In recent years, neo-Nazi nationalist groups have co-opted these same symbols to support their xenophobic, racist, anti-Islamic, and anti-Semitic agendas. “Deus Vult” is emblazoned on alt-right parade banners and chanted at rallies.
Peter Hegseth:
Heather Cox Richardson, 11/12/24:
"Today the Trump transition team floated the idea that Trump could sign an executive order creating a board of retired senior military personnel that would review high-ranking officers and recommend removing any they deemed unfit for leadership. Vivian Salama, Nancy A. Youssef, and Lara Seligman reported in the Wall Street Journal that such a board would enable Trump to purge the military of the generals whom he considers insufficiently loyal to him. Generals who refused to carry out what they considered unconstitutional orders—including using the military against U.S. civilians—infuriated Trump during his first term.
(This is how fascist leaders take hold of the military. Read history to confirm this.)
The chairman of VoteVets, retired major general Paul Eaton, warned that such a plan would turn the U.S. military into Trump loyalists. Eaton also warned military personnel what that would mean for the troops, suggesting that folks should “take a look at Stalin’s officer purges in early WWII that resulted in the Soviet, now-Russian Army, enduring incompetence and the use of its rank-and-file troops as cannon meat.
The American military is the envy of the world’s militaries, given its efficiency for military effect and stunningly low casualty count. Probably a good model to keep.”
Transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said, “[T]he American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver.”
But Trump’s claims of a mandate are wrong. As vote counts continue to come in, it appears that Trump’s margin of victory was actually quite slim.
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For secretary of defense, Trump has tapped Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth*, a combat veteran and host of the weekend edition of Fox & Friends, a show Trump reportedly enjoys. As national security expert Tom Nichols points out, the Secretary of Defense has access to the nuclear command-and-control procedure. The secretary oversees about 1.3 million active-duty troops and another 1.4 million in the National Guard and employed in Reserves and civilian positions, as well as a budget of more than $800 billion.
Hegseth lobbied Trump to intervene in the cases of service members accused of war crimes, and he cheered on Trump’s January 6, 2021, rally. He became popularly known after accidentally hitting a man with an ax on the Fox & Friends show in 2015. Then, in 2019, he regained notoriety when he volunteered that he had not washed his hands in ten years because he does not believe germs are real.
Hegseth has said women do not belong in combat and has been vocal about his opposition to the equity and inclusion measures in the military that he calls “woke.”
[skip]
Lolita C. Baldor and Tara Copp of the Associated Press reported that the news that Trump has tapped the inexperienced Hegseth to run the world’s largest and most powerful military “stunned the Pentagon and the broader defense world.” While some Republicans say they look forward to getting to know him better, others appear to share the Pentagon’s concerns.
"There’s something else that Hegseth is happy to do that the others are not. The possible choices are gutting the military of women, people of color, LGBTQ soldiers, launching nuclear first strikes, committing war crimes, and treating leftists as terrorists — all are things he has espoused before."
*Not that this matters anymore, but regarding Hegseth's personal and moral integrity:
"Hegseth got wife #3 pregnant while still married to wife #2."
This is the slow-walk to fascism Liz Cheney warned us about; and MAGA, too uninformed and bamboozled by a con man, ignored.
But here we are.
15 comments:
Yeah, but at least I won’t be paying more for eggs and gas
Sounds vaguely familiar -
"In June 1937 Iosif Stalin sanctioned an extensive purge of the Red Army that was not brought to a halt until November 1938. In total, approximately 35,000 army leaders were discharged from the ranks and tens of thousands of officers were arrested. Several thousand people were executed." Since Trump neither reads nor is interested in history, one of his loyal 'patriots' has been whispering into his nicked ear.
Naw, just about as expected.]
After roll out we'll see how many last and for how long.
You're Fired!
His favorite pronouncement. It's how he maintains his false sense of self worth.
The Era Of the Goon. Soon to be playing out again on the National and world stage.
Sic transit imperium
Mandate, smandate!
In 2008, after a resounding electoral college win [365 votes], a 69 seat majority in the House, a super majority in the Senate and a 12 million vote popular vote advantage, GOP Senate Minority Leader McConnell and other GOP leaders said incoming Barack Obama had no mandate. Additionally, he famously quipped in a meeting on strategy to stop all of Obama's initiatives, that his objective was to make Obama a one term president and thwart his agenda.
So what's the difference?
Trump won the election. Period. A mandate? Hardly.
Anon... can you explain how a president affects the cost of a gallon of gas, produced by a private industry here in the US and traded on an international market?
We'll wait.
I think "Anonymous" was being ironic.
Joanne Freeman, Prof. of History, Yale University was asked, "How do you imagine the Founding Fathers would interpret this election?"
Prof. Freeman: "Well, they might say 'I told you so.' If you read the personal letters, anything that they were writing in the founding era, it’s hard to say that the founders agreed on a lot, but they did agree that the greatest threat to any republic, but particularly a democratic republic, was a demagogue.
The world was monarchies at the time and a democratic republic grounded on public opinion was experimental. What made these largely elitist founders nervous was that 'the public' would be easily persuaded, warped, led astray by someone who could get their emotions riled up."
Exactly what Trump did to the "poorly educated," politically ambitious, and chaos agents. Nov. 5 is the result.
Yes, as the popular vote continues to be counted, we're seeing that Trump did not win an overwhelming popular vote majority, which is really how the country feels. The E.C. is NOT a real picture of what Americans voted for.
Dexter Wright
@Dexter__Wright
trump wanted Hegseth to lead the Dept of Veterans Affairs in his first term but was warned he wouldn't get confirmed. Since he no longer worries about trivial matters, like Senate confirmation, trump is making him SecDef, WTF!!! Not qualified to run Veterans Affairs but is fine for Secretary of Defense! Everything that trump learns about the world he learns from FOX News so maybe it makes sense from that perspective 🤪
The founders were, as confirmed in 2016 and again in 2024 with an exclamation point, absolutely and profoundly spot on in their fear.
Rep. Pat Ryan on Hegseth: "I just don't think he's a serious person from an unserious president who dodged the draft 5 times, called troops 'suckers & losers '... this is not surprising to me but it's incredibly concerning, specifically the WSJ reporting about military purges"
President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said he will nominate Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to serve as his attorney general, putting a loyalist in the role of the nation's top prosecutor.
Matt Gaetz said, "We ought to have a full court press against this WEAPONIZED government that has been turned against our people. And if that means ABOLISHING every one of the three letter agencies, from the FBI to the ATF, I’m ready to get going!"
So, of course he'll be the next AG. And they won't abolish those agencies. They will PURGE and WEAPONIZE them against their opposition.
Goodbye, USA!
Hello, "Police States of America".
Gaetz, like the criminal, Trump, has a mug shot. And this is what Trump wants for Secy. Of Defense: “While married to his second wife, Pete Hesgeth had an extramarital affair with Fox Executive Jennifer Rauchet, with whom he had a child. Naturally, he’s a “devout Christian.” Sounds like someone Trump would admire.”
The signs entering the USA will have to be revised to:
Welcome To Amerika, Home Of The Pussy Grabbing Narcissitic Furher
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