Today’s WTF? involves the Pentagon. Yesterday Politico reported this:
The White House removed nine members of the Pentagon’s Defense Business Board on Friday and installed people loyal to President Donald Trump in their place, including presidential allies Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie.
Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller installed two close allies of President Trump, Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, to the Pentagon’s Defense Business Board Friday in an abrupt shake-up of the historically non-partisan advisory group.
Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager, was fired from the 2016 campaign but remained close to the president. Both he and Bossie, the former deputy campaign manager, have been involved in the president’s efforts to discredit the results of the 2020 election.
Miller removed nine members of the board and replaced them with a total of 11 others, including Lewandowski and Bossie.
And the advisory board is what?
The board advises the defense secretary and deputy secretary on business management issues and is historically non-partisan. Members are not paid for their participation and serve no less than one year and no more than four years, according to the Pentagon’s website.
The SecDef, Chris Miller, replaced the previous SecDef in August. Miller is a former Green Beret and defense contractor who somehow got pulled into the Trump Administration. More than that I do not know.
This morning there were reports in several news sources that Miller was blocking the Biden transition team from defense intelligence agencies, but Miller has since strongly denied these reports. There was just some procedural issue that has since been cleared up, he says. Or else the Biden team was being blocked until the blocking got in the news.
But it does make me wonder why Trump is so keen to pack the Pentagon with a bunch of his loyalists, now that we’re near the end of his tenure. Is something being hidden? Have the loyalists been charged with destroying records?
And then there’s this — yesterday Trump ordered nearly all U.S. troops to be pulled from Somalia. Every time he issues sudden withdrawal orders the Pentagon argues with him about it. Maybe he wants people who won’t disagree with him.
Also today: Trump calls Georgia governor to pressure him for help overturning Biden’s win in the state. Kemp said no. Seriously, what else could he say?
Update: This explains some of it. Trump loyalist Kash Patel is blocking some Pentagon officials from cooperating with the transition.
Someone explain to me why the stupid and potentially dangerous shit tRUMP's pulling right now not some form of sedition?!?
But it's not textbook "sedition."
Actually, it's like almost like the reverse. Because instead of the people plotting to rebel against their leader; Here, it's the leader plotting to rebel against his people.
What should I call this? "Auto-sedition?"
"Autosuxdicktion," maybe? 😉
You know, I've done a lot of pharmaceuticals in my life. Don't get me wrong! Some of them were even legal.
But I think I had an acid flashback while trying to think about tRUMP's "auto-sedition/autosuxdicktion."
It's almost like, just as I sat down in maha's "American Politics 101" class, the acid hit me!
And that day's lesson? "The Power of the Presidency."
Wow, man…
What a trip…
A power trip…
A long, strange, power trip…
Wheeeeeeeee!!!
Ruth Ben-Ghiat calls it an “auto-coup”. So there’s a word for it.
Melania looks happy as she and Trump descend upon Georgia. What's behind that smile? The ordeal will be over a few weeks? Trump successfully pulling in big $$$ to keep their lavish livestyle going? Trump going nuts as he deals with losing the election? She can finally get rid of this guy…
Thanks, moonbat!
Now I can use that "autosuxdicktion" for something else. 😉
I think Trump's main goal is to stay out of jail. He's used the presidency as a shield quite effectively. If he can find a way to stay in the White House, he'll ride the get-out-of-jail for four more years.
That's not working real well. Rudy has bombed everywhere. The US Supreme Court is not working as Trump's personal law firm. Even Barr has turned on his master. It's not just that the A/G announced the election was not fraudulent – Barr threw out Trump's spy in the Justice Department so hard she bounced three times. (Se was demanding confidential information about the Justice Department probe into election misdeeds.) Even Kellyanne Conway, AKA The Mouth of Sauron, has declared Biden won. So is there an ace up Trump's sleeve? No.
The musical chairs at the Pentagon concerned me for a while but the Joint Chiefs of Staff look pretty solid. Every commissioned officer in the military has considered their oath to uphold the Constitution, not the president. Some wearing gold braid would side with Trump (oath be damned) but not many, IMO. Trump's generals are all gone – some have been quite vocal about what a danger Trump is. Ambitious people in the Pentagon have seen top people who they worked for in their careers get thrown rudely under Trump's bus. So the action on the other side of the Potomac is a deliberate distraction for the rubes. So are the declarations that Trump should " suspend the Constitution and declare martial law." That would be soooo overtly criminal and Trump himself would have to order it. And he'd lose.
Trump is building a war chest to pay the lawyers he's gonna need. Even with a federal pardon, NY is just waiting for a shot at Trump. If Ivanka and Don Jr. participated in tax fraud (as seems to be the case), NY has a shot at them, too.
Remember how they got Capone.
"But it does make me wonder why Trump is so keen to pack the Pentagon with a bunch of his loyalists"
He desires a flow of information that he can use on his new television station, as well as the ability to supply his sponsors (Putin, the prince, etc.) with supposedly secret access.
"That's not working real well. Rudy has bombed everywhere. The US Supreme Court is not working as Trump's personal law firm. Even Barr has turned on his master. It's not just that the A/G announced the election was not fraudulent – Barr threw out Trump's spy in the Justice Department so hard she bounced three times. (Se was demanding confidential information about the Justice Department probe into election misdeeds.) Even Kellyanne Conway, AKA The Mouth of Sauron, has declared Biden won. So is there an ace up Trump's sleeve? No."
Just look at trump's "business" dealings for a preview of his failures.
I would like to think that with Trump defeated this shameful chapter in our history is coming to an end. Trump's defeat at the polls is something to celebrate. But given the continued, massive, repetitive wall of lies, fear and hatred that drives a not insignificant portion of the country, what we may be witnessing is only the end of the beginning. The lies continue to take root because of a lack of an effective counter message. The democrats appear to be poised to make the same mistakes, including assuming it’s too crazy for any rational person to believe while not sufficiently taking into account the sheer dishonesty and irrationality of the other side. And yet just screaming "Socialism!" is now an effective counter to anything positive the democrats would propose that actually helps people and the economy — $15/hr minimum wage, health care for all, workplace protections, COVID relief, etc. By even the kindest definition, what we're faced with is a neo fascist movement, wherein opponents of it have been cowed into not stating that fact. Media talking heads routinely confront democrats with "socialism" but make it known that calling the current right wing movement fascist is beyond the pale. We have to change that. How? Ignore them and start calling it what it is.
Regardless of what happens with Trump, the seeds have been planted. They know they can win this way, so its not going to stop. They see their voters are easily motivated by it, just as in Germany of the 1930s, the can count on people blindly following every lie, because it not just feels good to them, it gives meaning to their lives.
Biden has won, but democrats have to recognize this moment in time. They can't just go back to business as usual, appointing centrist caretakers of the beneficiaries of fascism (yes, that's right) in the administration, "reaching across the aisle" with watered down proposals, like the House Covid relief bill that does not include any of the relief people need just for the sake of "bicameral support." They can't continue to hug them and celebrating the process when their court packing schemes succeed. They need to name names, telling the voters why COVID relief hasn't happened and the people responsible need to be kept out of power if anything positive can get done.
Biden is a good man, and to say he's a vast improvement over Trump is an understatement. But he has to recognize things are different, and democratic party business as usual, which is what they appear to be settling into, won't cut it. The GOP is going to spend the next four years denying the legitimacy of Biden's presidency, which dovetails nicely with their effective, long-term project of denying the legitimacy the democratic party and democratic voters as Americans. The only way to stop this is to keep voter participation high, and the way to do that is by taking a solid stand on and advocating for if not passing by legislation or executive action, policies that make a difference in voters lives, so they can see why it’s important to come out in 2022 to protect the gains.
Mitch McConnell routinely uses "socialism" to describe any democrat, no matter how moderate, and any policy, not matter how rational, that provides the help voters need. 'We" don't bother to communicate the distinctions. Why can't the questions be asked to force them to define what their view of socialism is? Is $15/hr minimum wage "socialist"? Is COVID relief socialist? etc.
Every elected republican, from McConnell on down to the county dog catcher knows to describe the defenders of democracy as socialist. They do this as the incubators if not the active drivers of an anti-democratic, fascist society:
Fascism: political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.
This is clearly where we're headed, and "we" need to be warning the voters about what they're working towards. We have to recognize it for what it is, and yet, democrats are loathe to call it what it is. If Chuck Schumer, of all people, can be called a socialist, Mitch McConnell can certainly and fairly be called a fascist.
My fear is a time may come sooner than we think where we'll look back on this moment in time and wish we had.
"But it does make me wonder why Trump is so keen to pack the Pentagon with a bunch of his loyalists"
I suspect Trump is just aiding in resume building ( image building) for his sycophants. Now Corey Lewandowski will have military related credentials in the highest capacity as an analyst/ advisor, super duper strategist, and any other military greatness he can spin his newfound title into. It never hurts billing yourself as a high level Pentagon advisor when you make a run for senator. Corey went from licking envelopes to licking boots for Trump and his campaign, so now he's reaping his reward for being a good and faithful lackey. Wamp, wamp!