycle. Congressional foot draggers must see us there in the flesh before there is none left on our Constitutional bones. Everybody say “Amen” and again….
Thanks to those who responded to this comment. It comes from somewhere deep inside that troubles me constantly. My book group is reading a book by a French philosopher on the “Great Virtues”. It occurs to me that the progressive left may just be too, too, “virtuous”. We believe in fighting fairly, in taking the high ground. Are we in danger of just being too idealistic and allowing the “higher ground” to be taken under “seize”. I cannot help thinking of Gettysburg as hundreds of confederate soldiers were sent up an impossibly difficult slope by a commander who obviously regarded winning as more important than the humans who were being mowed down.
A brave detachment of Mainers held their position and kept the Southern army from flanking their position and probably winning the whole battle. They were virtuous but were willing to give their very lives to keep the mountaintop out the hands of arch enemies.
Who among us on the virtuous side of progressivism will be brave enough to do that? Or will we simply hope for the best under the naive belief that the Constitution and democracy will prevail without at least a contingency of bold actors refusing to let the noble hilltop from be wrested from us by those who seem to lack any virtues at all (even truth).
Perhaps we have been too comfortable for too long and can only rant and rave at the injustice of it all to make us feel better of ourselves and certainly better than “them”. I find no comfort in that empty hope. Alas and Alack….
I often ask myself the same question - for all our talk, do we have the guts and willingness to lose our lives in protection of our country.
As I was reading the Rise of the Third Reich, off and on for about five plus yrs, I keeping writing notes in the margins about the similarities I saw between the development of Nazism and what we are seeing in America. It was shocking to me
But it was 15 years ago, more or less, while I was discussing the political economic realities of the working classes with my undergraduate students (first the lower income, then Blue collar workers, and before long the middle class as well), struggling to just keep their heads above water from month to month, when it hit me - the American Political Economy, and divisions rising up between those who felt politically invisible and those who were still doing well enough to believe that things weren’t so bad, were developing into the very type of environment that pseudo-populist grifter fascists do best. Not realizing I was predicting our future, I shared that thought with me students, suggesting that of one of parties didn’t start doing more to represent the needs and interests of all the people, the country would dealing something much worst.
I think it’s important to realize that we didn’t get here overnight. It took decades to create this political-economic environment. Ever since we let ourselves believe that the Shareholder economy (from Milton Friedman, 1979), where the interests of the majority shareholders would be the most important to corporate leaders - that is profit over people - was going somehow magically make us all rich, we’ve been building to this point.
It was only a matter of a couple of decades before every social institution in America had been remade from functioning to serve the needs of society and the people, to becoming yet just one more privatized, profitable institution working in the interests of the majority shareholders (today’s upper 1%) we made millionaire into billionaires, and over those 40+ yrs, a. Estimated minimum of $120 Trillion dollars redistributed from the people whose labor earned that money to the upper 1% (with a little trickle down to nest highest 4%).
And it still wasn’t enough money and power for the few. So they start putting millions of dollars into things like the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation and, of course, the Republican Party just to name a few of the groups that were prepared to remake America so to protect and further grow the great wealth of the rich, while stripping away the lasts bits of the Original view that American and her government existed for, of and by the people.
It’s important that we see the big picture, that we acknowledge that we not have seen what was going on for a long time. Of course, I guess we can thank Trump and his MAGA movement this term for coming right and showing what they are all about right up front. But I wonder what might have happened if more of us were ready to see the path we were on before we got to this point. There were a few - remember Occupy WallStreet?
But it is also important to have this larger view as we push back, and fight for the Constitution, liberty and Freedom - this won’t be an easy fix. If we have to fight for Freedom all over again, let’s do it right, let’s get real about the long term consequences of letting so few people accumulate so much money and wealth (something Jefferson & Madison worried about, esp with inheritance), or the negation of entire groups of workers, who will become angry and frightened and very susceptible to smooth talking grifters with lots of money from rich behind them. We need to remember that if even one of us is unfree, none of us have Freedom: Jefferson’s description of our natural and inalienable human rights in the Declaration of Independence was never fully achieved; from the beginning excuses and justifications were used to avoid meeting the criteria for societal wide guarantees of Rights.
It’s all doable. We can do it. I hate that we have to, but better now than never. Because the alternative is untenable. Not only would our failure destroy America’s Democratic Republic, it’s seems unlikely that with the unqualified and insecure clowns running things in the administration now, that we could even survive as a fascist nation. Lord help us if we are really tested at war with China and Russia right now. I don’t see that we have a choice but to take our country back, and make it impossible for the ugly power and wealth hungry assholes from getting a foothold and threatening our Rights and our Future ever again.
Let’s start tomorrow at No Kings Protests - and let’s make fools out of those folks in the administration who are betting on their surrogates abilities to trigger violence. Tomorrow, let our strength be our determination, self-control and commitment to the America we know we should be and can be.
Yes, a coup is happening. And expect "No Kings Day" to produce false flag acts of violence to justify the use of military force to kill peaceful American demonstrators. I have to say if that happens, all bets are off, and our country will be at the beginning of another national bloodletting of uncertain outcome as we were in the Civil War, and as the morbidly rich and the MAGA world seem to want, thinking they have the guns. Perhaps. One wonders if they have the smarts or the will to use them to accomplish their odious ends. They might be in for a very rude surprise, as a group of other authoritarians learned in WWII. I do not want that to happen, because no matter the outcome, this will be a reduced, vastly less powerful and more importantly less significant country. My precious grandson and his generation deserve a far better legacy.
I wasn't familiar with this pop star but she was here in our city last night and didn't hold back with the F-word talking about ICE. You can see the video in this article https://www.rawstory.com/trump-ice-2674208552/
You are absolutely correct. During my nearly 40 year military career I worked alongside many fin JAG Officers in the Army, Navy and the Marine Corps. They exemplified devotion to the Constitution and their Oaths of Office. Hegseth’s transformation is destroying the JAG Corps and the military. If I was on active duty today I would have already resigned my commission. I wouldn’t want to serve in Trump’s Wehrmacht.
We are standing on the precipice of a full fledged dictatorship, guided by the Führerprinzip. Trump’s word and whim is the law. God help us.
Thom, you really need to stop playing "catch up". As you know, Trump is too stupid to have figured out any of this himself. Which means he's, for the most part, simply "enjoying the ride" of the Project 2025 team executing the plan they've been carefully designing and gaming-out for years.
They've been planning without commitment to any particular person being President. The gameplan under a Democrat President was defensive and a waiting game. Mostly focusing on blocking only those things which would make it harder for them to execute their offensive game later.
A Republican President who was actually pro-America and patriotic would simply mean small levels of trying to poke, prod, and if possible mislead him in order to advance their offensive game. The fact is they simply got handed the most America-hating unpatriotic President they could have hoped for in Trump, with the added benefit he's a moron and incredibly easy to manipulate. They got handed the perfect gift from Satan.
Thinking we're up against Trump is a serious mistake. We're actually up against intelligent evil self-centered people who have a carefully gamed-out plan they're pursuing. That being pointed out, it means the future steps of their plan can be predicted.
This is nothing more than how the military has long done planning. All it takes is having your most intelligent and experienced people pretend to be the adversary in order to best predict what your adversary is going to do before they do it. You then play games back and forth where each side tests their plans against the other side's plan, both sides adjusting to the other side's adjustments.
Military planners know basing your plans on "wishful thinking" (convincing yourself the enemy is going to do what you've decided the enemy will do) is a recipe for disaster. A solid planning exercise is having intelligent people be the adversary with their own goal of winning. Every incentive to NOT do what you'd like them to do -- if only to repeatedly point out the adversary is not obliged to do what you want them to do.
That all being said, Project 2025's gameplan does not simply rely upon replacing the JAGs in order to have them misinterpret the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), etc, in order to get the military to do Project 2025's bidding. Thinking that is a total lack of gaming-out the scenario. The ultimate goal is to get the corrupt JAGs to actually strongly ENFORCE the UCMJ. That is -- here it comes -- the REWRITTEN UCMJ.
The over-arching approach of the Project 2025 plan is to perform their coup "legally". Remember, Hitler came to power "legally". Putin came to power "legally".
Their first "go to" for overthrowing the US is to change/rewrite anything which gets in their way -- if reasonably possible. The primary thing which, at least in the near'ish term, that would prove difficult is the Constitution itself. All laws and regulations which are not part of the Constitution itself are, relatively speaking, "changeable". Thus, simply rewriting the UCMJ is easy.
Changing the Constitution requires the harder path of extending the oppression into enough of the states -- OR the far easier path of simply replacing all the judges and justices with those who'll rewrite the Constitution from the bench for you. Just like the current extremist America-hating Supreme Court arbitrarily rewriting the First Amendment by adding "money" to it.
As for other constraints mentioned, such as the Geneva Convention: Really? That "obstacle" is zero in their plans. How does Project 2025 deal with the Geneva Convention? They IGNORE IT. Who's going to enforce it? IFF the Supreme Court decides to "enforce it" (gets in the way of Project 2025 ignoring it "legally"), then it's simply an annoyance that will eventually get resolved by replacing any "annoying" Supreme Court Justices remaining on the Court.
What the pro-America side of this conflict is, as usual, seriously lacking is military-style ORGANIZATION and DISCIPLINE. Heck, even just good solid large scale engineering project management organization and discipline would be a start. If the pro-America side expects to have real success countering the America-hating Project 2025, it's going to need people experienced with the nitty gritty operation of government and politics to game-out, in order to recreate, the detailed Project 2025 plan. That provides the "intelligence" (information) necessary to thwart Project 2025's future plans rather than constantly playing "catch up".
This is seriously NOT "magic." Not by the least. It's nothing more than being organized and disciplined. There is no "magic" to figuring out Project 2025's future plans. Their future plans are nothing more than what we'd have for future plans if we had the same evil America-hating goals and same understanding of the governmental and political environment -- what laws, regulations, etc, which need dealing with, and which don't, in order to advance our plans step-by-step. Once a team with the necessary intelligence and experience simply pretends to be Project 2025, figuring out their future plans isn't "magic".
As tRUMP moves closer and closer to invoking the insurrection act..... The country is on the precipice of a "Civil War II" .....This vile nazi vermin, occupying and desecrating the Oval Office, is out to provoke the slightest bit of violence he can using his personal gestapo thug militia to intimidate any peaceful protesters he can.....then employing the military to enact martial law.
Keep a close eye on tomorrow.
Good to see you both here and on my Substack. I will be at the protest about a 20 minute drive from where Thom lives and broadcasts from. Portland's biggest will no doubt be downtown but we're going to what will probably be the 2nd biggest which is in the suburb of Clackamas, the city Trump's labor secretary used to be mayor of. There should be another huge on across the river from Portland and where Thom lives. It is in Vancouver WA: https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/842547/
Stay safe.
Any general or flag officer who did not walk out of the circus act put on my Hegseth and Trump is a self serving careerist or worse a Dominionist.
These people don't have to resign, all they have to do is put in their retirement papers, relax and enjoy life, like I've done and like tomonthebeach has done.
One of the reasons they hang on is post retirement jobs, they are usually gobbled up by some corporation in the defense industry, are hired as consultants, by their real asset, is who they know that can benefit the corporation.
I have a friend who was a general who had retired 8 years before 9/11 but was recalled and sent as a judge in Gitmo.
During that time, his wife died, his daughter had cancer....
My colleague, Moe Davis was the chief prosecurtor at Gitmo who refused to use evidence obtained from torture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moe_Davis#:~:text=Davis%20was%20appointed%20the%20third,of%20the%20Air%20Force%20Judiciary.
Yes, retired officers can be recalled to active duty. know that regular retired officers can, like myself. There are two types of commission, reserve and retired. Most officers are commissioned into the Reserves, but serve on active duty.
Those who graduate from a service academy, or who graduate in the top 3 tp 7% of their class at ROTC or one of the Officer Training Schools are offered a Regular commission after they graduate and are commissioned a Reserve officer. If they accept they are discharged from the reserves and then commissioned as a regular officer, that was route to accession
As a regular officer I am still subject to the UCMJ and my oath of commissioning, as is, by the way, Michael Flynn . I could be recalled, but hardly worth the effort if they knew I was not a Trump loyalist
There are more than enough amoral psychopathic careerists, or flat out Christian extremists to to do the job.
You can add General and flag officer to the following list
Professions with the most psychopathic traits
Several studies highlight a list of professions that tend to attract individuals with psychopathic traits. It is important to note that this does not mean all people in these fields are psychopaths. Psychopathy exists on a spectrum, and people in these professions may just possess some of the traits.
The jobs with the highest prevalence of psychopathic traits are:
CEO High-pressure leadership positions attract psychopathic tendencies like fearlessness and charisma, which can be perceived as strong leadership qualities.
Lawyer The adversarial nature of the legal field, especially for litigators, can be a draw for people with psychopathic traits like emotional detachment and persuasiveness.
Media (TV/Radio) Professional Success in media can be fueled by a need for attention and a charismatic, calm-under-pressure demeanor, which are common psychopathic traits.
Salesperson The competitive, high-reward environment of sales, where charm and manipulation can be effective, attracts individuals with psychopathic traits.
Surgeon While most physicians do not score high on psychopathic traits, some studies show surgeons do. Traits like the ability to remain calm under extreme stress and arrogance can be found in the field.
Journalist The fast-paced, deadline-driven nature of journalism favors traits such as focus, ruthlessness, and charm.
Police Officer The ability to be cool-headed under pressure and in dangerous situations is a psychopathic trait that is highly beneficial for police officers.
Clergy Person As seen in various scandals, positions of religious authority can attract manipulative individuals who exploit their power and legitimacy.
Chef High-pressure, chaotic kitchen environments can be a good fit for people who thrive under stress and chaos.
Civil Servant Roles that involve bureaucracy and power over others' lives can appeal to individuals who prioritize rigid adherence to rules over empathy.
Why certain professions attract psychopaths
Psychopathic traits can be an asset in demanding, high-stress occupations that require difficult, objective decisions. These fields often reward a lack of emotion and a willingness to manipulate, allowing individuals with these traits to succeed. In contrast, professions with the fewest psychopathic tendencies often involve empathy, human connection, and creativity.
I add to my reply and my concern about the Acadamies, especially the Air Force Academy: The folloowing AF Academy Alumi or voting tohonor Charlie Kirk https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-air-force/2025/10/16/air-force-academy-alumni-board-to-vote-on-honoring-charlie-kirk/
Air Force generals, being mostly Academy graduates, are infected with the Dominionist virus.
After the Academy opened its doors in Colorado Springs, megachurches moved in and after the freshman year, where they attend services on campus, they are allowed to attend cervices off campus and these megachurches have bus schedules posted in dorm., and cadets are thrilled to get off campus and meet young ladies.. I wouldn't be surprised if most of them marry the a female they met in one of those churches.
I am quite sure that Gen Dan Caine is one of them, that is why Trump chose him.
What is laid out here is terrifying!
I'm in the middle of making my sign for tomorrow....
Chev,great post,agree 100%. In watching all the incredibly negative events over the past 9 months,I keep wondering,who are the real facilitators? It can't just be Stephen Miller,Russell Vought,Trump,Bredan Carr(FCC),thebuffon Howard Ludnick,Fox cable. There has to be a much larger participation that the media has not identified. Who has the power,control,intellec to pull this off?Who or what virtually controls everything we do everyday? My guess is big Tech. Microsoft,Meta ( Facebook) ,Nvidia,Google,Amazon,Musk,Wall Street,churches synogogues.None of these entities have criticized for one moment the rise of " Neo Nazism" .I could be wrong,but invite any input. Thank you.
What's the difference between them calling us the vermin and we calling them the vermin? The immediate response to the insult, regardless of side, would be "We are'nt the vermin, they are!). Better to pound away on their ultimately indefensible positions, in particular their full-fledged attack on the Constitution. That's what's at the heart of "No Kings". They either have to honor it or declare their animosity toward it. So far, I have yet to hear a peep about their allegiance to it. Don't resort to their 5th grade retorts, rip their beating hearts out of their chests with hard evidence.
Really Robert ?...I certainly don't need a lecture from you...btw...there is a big difference between me describing them as a vermin....because that is what they are due to their actions....big difference Robert....so piss off !!!
Intriguing!
yes it is !
The only way forward is to take the House and Senate. We can do this if we work together toward that one mission. The October 18, 2025 protest is drawing nigh. I made a batch of 126 free protest signs for you and your group. Please share, restack, copy and paste the link. Have a printing company do these for you! Subscribe for updates. Here they are:
http://bit.ly/483Qrd4
The MAGA pols are doing their best to undermine 2026 voting - assuming that if they negate black voter districts, the Democrats will lose, not gain, seats. That strategy assumes broke MAGAs will not be fed up by next year. So, they are also trying to find ways to rig the elections in various illegal ways as noted by some journalists. Voting machines are still a target, and Pillow-Mike is still not in a mental hospital.
A lot of really nasty stuff can come down between October of 2025 and November of 2026; look at.what Trump and Project 2025 have accomplished in 9 months.
Carl,I agree,do you think we can make to Nov 2026?It doesn't that way to me.
I don't think he, or rather his handlers, intend to go meekly out the door.
Please support Fred Wellman who is running for Congress in Missouri. https://fpwellman.substack.com/
Scary....
While driving home a few evenings ago, I saw this HUGE plane flying very low over the residential area near our regional airport.
From AI Overview: "The C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft, developed by Boeing and used for a wide range of missions including cargo and troop transport, tactical airlift, and aeromedical evacuations. It is powered by four Pratt & Whitney F117-PW-100 turbofan engines and can land on short and unpaved airfields. Its capabilities include carrying 102 troops or up to 170,900 pounds of cargo.".
I stopped by the airport to see if the Noem propaganda was playing in the TSA area. It was. I asked about the plane and was told that the military flew the C-17 in here for routine training.
All I can say about the coup happening WITHIN our military is that the officers are educated and know exactly what they are looking at. Thanks Thom, for opening OUR eyes too. They must resist. We must resist. See you in the streets.
This happened here in Philadelphia as well.
Getting ready for tomorrow....
Is it time yet for at least some, and hopefully most, of the brass to organize a 'bomb plot' like the one against Hitler? This one will have to be against POTUS, Vantz, Johnson and the whole 2025 gang. I really wonder.
As a veteran I cannot imagine that there is no plan developing amongst retired and active military personnel to retake command of the military in a widespread refusal of obedience to illegal orders from the White House scum that would set the stage for an emergency move to protect the constitution.
May it be so, sir. May it be so!
One would think....
Thank You, Earl James, and Thank You for your continued service.
My post above. Those who didn't walk out of the circus act of Pete and Donald, , have gone over to the dark side.
Everyone of those 0-7's through 0-10's can retire tomorrow, all they had to do was put in their papers. Those that stay are Trump humpers like Dan Caine was a retired lt Gen, that Trump pulled out of the pit, gave him four stars made him Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces.
Why wou;ld he do that to a retired lt Gen. Well we all know that he only appoints and promotes loyalist.
So Dan Caine is a Trump loyalist, and will not only obey his commander in chief, but most assuredly take "hints"
Trump may not know much, but he knows that the plot to kill Hitler failed and all the perps were executed.
We've had other "purges"within the military. I remember the Truman/MacArthur dispute. MacArthur went to Congress to give the "old soldiers" speech. To paraphrase Ike, "Old golfers never die, they just lose their balls." By the 1960's we knew there was a cake melting in MacArthur park, but otherwise his memory had faded.
Loyalty. Trump had, as one of my colleagues once told me, more fake military experience as a cadet at the New York Military Academy than some of his appointees, and that lack of knowledge and their blind faith in him is why he appointed them. Same with the law. He literally convicted himself in the NY fraud case and now is a 34 X felon. The main reason he named Bondi is loyalty. The No 2 at DOJ was his lawyer who lost the NY fraud case.
A president has not invoked the Insurrection Act since 1992, when George H. W. Bush sent troops to quell riots in Los Angeles, though that was done in accordance with the mayor’s and governor’s wishes. The situation in Portland or Chicago, which Trump has described as lawless hellscapes, is very different, with local officials vociferously opposing the moves.
He tried to use it peviously. But there’s no factual or legal justification to invoke the Insurrection Act, and Trump has renewed his call on Congress to change the law.
On other sites we've been discussing how MAGA paranoid schizoid behavior affects the markets. Inside the tech bros, there's a "Growing Blowback." When one of his supporters asked him to send troops to San Francisco, there were major objections and his company stock tanked. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/business/dealbook/salesforce-benioff-trump-ice.html
Daniel,I would appreciate blowback from Tech but I see absolutely none. As I have mentioned in the past,where the hell are the churches and synogogues? They are awol and history will treat them very badly as will history destroy the legacy of the Supreme Court.
First MSM reports virtually nothing, but financial papers, even WSJ, report on it daily. The tarrifs, for example are arbitrary, capricious and hurt the economy. E.G. Andrew Ross Sorkin, who wrote the article above is on MSNBC, CNBC every day. Virtually every CEO, when pushed, has to admit that Trump is hazadrous to business.
Second, many of the deals he and his family do come at the expense of US companies. E.G. he has given away the store to Gulf state regimes to the detriment of US companies.
His hatred and attacks on the alternative energy business cuts against science as well as the poskets of shareholders in related industries. Trump apparently hates/resents the fact that Nvidia, the largest company in the world, is run by a Chinese American. As Nvidia goes, so go the markets.
While there are obvious differences, I think it is important to publicize the similarities between Trump and Hitler. I wrote about how Thom is doing this here: https://halbrown.substack.com/p/im-not-the-only-one-harping-on-hitler
Thanks Hal,how is everything in Portland.Thanks for your comments about your friend here in Georgia.
We won't know until it is done!!
Sad to say somehow I knew this was coming. Yes I like to know and learn all sorts of history but I have pretty much always been into the people part of it. As a nurse I've studied people, I think folks are infinitely interesting but I never thought there would come a day when I couldn't stand to be around my friends and family. There isn't a place in my little hometown where I can go and just be myself...none and that means stores, bank, post office. There is a loneliness that comes with widowhood that is so far beyond what anyone who is not a widow can come close to but having all of my cousins except one to turn against me hasn't helped. I've gone from suicidal to militant in the last few years. I have started listening to "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", I had read it before many years ago so i sort of recognized things coming here in the Disjointed States of Columbus but who could imagine it was right out of the pages of the book. This morning I was listening to how Hitler got so got on his "high horse" and he thought that was his God-given "place". It is DJT ('digit' because we seem to have been thrown the finger). I don't think he can read or retain well enough to have read Mein Kampf, I can't say. Maybe he did a book report on it but I doubt it. He probably paid someone to do his book reports. This country is becoming very Orwellian. Please go read '1984' if you haven't yet. I believe we have to fight back. I think Stephen Miller is a huge part of the problem. I know he isn't Satan incarnate but he sure is a archetype. If you believe in Satan and Hell which I do I will say that he is laughing at us because his plan seems to be working for him...but guess what...
Hold the line!
S'truth
SidneyRN
Try the movie "2 + 2 = 5".
I’d prefer a coup by the military, dethroning trump.
The reason the brass are not quitting en masse is to prevent chaos if Trump tries to turn DOW against US citizens who oppose replacing democracy with a fascist dictatorship. It is worth noting that the admiral in charge of the Caribbean area, Adm Holsey, resigned yesterday after the latest attack on a "presumed" drug cartel boat. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/us/politics/southern-command-head-stepping-down.html.
Keep in mind that the National Guard is not the military. They are a constitutionally permitted state militia that can be used to augment the US military in times of war or insurrection. In practice, as the humorous Texas National Guard fatties picture demonstrated, these once-a-month weekend warriors have more in common with the Boy Scouts than the US Army. Nevertheless, they are armed and dangerous - unlike Boy Scouts.
I hit "like" but most of them are really followers and not leaders regardless of rank. IMHO all are expert ass kissers.
In my experience, anyone who shows initiative is not promoted.
That is a stereotype that does not jibe with my experience. My admirals were amazing. We had 8 on staff when I was at OPNAV at the Pentagon as an O-4. I sat in on all board meetings at the request of THE admiral. Once in a while, a loser is promoted - almost always due to political pressure - "Promote my guy or see a budget cut." They were amazingly effective at getting rid of them in under a year.
It takes real talent to lead almost 400,000 people - my last Navy boss's job was eventually admiral of the Navy. He also was my mentor after the Surgeon General assigned me to his staff. Since the paygrade of O-2 in Nam until retirement at O-6, I have worked for admirals (and some generals (JCS), as well as a president (Clinton)).
Typically, many junior officers, especially National Guard majors, have no idea what flag officers do and the stress they are under.
I finally retired to move over to NIH when I got the call that I was to be promoted. It is a thankless job with only a presigeous job title to justify the misery.
I'm sorry but MOST I knew were (and still are) drunks.
Many, if not most of the competent field officers were seen as competition to comnmand officers. Several of my colleagues had. been trial counsel and or judges in cases like Tailhook. Virtually all of the women had stories about hands on assaiult -- even at the DOD.
There might be a difference between JAG and line officers. JAGs do not have to lead people into battle. Lawyering does not require teamwork in the hundreds to achieve a mission. Just to keep a Navy destroyer moving takes 250 men - each with specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities. When under fire, you have to help them focus on their work and not on the noise of the ship's guns blasting away and having rounds going off close to the ship - sometimes the enemy hits the ship. Damage control and rescue cannot distract the rest of the crew from getting the hell out of there before the entire ship is sunk.
Similarly, when in combat ashore (my first tour in Nam), the officers focus on reassuring the team and encouraging them to dig in and return fire - or - knowing when not to. My fave example was when I was sitting in the back of a pickup as the caged cab (cage to prevent looters) so I could read the NYT. We picked up a new guy while in Saigon getting some supplies so the cab was full. It was easier to read in the truck bed as we zipped through the jungles to return to base. Midway, my newspaper flew out of my hands as a sniper hit it vs me. I just reached down and continued reading. When we got back to base, my chief asked why I did not alert them to the attack. I explained that he would have stopped, making us an easy target. He gave me an "I gottcha" smile, nodded and walked off.
Most of us had been in combat before we went to law school.
Many, if not most cases are settlled, AR 14... burried.
My point was not whether a JAG general ever saw combat, but that the nature of most staff corps jobs is lite on leadership demands - unlike the line. Having participated in a number of promotion boards for Navy line officers, it is clear that leadership skill is the primary criterion for promotion for O-4 and above.
To quote our Nobel laureate bard “you don’t need a weather man to know which way the wind blows”. Nevertheless, Thom’s post today should be seen as a forecast that the conditions are building which portend a political hurricane which could render the country unrecognizably transformed.
Trump's actions have gotten this secular Jeiwsh atheist to write about God here: "The MAGA Republicans know they have to remain in power because if the Democrats ever depose them they will rightfully be on the recieving end of a revenge tour de force" https://halbrown.substack.com/p/the-maga-republicans-know-they-have
Whence the arms entwined march to the feet of Jefferson and Washington? This is at least as big as the March for the civil rights of former slaves, more inclusive. There are no civil rights for any of us if Democracy fails and falls. Doctor King would have been front and center for this one and the great Ms. Anderson would have sung long and hard on the grass where America began…and where it might yet end. This is no joke; passive submission is unthinkable. We cannot wait until the next voting cycle. Congressional foot draggers must see us there in the flesh before there is none left on our Constitutional bones. Everybody say “Amen” and again….
Thanks to those who responded to this comment. It comes from somewhere deep inside that troubles me constantly. My book group is reading a book by a French philosopher on the “Great Virtues”. It occurs to me that the progressive left may just be too, too, “virtuous”. We believe in fighting fairly, in taking the high ground. Are we in danger of just being too idealistic and allowing the “higher ground” to be taken under “seize”. I cannot help thinking of Gettysburg as hundreds of confederate soldiers were sent up an impossibly difficult slope by a commander who obviously regarded winning as more important than the humans who were being mowed down.
A brave detachment of Mainers held their position and kept the Southern army from flanking their position and probably winning the whole battle. They were virtuous but were willing to give their very lives to keep the mountaintop out the hands of arch enemies.
Who among us on the virtuous side of progressivism will be brave enough to do that? Or will we simply hope for the best under the naive belief that the Constitution and democracy will prevail without at least a contingency of bold actors refusing to let the noble hilltop from be wrested from us by those who seem to lack any virtues at all (even truth).
Perhaps we have been too comfortable for too long and can only rant and rave at the injustice of it all to make us feel better of ourselves and certainly better than “them”. I find no comfort in that empty hope. Alas and Alack….
I often ask myself the same question - for all our talk, do we have the guts and willingness to lose our lives in protection of our country.
As I was reading the Rise of the Third Reich, off and on for about five plus yrs, I keeping writing notes in the margins about the similarities I saw between the development of Nazism and what we are seeing in America. It was shocking to me
But it was 15 years ago, more or less, while I was discussing the political economic realities of the working classes with my undergraduate students (first the lower income, then Blue collar workers, and before long the middle class as well), struggling to just keep their heads above water from month to month, when it hit me - the American Political Economy, and divisions rising up between those who felt politically invisible and those who were still doing well enough to believe that things weren’t so bad, were developing into the very type of environment that pseudo-populist grifter fascists do best. Not realizing I was predicting our future, I shared that thought with me students, suggesting that of one of parties didn’t start doing more to represent the needs and interests of all the people, the country would dealing something much worst.
I think it’s important to realize that we didn’t get here overnight. It took decades to create this political-economic environment. Ever since we let ourselves believe that the Shareholder economy (from Milton Friedman, 1979), where the interests of the majority shareholders would be the most important to corporate leaders - that is profit over people - was going somehow magically make us all rich, we’ve been building to this point.
It was only a matter of a couple of decades before every social institution in America had been remade from functioning to serve the needs of society and the people, to becoming yet just one more privatized, profitable institution working in the interests of the majority shareholders (today’s upper 1%) we made millionaire into billionaires, and over those 40+ yrs, a. Estimated minimum of $120 Trillion dollars redistributed from the people whose labor earned that money to the upper 1% (with a little trickle down to nest highest 4%).
And it still wasn’t enough money and power for the few. So they start putting millions of dollars into things like the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation and, of course, the Republican Party just to name a few of the groups that were prepared to remake America so to protect and further grow the great wealth of the rich, while stripping away the lasts bits of the Original view that American and her government existed for, of and by the people.
It’s important that we see the big picture, that we acknowledge that we not have seen what was going on for a long time. Of course, I guess we can thank Trump and his MAGA movement this term for coming right and showing what they are all about right up front. But I wonder what might have happened if more of us were ready to see the path we were on before we got to this point. There were a few - remember Occupy WallStreet?
But it is also important to have this larger view as we push back, and fight for the Constitution, liberty and Freedom - this won’t be an easy fix. If we have to fight for Freedom all over again, let’s do it right, let’s get real about the long term consequences of letting so few people accumulate so much money and wealth (something Jefferson & Madison worried about, esp with inheritance), or the negation of entire groups of workers, who will become angry and frightened and very susceptible to smooth talking grifters with lots of money from rich behind them. We need to remember that if even one of us is unfree, none of us have Freedom: Jefferson’s description of our natural and inalienable human rights in the Declaration of Independence was never fully achieved; from the beginning excuses and justifications were used to avoid meeting the criteria for societal wide guarantees of Rights.
It’s all doable. We can do it. I hate that we have to, but better now than never. Because the alternative is untenable. Not only would our failure destroy America’s Democratic Republic, it’s seems unlikely that with the unqualified and insecure clowns running things in the administration now, that we could even survive as a fascist nation. Lord help us if we are really tested at war with China and Russia right now. I don’t see that we have a choice but to take our country back, and make it impossible for the ugly power and wealth hungry assholes from getting a foothold and threatening our Rights and our Future ever again.
Let’s start tomorrow at No Kings Protests - and let’s make fools out of those folks in the administration who are betting on their surrogates abilities to trigger violence. Tomorrow, let our strength be our determination, self-control and commitment to the America we know we should be and can be.
Yes, a coup is happening. And expect "No Kings Day" to produce false flag acts of violence to justify the use of military force to kill peaceful American demonstrators. I have to say if that happens, all bets are off, and our country will be at the beginning of another national bloodletting of uncertain outcome as we were in the Civil War, and as the morbidly rich and the MAGA world seem to want, thinking they have the guns. Perhaps. One wonders if they have the smarts or the will to use them to accomplish their odious ends. They might be in for a very rude surprise, as a group of other authoritarians learned in WWII. I do not want that to happen, because no matter the outcome, this will be a reduced, vastly less powerful and more importantly less significant country. My precious grandson and his generation deserve a far better legacy.
I wasn't familiar with this pop star but she was here in our city last night and didn't hold back with the F-word talking about ICE. You can see the video in this article https://www.rawstory.com/trump-ice-2674208552/
Thom,
You are absolutely correct. During my nearly 40 year military career I worked alongside many fin JAG Officers in the Army, Navy and the Marine Corps. They exemplified devotion to the Constitution and their Oaths of Office. Hegseth’s transformation is destroying the JAG Corps and the military. If I was on active duty today I would have already resigned my commission. I wouldn’t want to serve in Trump’s Wehrmacht.
We are standing on the precipice of a full fledged dictatorship, guided by the Führerprinzip. Trump’s word and whim is the law. God help us.
Steve Dundas
Thom, you really need to stop playing "catch up". As you know, Trump is too stupid to have figured out any of this himself. Which means he's, for the most part, simply "enjoying the ride" of the Project 2025 team executing the plan they've been carefully designing and gaming-out for years.
They've been planning without commitment to any particular person being President. The gameplan under a Democrat President was defensive and a waiting game. Mostly focusing on blocking only those things which would make it harder for them to execute their offensive game later.
A Republican President who was actually pro-America and patriotic would simply mean small levels of trying to poke, prod, and if possible mislead him in order to advance their offensive game. The fact is they simply got handed the most America-hating unpatriotic President they could have hoped for in Trump, with the added benefit he's a moron and incredibly easy to manipulate. They got handed the perfect gift from Satan.
Thinking we're up against Trump is a serious mistake. We're actually up against intelligent evil self-centered people who have a carefully gamed-out plan they're pursuing. That being pointed out, it means the future steps of their plan can be predicted.
This is nothing more than how the military has long done planning. All it takes is having your most intelligent and experienced people pretend to be the adversary in order to best predict what your adversary is going to do before they do it. You then play games back and forth where each side tests their plans against the other side's plan, both sides adjusting to the other side's adjustments.
Military planners know basing your plans on "wishful thinking" (convincing yourself the enemy is going to do what you've decided the enemy will do) is a recipe for disaster. A solid planning exercise is having intelligent people be the adversary with their own goal of winning. Every incentive to NOT do what you'd like them to do -- if only to repeatedly point out the adversary is not obliged to do what you want them to do.
That all being said, Project 2025's gameplan does not simply rely upon replacing the JAGs in order to have them misinterpret the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), etc, in order to get the military to do Project 2025's bidding. Thinking that is a total lack of gaming-out the scenario. The ultimate goal is to get the corrupt JAGs to actually strongly ENFORCE the UCMJ. That is -- here it comes -- the REWRITTEN UCMJ.
The over-arching approach of the Project 2025 plan is to perform their coup "legally". Remember, Hitler came to power "legally". Putin came to power "legally".
Their first "go to" for overthrowing the US is to change/rewrite anything which gets in their way -- if reasonably possible. The primary thing which, at least in the near'ish term, that would prove difficult is the Constitution itself. All laws and regulations which are not part of the Constitution itself are, relatively speaking, "changeable". Thus, simply rewriting the UCMJ is easy.
Changing the Constitution requires the harder path of extending the oppression into enough of the states -- OR the far easier path of simply replacing all the judges and justices with those who'll rewrite the Constitution from the bench for you. Just like the current extremist America-hating Supreme Court arbitrarily rewriting the First Amendment by adding "money" to it.
As for other constraints mentioned, such as the Geneva Convention: Really? That "obstacle" is zero in their plans. How does Project 2025 deal with the Geneva Convention? They IGNORE IT. Who's going to enforce it? IFF the Supreme Court decides to "enforce it" (gets in the way of Project 2025 ignoring it "legally"), then it's simply an annoyance that will eventually get resolved by replacing any "annoying" Supreme Court Justices remaining on the Court.
What the pro-America side of this conflict is, as usual, seriously lacking is military-style ORGANIZATION and DISCIPLINE. Heck, even just good solid large scale engineering project management organization and discipline would be a start. If the pro-America side expects to have real success countering the America-hating Project 2025, it's going to need people experienced with the nitty gritty operation of government and politics to game-out, in order to recreate, the detailed Project 2025 plan. That provides the "intelligence" (information) necessary to thwart Project 2025's future plans rather than constantly playing "catch up".
This is seriously NOT "magic." Not by the least. It's nothing more than being organized and disciplined. There is no "magic" to figuring out Project 2025's future plans. Their future plans are nothing more than what we'd have for future plans if we had the same evil America-hating goals and same understanding of the governmental and political environment -- what laws, regulations, etc, which need dealing with, and which don't, in order to advance our plans step-by-step. Once a team with the necessary intelligence and experience simply pretends to be Project 2025, figuring out their future plans isn't "magic".
The proper name is a self coup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-coup