https://x.com/Acyn/status/1973023822623514725
But I mean, whatever. Spend an uncountable number of billions on building 3-4 aestetich awesome battleships that will be so expensive that they will need a carrier group to protect them from missiles and submarines.
What. The. Actual. Fuck have I been watching in this thread. Imagine being a (relatively) competent high ranking officer having to listen to this? Good grief.
From a draft dodger and a weekend warrior turned talk-show host, no less
Hegseth: The US has to be prepared for war, not defense. Weāre training warriors, not defenders.
We donāt fight with stupid rules of engagement. We demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country
Bold by me.
It was even worse live , believe you me.
Iād say that the odds of a military coup in America have greatly increased after that today.
Maybe along the likes of what the Turkish military used to do before they were crushed by Erdogan, acting as guarantors of secular democracy (whether they were asked to or notā¦)
You seriously think so? Got that much faith in the US military? I doubt it. Much rather see them oppressing Democrat states, cities, elections, but maybe Iām being too harsh.
Is that faith? The dynamic would be the US military acting to preserve itself against what is clearly a threat to its position. There would likely be some idealists, but equally likely some quite cynically seeing in Trump and Hegseth a greatly diminished role for the military. Among other things, if you are disengaging from other hemispheres, you donāt really need a āSeven Seasā navy.
My suspicion is that most US officers are horrified by the ideas presented today, if only because they all know full well how much different the work of MPs is from most military, and Trump is more or less proposing to make them into some kind of incoherent hybrid. There are National Guardsmen absolutely seething right now having been called up as glorified trash collectors in DC.
It was a genuine question. The military not being on Trumpās side would certainly be a welcome development. Iāve seen little opposition from that sphere so far, but maybe that will change now or I just havenāt noticed.
They were definitely more likely to support Trump in the election, but when the ballot question is something other than Biden/Harris v. Trump and more along the lines of institutional preservation, that is likely to shift. Also consider that Blacks and Latinos are overrepresented in the US military as against population percentages, and both of those demographics have seen significant swings away from the Republicans since January. But I donāt think that is where coups come from, the rank and file need only go along. At higher levels, if the use of the military in American cities continues to unfold, I expect growing resistance. Just very hard to say what form it will take - we may just see a wave of retirements.
Was just pointed out that Trump threatened the audience when they did not applaud on entering. That doesnāt sound warm.
I was only half-joking , but at what point does an order come down and they just say no ; āCombat trainingā in American cities against US citizens ? Invading Venezuela ? Ignoring a Russian attack on a NATO country ?
Whatās clear from today is that this madman is out of control , completely detached from reality ,and a clear and present danger to the country he leads. If the SC wonāt stop him then maybe the military will soon enough face the choice of either facing him down or becoming an instrument of supression for an authoritarian dictator.
I really wouldnāt bet on it. The military is always the most right wing element in any society. The chances of them standing up to a fascist regime are extremely slim.
If any of them do, theyāll be sacked and replaced by loyalists.
Maybe not not the most Right Wing (at least everywhere), but in US they are known to be mostly Republicans at least.
And as you say:
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1973008643416076632
Trump will actively seek to root out any military leader who he doesnāt like I.e. who he doesnāt think is in his pocket, ready to do his bidding whenever he says so - blue cities, countries I donāt like, opponents I donāt like, etc.
I think the most likely outcome is a raft of retirements that will massively weaken any potential military resistance to Trump. And if that happens, the slide toward authoritarianism will continue, at pace.
I donāt know what the defining moment will be that might see the course we are on corrected. It might still be Epstein. Is there proof of Trump sleeping with underage girls, or trafficking them? Lots of noise, hence the suppression. Will the truth come out, and will that be enough to jolt the country in a new direction, post-Trump?
If troops are sent into American cities, the images - assuming at some point they will turn on their own people and there will be a flashpoint - might be enough to motivate a change in direction.
It feels like the options for a possible ārescueā from this are being snuffed out, one by one. The rich and powerful are mostly in Trumpās pocket. The tech titans are in his pocket. All branches of government seem to be in his pocket - arguably the midterms might see some congressional authority begin to return, but it might not matter to Trump, as he acts like an emperor with unlimited power as it is. The media is in his pocket. The legal system is largely in his pocket, and any rulings or judges that still dare to stand up to him are either bogged down or ignored. And now the military is being forced in a direction that bends it to Trumpās will, unless something gives.
When I think about it, it feels like a complete takeover has all but happened already. Itās enormously concerning.
Edit
And at some point the economy is going to be hit very hard - lots of signs pointing that way, and that might easily lead to civil unrest and give ājustificationā to send the military in.
I think today was fairly monumental, but since there is so much crazy and new stuff every single day with the Trump gov, people forget, miss stuff and go on to the next crazy thing. But today was a particularly bad day for US democracy
As Trump alludes to in his final sentence in this clip, those who donāt agree with him will be forced aside (I think).
āIf you donāt agree with me there goes your rank, there goes your future.ā
Chilling.
Iām not a military man but by the time you have risen up to General, presumably you already have a good pension locked in. I can see a raft of early retirements coming. They might retire with slightly less than had they stayed on, or they may possibly have to retire with the pension of one rank below, but I see the obvious temptation for senior military personnel to bow out.
Is there a leader among them who can see what is happening and do something?
It is another one of Trumpās ability to force bad choices. As a military man who has served the Constitution faithfully for decades, would you want to be the general whose name might be thrown around with Benedict Arnoldās?
The irony being that the vast majority of Confederate generals abandoned their oaths to fight the Union, and have never been regarded as traitors in the way that Arnold was.
At this point probably a few look like walking, anyway.
Might be interesting,training on your own people.
Great example of the blind running the show, one can only imagine what was going through the Generals and Admirals minds after that pep talk.
The country is in the hands of lunatics.