Follow the money

Trump is the law now.
 

Trump's hostile takeover of America (Military might on domestic targets)

 Hegseth called in all the generals over 1 star.  From all over the globe.

MAGA is a revolutionary movement.

[...]

Revolutionaries target all key institutions of influence and turn them into levers of power to advance their cause. The MAGA revolutionaries have been doing this in three clear stages: purge, replace, and attack.

[...]

Purging and replacing have been the main actions of the first nine months of Trump’s second term. From the Kennedy Center to the Department of Justice, the project of 2025 has been a blitzkrieg-like assault to MAGA-ify every federal institution.

They have had plenty of help. Where there is potential ambiguity in the law about whether Trump has direct Article II control, the Supreme Court, usually through silent shadow-docket enforcement, has acted as Trump’s revolutionary handmaiden, swatting away pesky constitutional concerns from lower court judges and their 100-page opinions.

[...]

Institutions that Trump doesn’t directly control are attacked indirectly. He threatens to destroy or boost specific corporations or entire sectors of the economy with tariffs that he personally sets. He stifles critical coverage at what were once the crown jewels of American media with lawsuits and threats from the federal government’s alphabet soup of regulatory agencies, such as the FCC and FTC. He uses federal government spending to modify the behavior of universities and other recipients. He attacks individual Americans and large law firms with executive orders.

[...]

There have always been strings attached to federal money.

But what is new today is that these powers—and many others not cataloged here—were never exercised all at once and maximally. [...] The MAGA revolutionaries are willing—and are actually defined by that willingness—to use all state power to enforce revolutionary doctrine and cripple political opponents.

America is a big country with lots of institutions on MAGA’s hit list, so the purge and replace cycle will continue apace. But enough of the government is now fully captured by MAGA that we can expect to see much more of the scarier third phase of this project: attack.

[...]

I could probably make a good case that more times than not, the Trump attacks have backfired in some way. You know the examples: grand juries in DC have refused to go along with punitive MAGA prosecutions, the law firms that stood up to Trump all won their lawsuits against his executive orders, Kimmel is back on the air, everyone hates Paramount, and most legal observers think the Comey case will crumble.

But it’s much too early to be confident about how this is all going to go.

What is true is that, as Jonathan V. Last recently argued, “we are in the worst-case scenario” relative to what almost anyone predicted back in November 2024.

And that’s why you should be very freaked out by today’s speech by Trump in Quantico to hundreds of military leaders recalled from around the world.

[...]

Today, Trump told his top military leaders that “America is under invasion from within” and he repeatedly described “the enemy within” as the “radical left,” a term he increasingly uses to describe all of his political opponents, from Mike Pence to Joe Biden to AOC to antifa.

He said, “We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military,” who, he said, would be “a major part” of fighting this “war from within.”

[...]

“This is going to be a big thing for the people in this room,” he said. He added that “it won’t get out of control once you’re involved at all.” He directly compared the military’s current missions fighting abroad to this new mission he has in mind at home. The “enemy within,” Trump said, was “no different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms.”

[...]

[W]e are only nine months into this revolution. The key goal of the revolutionaries at this point is not to pass legislation or even to accomplish stated policy goals they seem to really believe in, such as the mass deportation of illegal immigrants. The key goal is to take total control of all levers of power. They have been remarkably successful so far with the purge-replace-attack formula.

But two major institutions have been elusive: 1) the military, and Trump made his intentions about that clear today; 2) the machinery of our elections.

  Telos

Which they are going after hammer and tongs.

More than 800 of America’s top military leaders sat silent and showed no reaction as ex-Fox News host turned Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth issued a series of new directives that will make it harder for women to serve in combat and easier for personnel to engage in hazing and bullying without repercussions at an unprecedented gathering at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia Tuesday.

[...]

[Hegseth] told the group of admirals, generals and their senior enlisted advisers he was “ending the war on warriors” and complained that too many of their peers had been put in their roles “for the wrong reasons” including their race and gender.

“Out with the Chiarelli, the McKenzies and the Milleys and in with the Stockdales the Schwartzkopfs and the Pattons,” Hegseth said, denigrating former Army Vice Chief of Staff General Peter Chiarelli, ex-U.S. Central Command commander and Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie Jr, and ex-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman and Army General Mark Milley, each of whom has been critical of Trump or his administration.

“The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right policies,” he added.

[...]

He told the assembled leaders he was issuing a directive to ensure that “every designated Combat Arms” role across all branches “returns to the highest male standard only,” all but reversing a 2015 directive from then-Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to open all combat roles to women.

“If you do not meet the male level physical standards for combat positions ... it’s time for a new position or a new profession,” he said. “If women can make it excellent. If not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it.”

In addition to rolling back standards to make it harder for women to serve in combat, Hegseth also told military leaders he was rolling back longstanding policies meant to prevent hazing and bullying in the ranks.

He complained that Pentagon initiatives to eliminate “toxic leadership” — including racist and sexist behavior by supervisors — had effectively lowered standards and empowered complainers to attack effective leaders.

[...]

In addition to rolling back standards to make it harder for women to serve in combat, Hegseth also told military leaders he was rolling back longstanding policies meant to prevent hazing and bullying in the ranks.

He complained that Pentagon initiatives to eliminate “toxic leadership” — including racist and sexist behavior by supervisors — had effectively lowered standards and empowered complainers to attack effective leaders. [...]



  UK Independent

And the room was silent.

I think Hegseth and Trump think military leaders are as racist and prejudiced as they are. I think they're wrong.

Top military brass aren’t exactly excited about a bizarre “pep rally” with President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, political analyst David Rothkopf revealed on The Daily Beast Podcast.

Rothkopf, a foreign policy and national security commentator, predicted that the highly unusual all-hands meeting in Virginia on Tuesday won’t go down well, based on his conversations with several generals, admirals, and other sources close to them.

“I can tell you: It is not going down well.”

  Daily Beast

President Donald Trump made numerous false claims in a rambling Tuesday speech to hundreds of generals and admirals who were summoned to a military base in Virginia to listen to addresses by the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Some of Trump’s false claims were about the military itself.

  CNN

He thinks he's so smart. Does he not know these generals are well educated?

"There were just so many false claims," Daniel Dale, CNN's fact-checker, said after Trump's speech. "And I say that after essentially every speech, unfortunately, from President Donald Trump. But I think this is notable because of the audience. He was telling a lot of lies, saying a lot of other inaccurate things, regardless of his intentions, to the U.S.’ top military leaders."

Exactly.

Any media outlet that characterizes this as just another day at the office isn't doing its job. Simply put, this was nuts, often in a scary way. No matter how many bizarre lawsuits Trump files against media companies or what insane demands Hegseth makes of reporters, this has to be called out as what it was: crazy.

Hegseth strutted around talking about how tough the military would be under his leadership (and what good shape he was in).

[...]

Hegseth went on to decry "wokeness" and "dudes in dresses" and, taking a page from his boss' book, praised himself. "It all starts with physical fitness and appearance," Hegseth said. "If the secretary of War can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force. Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals."

  Arizona Central

I can only imagine what the generals are saying to each other after that.

"We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy," Hegseth said. "We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement."

And in what has already become a meme, Hegseth also offered this: "Should our enemies choose foolishly to challenge us, they will be crushed by the violence, precision and ferocity of the War Department. In other words, to our enemies, FAFO."

[...]

"If necessary, our troops can translate that for you."

Ooooh boy. I can only think they intend to try to turn the rank and file against the brass.

Trump, meanwhile, basically delivered a head-spinning, unhinged campaign speech, only instead of the usual full-throated, MAGA-hat wearing worshipful followers, this was in front of an audience ordered to be there, the nation's highest-ranking military officers ― who, one supposes, must have better things to do. He railed against Joe Biden and Democrats; talked again about how "tariff" is his favorite word; said, "I love my signature, I really do"; and more.

[...]

He lied about the 2020 election results, again. He attacked the media, again. He trotted out this old chestnut: "We were a dead country a year ago, and now we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world. You must be proud of that.”

[...]

Amy McGrath, a retired lieutenant colonel who flew combat missions, described Trump's speech perfectly.

"There was a lot of rambling, there was a ton of lies, a lot of politicization … and some of the craziness that you heard from this speech," she said. "But the scariest part was when the president talked about using the military and using our cities as a training ground for the United States military."

"I’m very worried about this," she continued. "I think the whole part of bringing these generals and admirals back here was to discuss this type of thing. It should scare us all. This is something that we just don’t do in America."

It is now.

UPDATE 06:50 pm:

And the 80-year-old Orange God King.

In his address Tuesday before a rare gathering of hundreds of military leaders, who were summoned from around the world to Virginia, the president lamented “what they’ve done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles”—cities where he’s threatened to send troops based on the baseless notion that Democratic officials have allowed crime to run rampant there.

Priming the top brass to conceive of forthcoming military operations in those cities as a “war,” Trump continued, “They’re very unsafe places, and we’re going to straighten them out one by one. And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That’s a war too. It’s a war from within.”

Trump later added that he’s told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, “We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military—National Guard, but military. Because we’re going into Chicago very soon.”

  Chicago Tribune

Yes, I see this stunt as a recognition on Trump's part that the National Guard, and even the ICE goons they're putting on the payroll with $50,000 signing bonuses, are not going to be sufficient.

I suppose it's possible that he's counting on a certain number of generals to contact him directly to offer support if the entire group doesn't bend.

UPDATE 10/01/2025:

Trump grifting the military

Members of the military are supposed to be nonpartisan; they serve the nation, not the President or his party. Yet Trump gave an invective-filled speech to the troops at Fort Bragg, denouncing his political enemies, while a pop-up shop sold Trump campaign merchandise to the troops.

  Diane Ravitch

It was supposed to be a routine appearance, a visit from the commander in chief to rally the troops, boost morale and celebrate the Army's 250th-birthday week, which culminates with a Washington, D.C., parade slated for Saturday.

Instead, what unfolded Tuesday at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, bore little resemblance to the customary visit from a president and defense secretary. There, President Donald Trump unleashed a speech laced with partisan invective, goading jeers from a crowd of soldiers positioned behind his podium -- blurring the long-standing and sacrosanct line between the military and partisan politics.

As Trump viciously attacked his perceived political foes, he whipped up boos from the gathered troops directed at California leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom -- amid the president's controversial move to deploy the National Guard and Marines against protesters in Los Angeles -- as well as former President Joe Biden and the press. The soldiers roared with laughter and applauded Trump's diatribe in a shocking and rare public display of troops taking part in naked political partisanship.

[...]

Internal 82nd Airborne Division communications reviewed by Military.com reveal a tightly orchestrated effort to curate the optics of Trump's recent visit, including handpicking soldiers for the audience based on political leanings and physical appearance. The troops ultimately selected to be behind Trump and visible to the cameras were almost exclusively male.

One unit-level message bluntly said "no fat soldiers."

[...]

Adding to the spectacle, a pop-up shop operated by 365 Campaign, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based retailer that sells pro-Trump and other conservative-coded memorabilia, was set up on-site with campaign-style merchandise on Army property. Soldiers were seen purchasing clothing and tchotchkes, including "Make America Great Again" chain necklaces to faux credit cards labeled "White Privilege Card: Trumps Everything."

Permitting the sale of overtly partisan merchandise on an Army base likely runs afoul of numerous Defense Department regulations aimed at preserving the military's long-standing commitment to political neutrality. The Army has historically gone to great lengths to avoid even the appearance of partisanship.

[...]

"This has been a bad week for the Army for anyone who cares about us being a neutral institution," one commander at Fort Bragg told Military.com on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation. "This was shameful. I don't expect anything to come out of it, but I hope maybe we can learn from it long term."

[...]

"Believe me, no one needs to be encouraged to boo the media," Sean Parnell, a top Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement to Military.com. "Look no further than this query, which is nothing more than a disgraceful attempt to ruin the lives of young soldiers."

[...]

Trump is far from the first president to use the troops as a backdrop for a speech that had political notes. But experts say this speech crossed a line and showed the military's ethics can be vulnerable.

[...]

Col. Mary Ricks, a spokesperson for Fort Bragg, said that “the vendor’s presence is under review to determine how it was permitted and to prevent similar occurrences in the future” in a statement provided after this story was first published.

[...]

In 2022, Biden received criticism for delivering a speech outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia that aimed to warn the public about the authoritarian impulses of then-former President Trump and his supporters.

He was flanked by two Marines in dress uniform.

Republicans and reporters immediately jumped on Biden, slamming him for politicizing the military.

[...]

Trump administration official, James Hutton, said Biden "used U.S. Marines as props" and slammed the move as "despicable conduct in attacking more than half of Americans."

Ari Fleischer, a conservative commentator at the time, said the speech was not only "inappropriate" but that the Marine Corps had "some explaining to do" for allowing the speech to occur.

Neither Fleischer, Hutton nor Issa appears to have made any posts criticizing Trump's speech as of publication.

[...]

"The only thing worse than Biden's speech trashing his fellow citizens is wrapping himself in our flag and Marines to do it," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., wrote on social media at the time.

  Military.com

Trump has literally wrapped himself in the flag.

Relatives of the late Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams-Earley anticipated it, but when President Donald Trump announced their parents' names would be stripped from the Virginia base, they were still surprised.

Trump, in front of a crowd of Army soldiers Tuesday at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, said "for a little breaking news" that his administration would be removing the name Fort Gregg-Adams, which was bestowed on the base in 2023, and returning it to Fort Lee, originally named in honor of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, who commanded troops of the slave-holding South during the Civil War.

In a follow-up statement from the Army, it became clear that the base would not be explicitly named for the leader of the Confederate troops but instead for Pvt. Fitz Lee, a Buffalo soldier awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery in combat during the Spanish-American War.

  Military.com

LOL. Bullshit.

Here are Gregg and Adams:

Pete Hegseth is a misogynist

 

Trump 2.0 - Police state using US military

 

If they were going to be concerned about the Constitution and the laws of the land, the answer would be, it can't be used in that manner.

If.

Dismantling the military

Throwing out transgenders and cracking down on "DEI" seems like a sure way to reduce enlistment, while at the same time the administration is throwing its weight around across the globe, threatening military action.  So how will they be able to press military action with a reduced force?  I think we better get ready to see the draft reinstated.

Trump 2.0 - Destroying America's standing and capabilities

 

Total insanity

 

URL "deisports"

This shit is not going to go down well in the military - are they TRYING to destroy that, too?  A very large portion of enlisted people are "DEI" - do they want to stop enlistment?

Another judge bucks Trump

 

UPDATE 03/21/2025:

UPDATE 03/31/2025:

Jesus wept

 

These guys were integral to winning the war. 

UPDATE 03/18/2025:

Until recently, a page on the Defense Department’s website celebrated Pfc. Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian who was one of the six Marines photographed hoisting a U.S. flag on Iwo Jima in 1945, as an emblem of the “contributions and sacrifices Native Americans have made to the United States, not just in the military, but in all walks of life.”

But the page, along with many others about Native American and other minority service members, has now been erased amid the Trump administration’s wide-ranging crackdown on what it says are “diversity, equity and inclusion” efforts in the federal government, a review by The Washington Post found.

  WaPo

Presumably, the web pages on the other Marines in the photo are still up. 

Despicable and disheartening.

Pentagon "clarification" regarding trans members

 

Trump 2.0 - sidelining transgender citizen

 

Very Hitlerian.

GI Rights Hotline

 

The purge continues

 

UPDATE 02/22/2025: