Category: Military

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Donald Trump Military The Trump Adminstration

Navy Vet: Trump Wanted Military To Swear An ‘Oath To Him’ And Perform Illegal Acts If He Ordered Them

Theodore Johnson is Navy veteran who is currently a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice who writes for The Bulwark that former president Donald Trump believed that being commander-in-chief meant members of the military “swore an oath to him personally” and he could order them to do whatever he wanted, even if such orders were unconstitutional or illegal.

Johnson says he came to those conclusions after reading two recent news stories:

  • The release of a draft resignation letter from Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • Trump’s insistence that he was allowed to keep thousands of classified and top-secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago golf resort

These historic occurrences speak to just how deeply Trump believed the military not to be an instrument of national power but an apparatus for personal use. Milley composed his resignation draft after being asked to participate in Trump’s ego-stroke theater — first by conducting a military show of force against Americans upset about George Floyd’s killing days earlier and then being unwittingly drafted into Trump’s infamous march across Lafayette Square after it was forcibly cleared of protesters. Regarding the classified material squirreled away in Mar-a-Lago, the underlying explanation from Trump and his supporters appears to amount to little more than that it was his to do with as he pleased without any regard to the potential damage to our national security interests.

Those events, Johnson continues, made it clear exactly what Trump believed when it came to a president’s power over U.S. armed forces:

These occurrences bring to the fore a troubling issue usually lurking in the background of civil-military relations: When a president believes his interests supersede the nation’s — or, worse, that his interests become the nation’s — the democratic principle of ‘civilian control of the military’ exposes the armed services to co-option as a partisan tool for domestic politics.

There have also been reports that Trump considered using the military to disperse protesters after the May 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by police officers, which leads Johnson to conclude:

“Civil-military relations mostly held during the Trump presidency, a testament to the resilience of the institution and to our democracy. But dangers remain. If our country’s toxic polarization, hyperpartisanship, and intentional stoking of social tensions for political ends are not sufficiently addressed, we may find ourselves dangerously close to the precipice once more—and if Trump or someone following the Trump model comes to power again, we may well tumble over the edge.”

If Donald Trump happens to wind up in the White House again, this country will quickly become an authoritarian police state and the Constitution will no longer be the controlling document of our republic. All of us, as citizens and voters, must make sure that doesn’t happen.

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Jill Biden Military Social Media

Army General Suspended For Hateful Tweet Aimed At First Lady Jill Biden

A three-star U.S. Army general under contract as a consultant to the military following his retirement has been suspended and is under investigation for a hateful tweet he sent that mocked First Lady Jill Biden, USA Today reports.

The first lady had tweeted about the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the United States Supreme Court, writing:

“For nearly 50 years, women have had the right to make our own decisions about our bodies. Today, that right was stolen from us.”

That led retired Lt. Gen. Gary Volesky to respond:

“Glad to see you finally know what a woman is.”

Volesky was apparently referencing the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, but it remains unclear why he chose to attack Ms. Biden for something uttered by Justice Jackson.

According to the report, Volesky agreed to a lucrative contract after he retired in 2020 that paid him $92 an hour to advise active-duty Army officers.

Axios notes that it’s rare for military officers (even retired ones) to involve themselves so publicly in politics:

It’s an unusual step into partisan politics by an official the Pentagon is paying, especially since the department typically steers clear of such matters.

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it was a “mistake” to make a June 2020 appearance with then-President Trump in Lafayette Square. “My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics,” he said in a video message several days later.

This isn’t the first time Volesky has expressed blatantly sexist opinions:

“Volesky responded to a tweet from Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) when she announced that she would be on the Jan. 6 select committee and that their ‘oath to the Constitution must be above partisan politics,'” with the retired officer replying, “This is all about partisan politics.”

Now Volesky has plenty of free time on his hands that he can spend on Twitter. However, he’d be wise to stay off social media or else he might be facing even harsher penalties such as a court-martial and loss of his pension.

 

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Military Russia The Trump Adminstration Vladimir Putin

US Army Takes Action Against Michael Flynn For His 2015 Dinner With Putin

An inspector general for the Department of Defense has found that disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn violated military protocol and must face punitive action for accepting money from a foreign government that included sitting next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a 2015 dinner.

The Washington Post reports that Flynn took hundreds of thousands of dollars from Turkish and Russian sources:

Investigators determined that Flynn received nearly $450,000 from Turkish and Russian interests in 2015, including for an appearance in Moscow alongside President Vladimir Putin, but found no records that he had sought government approval beforehand. Their findings are detailed in a January 2021 memo to the Army released through the Freedom of Information Act on Thursday.

The Army notified Flynn in a May 2 letter, obtained by The Washington Post, that it would seek to recoup $38,557.06 from him, zeroing in on money and in-kind compensation he received for a gala dinner celebrating the 10th anniversary of RT, the Kremlin-run news agency. Putin sat beside Flynn at the event and later told NBC News that he “didn’t even really talk to” him.

Craig R. Schmauder, an Army lawyer, wrote in a letter to Flynn informing him of the punishment that his failure “to obtain the approvals of the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of State resulted in a violation of the Emoluments Clause.”

“When there is a finding that a military retiree has violated the Emoluments Clause, the United States Government may pursue a debt collection.”

In May, Flynn admitted that he would indeed be facing punishment for his actions, remarking:

“Yeah, it means something, but at the end of the day, this country means a heck of a lot more than what they will do to me.”

Flynn could potentially face other actions if the Army inspector general determines that his connections to Russia — along with his calls for martial law to be imposed after it became clear that Donald Trump had lost the 2020 presidential election — were serious enough to warrant that he be court-martialed and stripped of his rank, which would also mean a forfeiture of his military pension.

 

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Congress GOP Military Social Media

Veterans Shred Marjorie Taylor Greene For Saying Joining The US Military Is ‘Throwing Your Life Away’

There should no longer be any doubt that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) absolutely hates the United States and everything it stands for, because now she’s even attacking the U.S. military even though she has never done a damn thing to protect or defend this country and the Constitution, which she swore to do when she joined Congress.

According to Greene, if someone joins the military right now, they’re throwing their life away.

Newsweek notes that Greene made her remarks on a podcast:

Speaking to former Fox News host Lou Dobbs‘ podcast on April 9, Greene listed other reasons why people should not join the military, including the vaccine mandate and “woke” training.

Greene made the remarks after Dobbs questioned the “quality of people” that are in the Defense Department in Biden’s administration and suggested that the military was struggling to attract new recruits because people have “seen the way they’re treated.”

“Can you imagine explaining to a recruit, you’re gonna be just fine, just like those Marines in Kabul? Who in his or her right mind would say ‘sign me up for that, Sarge?'”

Greene replied:

“Not my son and I know a lot of young people don’t want to have anything to do with that. It’s like throwing your life away.

“Not to mention how they’ve been forced to take the vaccine and the ones that didn’t want to take it have been discharged. Who wants to be treated that way?”

Veterans from around the country slammed Greene for her disgusting comments, with VoteVets posting:

Serving in the United States Military is not “throwing your life away,” but @RepMTG wouldn’t know anything about service to nation considering the traitors she supports. One thing is clear, she hates our military and REAL America.

 

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), who has honorably served in the U.S. Air National Guard, also lit into Greene:

U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), an Iraq War veteran, was disgusted by Greene’s “selfish” remarks:

Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and F-15 fighter pilot Jim Hendren, who just so happens to be Republican, also weighed in:

 And former U.S. Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Malcolm Nance even suggested that Greene is working for the enemies of America:

Marjorie Taylor Greene and the vast majority of today’s GOP hate the United States with a passion. Their loyalty is to whoever is willing to pay them the most, be it in rubles or dollars.

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Congress GOP Military

WATCH Matt Gaetz Make An A*s Of Himself During A House Hearing With Secy. Of Defense Austin

During a House hearing on Tuesday with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) made a fool of himself by suggesting that the Defense Department is wasting taxpayer money on teaching “socialism” and diversity to U.S. troops.

When Gaetz made the bogus socialism claim, Austin immediately pushed back, remarking:

“Well, I certainly don’t agree with embracing socialism.”

Rather than let the Defense Secretary finish his remarks, Gaetz interrupted and went off on a rambling, fact-free rant:

“My follow-up question, if we don’t embrace it, why did the National Defense University put out a statement saying in this talk he will argue that the right answer lies in ending Western arrogance and promoting a new egalitarian horizon on a global scale, a new form of ecological and post-colonial socialism? So why would we invite people we don’t agree with to evangelize views and values that we don’t share at the National Defense University when we should be learning strategy about how to combat our enemies and make assessments that are accurate?”

Austin attempted to explain that the military often studies possible new strategies and better ways to prepare members of the armed forces, but yet again Gaetz refused to let Austin finish his remarks:

“Mr. Secretary, I’ve shared with you the context. The context wasn’t to better understand socialism so we can defeat it, the context wasn’t learn about it so that we can offer countermeasures. The concept was that it’s time for socialism, and the reason I know that’s the context is because the lecture was pulled from a book written entitled Time for Socialism.”

When Austin tried to get more information about what Gaetz was referring to, the congressman refused to let him speak:

“I control the time. You guys have been blowing a lot of calls lately on matters of strategy, Mr. Secretary. You guys told us that Russia couldn’t lose, that the Taliban couldn’t immediately win. I guess I’m wondering, what about the $773 billion that you’re requesting today is going to help you make assessments that are accurate in the face of so many blown calls?”

The Defense chief did manage to get a barb in at Gaetz, telling him:

“The fact that you’re embarrassed by your country. That’s what you’re saying.”

That led Gaetz to accuse Austin of being too interested in diversity:

“Maybe we would be better at home if the National Defense University actually worked a little more on strategy and a little less on woke-ism. That was baked into your flawed assessment. I saw that the Obama administration tried to starve our military and it seems the Biden administration is trying to starve our military by force-feeding it woke-ism.”

“Woke-ism” is not a thing. It’s a buzzword created by right-wingers who are looking for ways to attack the men and women of the U.S. military while simultaneously claiming they support the troops.

They also claim that anyone who disagrees with them hates the United States. But the real hatred is theirs, and they cannot stand when someone dares to disagree with their bigoted, narrow-minded view of the world.

Here’s the video: