I speak as a retired military officer and graduate of the National Defense University (ICAF). Your post, Mary, is spot on. The parallels to Hitler’s 1934 loyalty oath to him versus the German Constitution are unmistakable. The Flag Officers today have a difficult road to traverse. At Nuremberg the principle, just following orders is not a defense when such orders conflict with a higher morality. As Trump spins his evil rhetoric of the enemy within, the vile left (anybody not MAGA), and the use of the military against citizens these officers must judge. To defy openly would be mutiny, justified or not. To ignore, a moral catastrophe.
The comedians and Ms Geddry may provide some relief, but in the end we have crossed the Rubicon. And the Republicans? No where to be seen yesterday in the House as the republic burns.
I've known many officers in my life, my dad in the Air Force, two uncles in the Navy, all were pilots early on. One uncle went down in the Gulf of Tonkin in a fireball in 1966, the other became an executive at the DOT. My dad was so military it's ridiculous. Sharp uniform, locked briefcase, world travel. When asked what he did for a living, he grunted. He was so apolitical he didn't vote, voting being a political move. (He voted after retirement.) He was brilliant and professional. He hated Trump. Back in the early 1990s, he took up limerick writing and wrote hundreds of clever rhymes showing off an amazing education and life experience. He wrote two about Trump:
Yesterday AOC made a compelling case Trump is losing support, so his regime is resorting to a flood of brazen acts to create a perception of invincible power and inevitability - which is not reality. She urges us who seek to defend the Constitutional Republic to reject the illusion and not “comply in advance”.
Yes on CA Proposition 50 - to counter recent red state extreme gerrymandering that adds up to 12 MAGA Congressional districts so Trump can rule without restraint until 2029.
October 18: peaceful No Kings protests MAGA will try to inflame and disrupt - and we won’t let them!
Mary -- You're commentary is 'hitting it out of the park' on a daily basis! Thanks for rolling up your sleeves and getting into the trenches every day to call out the abject stupidity of this outrageous, demented MAGA effort to 'straight-jacket' the US populace into authoritarian submission.... (I don't think they gave much thought as to how this would look less than a year into their fantasy!)
I think yesterday's (9/30) most noteworthy interview was on 'Deadline Whitehouse' when Nicole Wallace was speaking to PA Democratic Rep Madeleine Dean about Republican Congressional members fleeing DC to avoid the swearing in of a new Democratic Representative (Ms Halva -sp?) who would provide the 218th vote to force the release of the Epstein files!
So -- Let's see what happens next Tuesday when Mike Johnson says his MAGA members will (or WILL NOT?) show up back in DC to discuss the shutdown, (and their efforts (to fail) to swear in the new Democratic Rep!!)
excellent post... I have said since his first term (and was accused of hyperbole, panic, etc.) that he will follow down the path of pre-WWII Germany and similar autocracies, leading to pure fascism. get into office via legal means, shut down any balance of power by taking over the judicial system and controlling the courts, then going after any and all opposition... starts with the press, then opposing political views, then pretty much anyone that does not look or act like him. Trans, gays, people of color, Asians, etc. control information, eliminate or re-write history, no one can tell that the planet is warming as there will be no one to report the data, to track the hurricanes, to measure the melting glaciers... he and only he will be able to talk about how well or how bad the economy is doing, what crime rates are, etc. Honestly I am surprised he did not try to have these high ranking military figures sign an oath to him.... i suspect it is coming but perhaps a bit too early and maybe this meeting was to start to take the temperature of this group. now with the government shut down, it offers him excuses to do what he has been wanting to do. same way with the murder of Charlie Kirk... that gave him license to brand all those who disagree with him as traitors and subversives...
I speak as a retired military officer and graduate of the National Defense University (ICAF). Your post, Mary, is spot on. The parallels to Hitler’s 1934 loyalty oath to him versus the German Constitution are unmistakable. The Flag Officers today have a difficult road to traverse. At Nuremberg the principle, just following orders is not a defense when such orders conflict with a higher morality. As Trump spins his evil rhetoric of the enemy within, the vile left (anybody not MAGA), and the use of the military against citizens these officers must judge. To defy openly would be mutiny, justified or not. To ignore, a moral catastrophe.
The comedians and Ms Geddry may provide some relief, but in the end we have crossed the Rubicon. And the Republicans? No where to be seen yesterday in the House as the republic burns.
I've known many officers in my life, my dad in the Air Force, two uncles in the Navy, all were pilots early on. One uncle went down in the Gulf of Tonkin in a fireball in 1966, the other became an executive at the DOT. My dad was so military it's ridiculous. Sharp uniform, locked briefcase, world travel. When asked what he did for a living, he grunted. He was so apolitical he didn't vote, voting being a political move. (He voted after retirement.) He was brilliant and professional. He hated Trump. Back in the early 1990s, he took up limerick writing and wrote hundreds of clever rhymes showing off an amazing education and life experience. He wrote two about Trump:
Concerning the State of the Garden
Enough of these jokes about Jersey, New.
It's a very fine state in matters not few.
It does have pollution and crime,
and a rather bad clime,
but New York has all that, and Donald Trump, too.
NIP IN THE BUD
Let’s stop this guy before it’s too late
I’m not an alarmist but my breath is abate
You may not see it but it’s clear to me
We’re on the verge of a catastrophe
And when it happens they’ll call it Trumpgate
Both by John Bolger, USAF, ret. (circa 1995)
Those are fabulous!
Yesterday AOC made a compelling case Trump is losing support, so his regime is resorting to a flood of brazen acts to create a perception of invincible power and inevitability - which is not reality. She urges us who seek to defend the Constitutional Republic to reject the illusion and not “comply in advance”.
Yes on CA Proposition 50 - to counter recent red state extreme gerrymandering that adds up to 12 MAGA Congressional districts so Trump can rule without restraint until 2029.
October 18: peaceful No Kings protests MAGA will try to inflame and disrupt - and we won’t let them!
And the people said, "Bring it on, Trump" ! We're fighting fire with fire!
Can't wait!
Let’s give them the ride they’ve been asking for…
Thank you for highlighting the war on civilians aspect of Trump’s speech!
Mary -- You're commentary is 'hitting it out of the park' on a daily basis! Thanks for rolling up your sleeves and getting into the trenches every day to call out the abject stupidity of this outrageous, demented MAGA effort to 'straight-jacket' the US populace into authoritarian submission.... (I don't think they gave much thought as to how this would look less than a year into their fantasy!)
I think yesterday's (9/30) most noteworthy interview was on 'Deadline Whitehouse' when Nicole Wallace was speaking to PA Democratic Rep Madeleine Dean about Republican Congressional members fleeing DC to avoid the swearing in of a new Democratic Representative (Ms Halva -sp?) who would provide the 218th vote to force the release of the Epstein files!
So -- Let's see what happens next Tuesday when Mike Johnson says his MAGA members will (or WILL NOT?) show up back in DC to discuss the shutdown, (and their efforts (to fail) to swear in the new Democratic Rep!!)
excellent post... I have said since his first term (and was accused of hyperbole, panic, etc.) that he will follow down the path of pre-WWII Germany and similar autocracies, leading to pure fascism. get into office via legal means, shut down any balance of power by taking over the judicial system and controlling the courts, then going after any and all opposition... starts with the press, then opposing political views, then pretty much anyone that does not look or act like him. Trans, gays, people of color, Asians, etc. control information, eliminate or re-write history, no one can tell that the planet is warming as there will be no one to report the data, to track the hurricanes, to measure the melting glaciers... he and only he will be able to talk about how well or how bad the economy is doing, what crime rates are, etc. Honestly I am surprised he did not try to have these high ranking military figures sign an oath to him.... i suspect it is coming but perhaps a bit too early and maybe this meeting was to start to take the temperature of this group. now with the government shut down, it offers him excuses to do what he has been wanting to do. same way with the murder of Charlie Kirk... that gave him license to brand all those who disagree with him as traitors and subversives...
It must be exhausting trying to keep up with current events, but you’re doing a great job, thank you 🙏