National Security – Page 2

Bless his tiny, coal-black heart, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) just cannot accept facts that go against his own fantasies and lies about something as fundamentally hazardous to every person who lives in this planet as climate change and and global warming.

It’s not that Cruz doesn’t know any better. He does. But he chooses to deny scientific evidence so he can continue to get large campaign contributions from fossil fuel companies, many of whom have major operations in the Lone Star State.

However, this time Ted is going even further over the crazy line and demanding that the the Joint Chiefs of Staff who run the U.S. armed forces be fired for daring to agree with something President Joe Biden said during a speech.

Biden told a collection of Air Force personnel that the Joint Chiefs of Staff had told him that global warming is the “greatest threat facing America.”

And yes, the Defense Department has indeed warned that global warming and climate change will greatly worsen “poverty, social tensions, environmental degradation, ineffectual leadership and weak political institutions that threaten stability in a number of countries.”

Despite that, Cruz couldn’t resist tweeting out a video of Biden’s speech along with a sarcastic notation that the either the top military brass be fired or President Biden was lying:

Either: (1) our joint chiefs need to be fired (doubtful), or

(2) our Commander in Chief is lying. https://t.co/dvdEfQz95e
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 10, 2021

Actually, Ted, neither of those options is the least bit factual. The joint chiefs do not need to be fired and President Biden isn’t lying. Also, why did Cruz never see fit to call Donald Trump a liar? At least he’d have been right on that one.

However, something good did come out of Teddy’s snarky posting: The reactions he received from others on social media:

https://twitter.com/ChadPow91004144/status/1403096139663036417?s=20

"If the Joint Chiefs expressed their opinion and it's something I don't agree with then they should be fired" is an interesting take from a US Senator with no military experience
— Collin Reischman (@CMReischman) June 10, 2021

So you think that military officers with decades of experience evaluating threats should be fired for their perspective, without having seen the purported evidence to support their view?
— David Isaacson (@davideisaacson) June 10, 2021

Imagine thinking THIS is the time to finally feign outrage at a sitting President telling lies? Imagine?
— Joe Whalen (@joewhalen) June 10, 2021

You should have listened further to Biden–it's a danger because as areas become unlivable, there is a scramble for resources, clean water, an increase in migration, etc. The JCs are accustomed to thinking more than 5 minutes ahead.
— Jill Harsin 🇺🇸 (@jharsinprof) June 10, 2021

https://twitter.com/WTopelius/status/1403083929318531079?s=20

Sorry, Ted, but as usual you’re full of shit and too arrogant to admit your own ignorance.

Former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn doesn’t have to worry about going to prison for lying under oath thanks to a pardon from his good friend, failed, one-term president Donald Trump, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to get off scot-free for playing footsie with the Russians.

According to the Washington Post, the U.S. Army is looking to punish Flynn for his failure to reveal that he received $45,000 from a Kremlin-controlled media organization. In return for the money, Flynn agreed to sit next to Russian president Vladimir Putin at a dinner held in 2015:

“The investigation focuses on Flynn’s acceptance of money from Russian and Turkish interests before joining the Trump administration, a potential violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause. With few exceptions, U.S. officials, including retired service members like Flynn, are prohibited from accepting money or gifts from foreign governments. Flynn retired from the Army as a three-star general in 2014.”

Army officials are also said to be upset by Flynn’s remarks about the 2020 election being stolen from Trump. Flynn even went so far as to suggest that Trump — acting as commander in chief — could declare martial law and order a “redo” of the election in key swing states where President Joe Biden triumphed over Trump.

If they choose, the Army could penalize Flynn financially:

Defense Department guidelines warn that it ‘may pursue debt collection’ if a retired service member does not secure approval to accept foreign payments before doing so.

In other words, all of the money Flynn earned working for Russia or other countries would have to be paid back to the Pentagon because he failed to disclose the payments he received.

Considering all the harm Flynn has done to the United States, it’s a shame the Army can’t just lock him up and also collect the ill-gotten money.