OT: At the Federalist today, an essay from "Tell Me How This Ends" reader Chad Williams: "Why Are Elected Republicans Helping Democrats Reward A Failed Education System?"
I think there could be something else here, Chris. What they are really saying is that if Trump isn’t prosecuted and becomes President, then civilians may not have control of the military because they will attempt a military coup against the elected President.
This strikes me as one of those things that these power class groups do from time time to signal to the entire herd of traitors what’s up.
Hayden is a treasonous reptile.
You’ve managed to translate the absurdity of the newspeak into satirical English. I didn’t know I’d be living in a Monty Python skit with humorless skit writers and bad crisis actors , but it helps to lampoon them effectively.
I have a theory. It’s not mine, so I can’t do it total justice, but it rings true for me.
I think DJT WANTS them to find that he has no immunity. I think he knows how much they hate him and will do completely irrational things - like ruling that presidents do not have criminal immunity.
Because what happens when that precedent is set? What happens when a new court order now says PRESIDENTS are prosecutable for crimes while they were in office? Clinton, anyone? Obama? Even Bush Jr? Not to mention the current potato in the WH.
I’ve been watching the trials and prosecutions be put together and they seem to be weaving a story. Like Trump is inviting it all to set the precedent that can be used against the absolute criminals that have run our country for decades.
It’s baffling to watch, but it feels like Trump is playing a character. And he’s setting the stage for some crazy stuff. And it seems like they know it.
Trump derangement is gonna go even more nuclear than it has. I hope we’re ready for the meltdown. 😂
"The notion of such immunity, both as a general matter, and also specifcally in the
context of the potential negation of election results, threatens to jeopardize our nation’s security and international leadership."
Flattened, yes, and they can't spell, either.
President Trump's legal team cobbled together various types of challenges, none of which were unprecedented, few of which were even particularly uncommon.
I downgraded the administration to regime during the reign of Bush the elder. When generalissimo Biden was installed, there was really no rational way of describing it as anything but a junta, once he began tearing the country apart in earnest.
I'm no great fan of President Trump, but his peculiar authoritarian leanings have seemed far less intrusive than those of his predecessors over the last four decades or so. In one sense, every presidency is an "imperial presidency." They all aspire to reign and rule; it goes with the territory.
The separation of powers used to (largely) keep them in check, but when radical extremists have infested the legislature and align ideologically with el commandante, trouble always follows.
American democracy is safest when the executive and legislative branches are in opposition to each other.
As far as the amici are concerned, their brief suggests that they are true to type. I'll say this much, Chris; it's been quite interesting to watch the "soft" coup unfold, and election interference by military types at this juncture reminds me of what follows when a soft coup begins to unravel as this one seems likely to do.
1) Members of the U.S. military are INDIVIDUALLY responsible for refusing to obey unlawful orders. (True)
2) The legal liability of POTUS for issuing illegal orders makes it less likely he will issue such orders. (Pure hypothetical, since no such orders have been issued in 235 yrs, or at least none are known, and no POTUS has been investigated, let alone prosecuted for such.)
3) It is more difficult for the military to follow the law and refuse to follow an illegal order when the author of the order is immune, than it would be to refuse to follow an illegal order when the author of the order is prosecutable.
This is the comedic center – there is no coherent connection between a superior’s legal status and the inclination and requirement of subordinates to follow his orders.
An order is legal or illegal on its own merits, and that is the only consideration. Its author’s legal immunity is irrelevant.
Any military member or civilian official who thinks otherwise does not deserve to serve the people of the U.S.
Everyday I exhaust myself trying to figure out how this kind of non thinking garbage, written by people trying to sound smart, permeates almost everything. And then I turn on the tv and it’s worse. Or listen in on peoples conversations. Or enter a courtroom.
And when I’m completed depleted with no explanation and wishing living on a deserted island appealed to me …..
Chris writes this , even from the utopia of our home state of California, and I can get up tomorrow with a tiny spark of hope ….. Until I turn on the news. Thanks Chris
Amici are deeply interested in this case because presidential immunity from criminal prosecution would threaten the military’s role in American society, our nation’s constitutional order, and our national security.
Interesting, because Presidents have always had immunity for the things done while they were in office. If this weren't the case, then every president from Nixon to Biden could be tried for war crimes against every nation that we didn't declare war against. That's up to and including the Ukrainian and Israeli conflict that are ongoing.
It's not just the illegal wars that they could be tried for, it's the civilian crimes that the DOJ, FBI, CIA, and NSA have participated in.
The Constitution subjects the armed forces of the United States to civilian control and the rule of law.
Again, every conflict since Vietnam has been an illegal war, without the consent of Congress. There have been no wars declared.
If the president doesn't get the immunity, neither do the members of the three letter agencies that have broken the law. I personally would find it highly amusing if every agent was pulled in and taken to court for violating the constitution.
The Time Magazine quote from the “Protect Democracy” website, citing the group’s own words, brings some extra irony by analogizing democracy’s role (as they see it) of protecting institutions (rather than enabling the people’s power over those institutions) to the proper response to “a virus sweeping the globe,” since a hallmark of covid propaganda was the need to protect medical *institutions*: that idea underlay the initial “flatten the curve” gambit, as well as vaccine mandates (mustn’t let those anti-vax kooks clog up our emergency rooms). In fact, “Protect the NHS” was the signature rallying cry of covid in the UK.
So the corporatist (in the old sense lately espoused by the men hanging upside down in the photo above) logic is pervasive with our new-normal overlords.
Military is only ever under civilian control at the sufferance (suffering?) of the military; these generals surely knows that.
America spreads democracy? News to me. Rather, America spreads corruption intending to make nations dependent on America (for trade deals and such) and Pax Americana, giving not a used fig for democracy.
Why else no embargoes against China and Saudi Arabia, both nations that far outstrips Cuba, Iran or DPRK in being anti-democratic? Or Burma? Or...?
Oh right, certain clans of corporate capitalists and politicians have financial interests there.
Honestly, the British Empire was far better at this and much more honest about it too. Playing at empire at home and abroad hurts you, and is probably one of the main reasons for how far apart US leaders - corporate and political - are from american citizens. You rarely hear (in my personal experience) normal americans argue for military adventurism and "spreading peace and democracy". Defend the homeland, sure - as should all people feel. Not tolerate outright acts of terrorism or hostage taking of citizens - abso-flipping-lutely, but that doesn't mean "Send the Marines" or build how many dozens of bases around the world.
Sometimes, reading about and commenting on US politics from without, I feel like Ash in 'Alien': "I can't lie to you about your chances, but. . . You have my sympathies." Pretty sure that goes both ways, seeing what's happening here in the EUSSR?
This amicus brief is what you get when you have a segment of the military whose only job is to try and get promoted to the next higher rank. Not via merit, but by punching tickets and networking. Flag officers have decided it isn’t in their best interest to share a battlefield with the troops they are supposed to lead. They command from sometimes hundreds of miles away from the front lines and never see what is actually going on in a combat situation. While they can see images through eye in the sky drones and airplanes, top down doesn’t always show what it looks like on the battlefield. So they develop a sense of self importance and see themselves more than what they are. Colonel David Hackworth called them Perfumed Princes because of this. Hackworth commanded his troops from the same field his subordinates were fighting in.
The damndest thing is the flag officers have to know this because the troops know it and begrudge them for it. Sometimes a little more openly than they should. A units First Sausage(sergeant) is the one who usually quells these sentiments. But will send them up the chain regardless. The units Sausage Major does the same when the First Sausages start complaining.
If flag officers paid more attention to their actual jobs and commanding troops at ground level we would t have to worry about a group of retarded old coots making amicus briefs in political circles. They think that being retarded separates them from being called up under the UCMJ for partaking in political demonstrations (which technically they are doing by submitting this amicus brief) they are sadly wrong. It would be hilarious to have someone like oh say Gaetz to file a motion which would strip all these retarded flag officers of their commission. This would shut them up forthwith. They wouldn’t want their pensions revoked nor base privileges taken away. These flag officer’s wives would flay them alive at the town square if this happened.
Which of these fine “apolitical” flag officers spoke up when General Milley went behind the back of his Commander-in-Chief and communicated to the enemy that he would let them know if/when an attack was coming? Which one called out Milley for his treasonous actions? Did they think going behind the back of one’s CinC was acceptable conduct for a senior officer, or did they think it was acceptable only if the CinC happened to be a Republican?
On a graphic representation of the collapse of the the richest, freest society the world has ever known, the x axis, (time), is stalled at 2024, and the y axis line, (rate of collapse), is vertical, and setting new lows every hour.
OT: At the Federalist today, an essay from "Tell Me How This Ends" reader Chad Williams: "Why Are Elected Republicans Helping Democrats Reward A Failed Education System?"
https://thefederalist.com/2024/04/08/why-are-elected-republicans-helping-democrats-reward-a-failed-education-system/
Brilliant piece of writing.
I heard Mike Hayden had a stroke, which slightly sucked some of the fervor out of my seething disgust and hatred for this turd.
He tweeted that the unvaccinated should be sent to Afghanistan on the planes return trips.
I’d prefer to watch him tweet in prison without his thumbs….in a Trump Presidency…that would be his 10th bite of poo.
Laughed out loud a few times, CB always has a way to help the news go down with humor.
bsn
I think there could be something else here, Chris. What they are really saying is that if Trump isn’t prosecuted and becomes President, then civilians may not have control of the military because they will attempt a military coup against the elected President.
This strikes me as one of those things that these power class groups do from time time to signal to the entire herd of traitors what’s up.
Hayden is a treasonous reptile.
You’ve managed to translate the absurdity of the newspeak into satirical English. I didn’t know I’d be living in a Monty Python skit with humorless skit writers and bad crisis actors , but it helps to lampoon them effectively.
I have a theory. It’s not mine, so I can’t do it total justice, but it rings true for me.
I think DJT WANTS them to find that he has no immunity. I think he knows how much they hate him and will do completely irrational things - like ruling that presidents do not have criminal immunity.
Because what happens when that precedent is set? What happens when a new court order now says PRESIDENTS are prosecutable for crimes while they were in office? Clinton, anyone? Obama? Even Bush Jr? Not to mention the current potato in the WH.
I’ve been watching the trials and prosecutions be put together and they seem to be weaving a story. Like Trump is inviting it all to set the precedent that can be used against the absolute criminals that have run our country for decades.
It’s baffling to watch, but it feels like Trump is playing a character. And he’s setting the stage for some crazy stuff. And it seems like they know it.
Trump derangement is gonna go even more nuclear than it has. I hope we’re ready for the meltdown. 😂
"The notion of such immunity, both as a general matter, and also specifcally in the
context of the potential negation of election results, threatens to jeopardize our nation’s security and international leadership."
Flattened, yes, and they can't spell, either.
President Trump's legal team cobbled together various types of challenges, none of which were unprecedented, few of which were even particularly uncommon.
I downgraded the administration to regime during the reign of Bush the elder. When generalissimo Biden was installed, there was really no rational way of describing it as anything but a junta, once he began tearing the country apart in earnest.
I'm no great fan of President Trump, but his peculiar authoritarian leanings have seemed far less intrusive than those of his predecessors over the last four decades or so. In one sense, every presidency is an "imperial presidency." They all aspire to reign and rule; it goes with the territory.
The separation of powers used to (largely) keep them in check, but when radical extremists have infested the legislature and align ideologically with el commandante, trouble always follows.
American democracy is safest when the executive and legislative branches are in opposition to each other.
As far as the amici are concerned, their brief suggests that they are true to type. I'll say this much, Chris; it's been quite interesting to watch the "soft" coup unfold, and election interference by military types at this juncture reminds me of what follows when a soft coup begins to unravel as this one seems likely to do.
The reasoning in this brief is laughable.
1) Members of the U.S. military are INDIVIDUALLY responsible for refusing to obey unlawful orders. (True)
2) The legal liability of POTUS for issuing illegal orders makes it less likely he will issue such orders. (Pure hypothetical, since no such orders have been issued in 235 yrs, or at least none are known, and no POTUS has been investigated, let alone prosecuted for such.)
3) It is more difficult for the military to follow the law and refuse to follow an illegal order when the author of the order is immune, than it would be to refuse to follow an illegal order when the author of the order is prosecutable.
This is the comedic center – there is no coherent connection between a superior’s legal status and the inclination and requirement of subordinates to follow his orders.
An order is legal or illegal on its own merits, and that is the only consideration. Its author’s legal immunity is irrelevant.
Any military member or civilian official who thinks otherwise does not deserve to serve the people of the U.S.
Everyday I exhaust myself trying to figure out how this kind of non thinking garbage, written by people trying to sound smart, permeates almost everything. And then I turn on the tv and it’s worse. Or listen in on peoples conversations. Or enter a courtroom.
And when I’m completed depleted with no explanation and wishing living on a deserted island appealed to me …..
Chris writes this , even from the utopia of our home state of California, and I can get up tomorrow with a tiny spark of hope ….. Until I turn on the news. Thanks Chris
From the Amica:
Amici are deeply interested in this case because presidential immunity from criminal prosecution would threaten the military’s role in American society, our nation’s constitutional order, and our national security.
Interesting, because Presidents have always had immunity for the things done while they were in office. If this weren't the case, then every president from Nixon to Biden could be tried for war crimes against every nation that we didn't declare war against. That's up to and including the Ukrainian and Israeli conflict that are ongoing.
It's not just the illegal wars that they could be tried for, it's the civilian crimes that the DOJ, FBI, CIA, and NSA have participated in.
The Constitution subjects the armed forces of the United States to civilian control and the rule of law.
Again, every conflict since Vietnam has been an illegal war, without the consent of Congress. There have been no wars declared.
If the president doesn't get the immunity, neither do the members of the three letter agencies that have broken the law. I personally would find it highly amusing if every agent was pulled in and taken to court for violating the constitution.
A gerontokakistocracy, if you can keep it... (BFranklin,).
The Time Magazine quote from the “Protect Democracy” website, citing the group’s own words, brings some extra irony by analogizing democracy’s role (as they see it) of protecting institutions (rather than enabling the people’s power over those institutions) to the proper response to “a virus sweeping the globe,” since a hallmark of covid propaganda was the need to protect medical *institutions*: that idea underlay the initial “flatten the curve” gambit, as well as vaccine mandates (mustn’t let those anti-vax kooks clog up our emergency rooms). In fact, “Protect the NHS” was the signature rallying cry of covid in the UK.
So the corporatist (in the old sense lately espoused by the men hanging upside down in the photo above) logic is pervasive with our new-normal overlords.
Military is only ever under civilian control at the sufferance (suffering?) of the military; these generals surely knows that.
America spreads democracy? News to me. Rather, America spreads corruption intending to make nations dependent on America (for trade deals and such) and Pax Americana, giving not a used fig for democracy.
Why else no embargoes against China and Saudi Arabia, both nations that far outstrips Cuba, Iran or DPRK in being anti-democratic? Or Burma? Or...?
Oh right, certain clans of corporate capitalists and politicians have financial interests there.
Honestly, the British Empire was far better at this and much more honest about it too. Playing at empire at home and abroad hurts you, and is probably one of the main reasons for how far apart US leaders - corporate and political - are from american citizens. You rarely hear (in my personal experience) normal americans argue for military adventurism and "spreading peace and democracy". Defend the homeland, sure - as should all people feel. Not tolerate outright acts of terrorism or hostage taking of citizens - abso-flipping-lutely, but that doesn't mean "Send the Marines" or build how many dozens of bases around the world.
Sometimes, reading about and commenting on US politics from without, I feel like Ash in 'Alien': "I can't lie to you about your chances, but. . . You have my sympathies." Pretty sure that goes both ways, seeing what's happening here in the EUSSR?
This amicus brief is what you get when you have a segment of the military whose only job is to try and get promoted to the next higher rank. Not via merit, but by punching tickets and networking. Flag officers have decided it isn’t in their best interest to share a battlefield with the troops they are supposed to lead. They command from sometimes hundreds of miles away from the front lines and never see what is actually going on in a combat situation. While they can see images through eye in the sky drones and airplanes, top down doesn’t always show what it looks like on the battlefield. So they develop a sense of self importance and see themselves more than what they are. Colonel David Hackworth called them Perfumed Princes because of this. Hackworth commanded his troops from the same field his subordinates were fighting in.
The damndest thing is the flag officers have to know this because the troops know it and begrudge them for it. Sometimes a little more openly than they should. A units First Sausage(sergeant) is the one who usually quells these sentiments. But will send them up the chain regardless. The units Sausage Major does the same when the First Sausages start complaining.
If flag officers paid more attention to their actual jobs and commanding troops at ground level we would t have to worry about a group of retarded old coots making amicus briefs in political circles. They think that being retarded separates them from being called up under the UCMJ for partaking in political demonstrations (which technically they are doing by submitting this amicus brief) they are sadly wrong. It would be hilarious to have someone like oh say Gaetz to file a motion which would strip all these retarded flag officers of their commission. This would shut them up forthwith. They wouldn’t want their pensions revoked nor base privileges taken away. These flag officer’s wives would flay them alive at the town square if this happened.
Which of these fine “apolitical” flag officers spoke up when General Milley went behind the back of his Commander-in-Chief and communicated to the enemy that he would let them know if/when an attack was coming? Which one called out Milley for his treasonous actions? Did they think going behind the back of one’s CinC was acceptable conduct for a senior officer, or did they think it was acceptable only if the CinC happened to be a Republican?
Apolitical my ass!
There’s gotta be something in the water?
Looks like the Hunter Laptop group is trying to get the band back together again.
On a graphic representation of the collapse of the the richest, freest society the world has ever known, the x axis, (time), is stalled at 2024, and the y axis line, (rate of collapse), is vertical, and setting new lows every hour.