David, thank you for this. Your voice carries the weight of experience and clarity, especially on military culture and the implications of what Trump said in that room. I'm grateful you’re here, and your support means a lot.
I listened to a little and too much of Trump’s rant to the troops. Embarrassing. As a former Navy officer, I was less than enthused his brag re: reducing the number of flag officers and calling those senior officers ‘losers.’ My hunch, he probably lost many votes in the audience.
The news of the unfortunate young woman, brain dead, being kept alive as an incubator is disturbing beyond words. The destruction of Roe in the name of “state’s rights,” was BS. Alito and company destroyed the most essential right of body autonomy. Now, this obscenity. In SC, a legislator seriously proposed making abortion a capital offense. We know of the horrors in TX where women die from sepsis due to pregnancy complications. Idaho is a disaster, smart young women are leaving the state.
And in the midst, a corrupt president imbued with grandeur and easily bribed. And the relief? None, we learn AG Bondi pulled a cool million or so from insider trading. The GOP Congress argues not to save Medicaid, but to underfund more to enable a greater tax cut.
As a retired Air Force officer I share your sentiments. I’m concerned that when Legislative Branch of government issues unconstitutional and unlawful orders the military will obey.
All military members take an oath to defend the constitution, not loyalty to a leader or subordinate ideology.
I pray that our Flag Officers remember their oaths and the contacts they make with the troops to support and defend the constitution.
This is an absolute masterclass in constructive feedback, thank you. You’re exactly right: the “Weave Alert” did track the business roundtable portion, not the speech to the troops. And now that you’ve framed it with your palace-to-St. Regis bridge, I’m kicking myself for not catching the narrative seam. That description, nouveau whorehouse décor, Tesla Cybertrucks, and all, perfectly captures the surreal baroque theater of this entire trip. Alas, I only have Grammarly as my editor. If you’re ever tempted to un-retire that magazine editor, I’d be honored to be fact-checked again.
Also, “This Day in Infamy” is inspired by this. Truly.
Mary Geddry: FWIW--I'm retired, but the magazine editor in me still manifests as an occupational hazard. I was in awe of the daily assignment Heather Cox Richardson gave herself, and I am in awe of your choice as well--so I share your entries from time to time under the hed: This Day in Infamy. Friday's post, however, is not one I could share because the speech to the troops had nothing to do with the "Weave Alert." Understandable--too much to cover in too short a time. Had you watched The Daily Show, however, or watched more closely, you would have realized the dementia compass pointed directly at the business-leader roundtable. I made a similar mistake when I first posted about this, setting up a verbatim transcript of his monologue with a short intro suggesting he was talking to Qatar's Emir. But I quickly corrected and now this is what folks see as context: At his stop in Qatar the day after a parade of camels and red Tesla Cybertrucks escorted him to the Emir's "office," the 47th President of the United States decided he'd entertain a roundtable of American businessmen (read: defense contractors) at the St. Regis Doha by doing a senile impression of the "sleepy" 46th President of the United States--only it was no impression. Seeing the spectacle, sharper reporters there more clearly understood why at the palace state dinner the night before the Emir redoubled his effort to unload on the President a token of his esteem: a well-traveled and much-discussed luxury jet with "nouveau whorehouse" decor the kingdom had been unable to sell and was costing a fortune to maintain. Giddy and still in a lather over this seemingly generous gesture, 47 was unable to stop rambling and treated the execs and the press to the fable of the drone, the tree climber, the bicycle peddler, the ditch digger and the satellite...
Thank you for this compelling summary of our nation’s ongoing bizarre reality show that is all too real. How much longer must we endure a deranged megalomaniacal emperor with no clothes, emboldened by sycophants who stay silent or praise his natty attire? How is it acceptable for the State to transform a brain dead woman into a vessel for an artificially sustained pregnancy and deny support for the child if born? Lies are now truth, green is now red. Will sanity ever again prevail?
David, thank you for this. Your voice carries the weight of experience and clarity, especially on military culture and the implications of what Trump said in that room. I'm grateful you’re here, and your support means a lot.
I listened to a little and too much of Trump’s rant to the troops. Embarrassing. As a former Navy officer, I was less than enthused his brag re: reducing the number of flag officers and calling those senior officers ‘losers.’ My hunch, he probably lost many votes in the audience.
The news of the unfortunate young woman, brain dead, being kept alive as an incubator is disturbing beyond words. The destruction of Roe in the name of “state’s rights,” was BS. Alito and company destroyed the most essential right of body autonomy. Now, this obscenity. In SC, a legislator seriously proposed making abortion a capital offense. We know of the horrors in TX where women die from sepsis due to pregnancy complications. Idaho is a disaster, smart young women are leaving the state.
And in the midst, a corrupt president imbued with grandeur and easily bribed. And the relief? None, we learn AG Bondi pulled a cool million or so from insider trading. The GOP Congress argues not to save Medicaid, but to underfund more to enable a greater tax cut.
As a retired Air Force officer I share your sentiments. I’m concerned that when Legislative Branch of government issues unconstitutional and unlawful orders the military will obey.
All military members take an oath to defend the constitution, not loyalty to a leader or subordinate ideology.
I pray that our Flag Officers remember their oaths and the contacts they make with the troops to support and defend the constitution.
This is an absolute masterclass in constructive feedback, thank you. You’re exactly right: the “Weave Alert” did track the business roundtable portion, not the speech to the troops. And now that you’ve framed it with your palace-to-St. Regis bridge, I’m kicking myself for not catching the narrative seam. That description, nouveau whorehouse décor, Tesla Cybertrucks, and all, perfectly captures the surreal baroque theater of this entire trip. Alas, I only have Grammarly as my editor. If you’re ever tempted to un-retire that magazine editor, I’d be honored to be fact-checked again.
Also, “This Day in Infamy” is inspired by this. Truly.
Mary Geddry: FWIW--I'm retired, but the magazine editor in me still manifests as an occupational hazard. I was in awe of the daily assignment Heather Cox Richardson gave herself, and I am in awe of your choice as well--so I share your entries from time to time under the hed: This Day in Infamy. Friday's post, however, is not one I could share because the speech to the troops had nothing to do with the "Weave Alert." Understandable--too much to cover in too short a time. Had you watched The Daily Show, however, or watched more closely, you would have realized the dementia compass pointed directly at the business-leader roundtable. I made a similar mistake when I first posted about this, setting up a verbatim transcript of his monologue with a short intro suggesting he was talking to Qatar's Emir. But I quickly corrected and now this is what folks see as context: At his stop in Qatar the day after a parade of camels and red Tesla Cybertrucks escorted him to the Emir's "office," the 47th President of the United States decided he'd entertain a roundtable of American businessmen (read: defense contractors) at the St. Regis Doha by doing a senile impression of the "sleepy" 46th President of the United States--only it was no impression. Seeing the spectacle, sharper reporters there more clearly understood why at the palace state dinner the night before the Emir redoubled his effort to unload on the President a token of his esteem: a well-traveled and much-discussed luxury jet with "nouveau whorehouse" decor the kingdom had been unable to sell and was costing a fortune to maintain. Giddy and still in a lather over this seemingly generous gesture, 47 was unable to stop rambling and treated the execs and the press to the fable of the drone, the tree climber, the bicycle peddler, the ditch digger and the satellite...
Thank you for this compelling summary of our nation’s ongoing bizarre reality show that is all too real. How much longer must we endure a deranged megalomaniacal emperor with no clothes, emboldened by sycophants who stay silent or praise his natty attire? How is it acceptable for the State to transform a brain dead woman into a vessel for an artificially sustained pregnancy and deny support for the child if born? Lies are now truth, green is now red. Will sanity ever again prevail?