US Politics Thread 2021-24

[MaDef]

Biden owns this all by himself. He signed 15 EO's, reversing Trump policies, on his first day. He Had control of the withdrawal. Biden chose to Arbitrarily close Bagram I
Airbase and remove the last of the military before evacuating civilians. He also refused to use his over-the-horizon capability to assist the Afghan government in resisting the Taliban.

[Rockstar]

Learned something new, the possible origin of the term “redneck”. Which leads us to even more white supremacist rednecks arrested on capital steps.

[Arlo]

"Woodward and Costa write that Milley, deeply shaken by the Jan 6th assault, 'was certain that Trump had gone into a serious mental decline in the aftermath of the election, with Trump now all but manic, screaming at officials and constructing his own alternate reality about endless election conspiracies.'

Milley worried that Trump could 'go rogue,' the authors write.
"You never know what a president's trigger point is," Milley told his senior staff, according to the book.

In response, Milley took extraordinary action, and called a secret meeting in his Pentagon office on January 8 to review the process for military action, including launching nuclear weapons. Speaking to senior military officials in charge of the National Military Command Center, the Pentagon's war room, Milley instructed them not to take orders from anyone unless he was involved.

"No matter what you are told, you do the procedure. You do the process. And I'm part of that procedure," Milley told the officers, according to the book. He then went around the room, looked each officer in the eye, and asked them to verbally confirm they understood.

Milley's fear was based on his own observations of Trump's erratic behavior. His concern was magnified by the events of January 6 and the 'extraordinary risk' the situation posed to US national security, the authors write. Milley had already had two back-channel phone calls with China's top general, who was on high alert over the chaos in the US.

Then Milley received a blunt phone call from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to the book. Woodward and Costa exclusively obtained a transcript of the call, during which Milley tried to reassure Pelosi that the nuclear weapons were safe.

Pelosi pushed back.

"What I'm saying to you is that if they couldn't even stop him from an assault on the Capitol, who even knows what else he may do? And is there anybody in charge at the White House who was doing anything but kissing his fat butt all over this?"

Pelosi continued, "You know he's crazy. He's been crazy for a long time." Milley responded, "Madam Speaker, I agree with you on everything."

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/14/polit...cAGADZnvHfJ-CI

[mapuc]

^
"including launching nuclear weapons."

If I remember correctly what Platapus once told me about chain of command when it comes to order nuclear strike-The President can't order such a strike, when there's no nuclear threat.

Markus

[Arlo]

Originally Posted by mapuc

^
"including launching nuclear weapons."

If I remember correctly what Platapus once told me about chain of command when it comes to order nuclear strike-The President can't order such a strike, when there's no nuclear threat.

Markus

Unless, of course, there's a hurricane inbound.

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Arlo

Unless, of course, there's a hurricane inbound.

Had to dig into my memory and it showed me both a picture and some scene from the news where Mr Donalds said one should use nukes against these F5 hurricane.

My memory could also created something that isn't exactly true.

Edit
My memory was correct

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49471093

End edit

Markus

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by MaDef

Biden owns this all by himself. He signed 15 EO's, reversing Trump policies, on his first day. He Had control of the withdrawal. Biden chose to Arbitrarily close Bagram I
Airbase and remove the last of the military before evacuating civilians. He also refused to use his over-the-horizon capability to assist the Afghan government in resisting the Taliban.

100%

[Rockstar]

A good laugh

[Buddahaid]

Originally Posted by Rockstar

A good laugh

Yeah that worked out really well and proved recall elections are just a money waste. Effort better spent finding an elecable candidate at the next election.

[u crank]

Gen. Mark Milley: China’s Man In The Pentagon?

https://www.theamericanconservative....n-in-pentagon/

By now you will have read that the Joint Chiefs head phoned his Chinese counterpart twice during the final months of the Trump administration, to reassure the Chinese that the US wasn’t planning to attack China — this, because Milley was worried about Trump’s mental stability.

If Milley was so afraid of the president’s mental state that he felt compelled to phone the top Chinese general not once but twice, why did Milley not warn Congress and the American public? This makes no sense. Where was Milley during the second impeachment trial? Milley thought he was working for a deranged Commander in Chief capable of starting a war with nuclear-armed China in a fit of pique, but he didn’t want to go public with this concern. Incredible.

...he didn’t make it public when it could have stopped what Milley regarded as a grave danger to world piece, but when it also would have cost him something; now he’s revealing that he carried out an act radically destabilizing of the civilian chain of command, when doing so could not do any good, but also wouldn’t hurt Milley, and might actually boost his personal stock.

[3catcircus]

Originally Posted by u crank

Gen. Mark Milley: China’s Man In The Pentagon?

https://www.theamericanconservative....n-in-pentagon/

The fact that our FVEY partners sent a "WTF?!?!" to our intel folks when Milley contacted his bestest buddy Chinese general should be a canary in a coal mine that this wasn't a normal back-channel communique. Every nation will communicate with other nations even if their public-facing stance in each other is oppositional. A US general telling a CCP general that he will prevent the President from attacking isn't just poor form. It's a clear violation of civilian control of our military.

That other military officers who were present when this communication occurred are willing to testify could mean "it's a nothing burger" or it could be that they believe it to be out of bounds. That Vindman is criticizing Milley shouldn't be ignored since it implies that he thinks that his own actions were ok (even though they weren't) but Milley's aren't.

I also have grave concerns over the fact that Pelosi appears to have had knowledge of Milley's actions and didn't consider them to be an issue.

Bottom-line: Trump's actions did not violate his oath of office, but it seems that his JCS, intel community, and members of Congress did violate their oaths on an almost continual basis. That's a systemic problem with our federal officials.

If people who aren't the leaders of nations are talking to each other to assure themselves that the leaders aren't going to act crazy, why even bother having leaders to begin with? Just go ahead and install military juntas throughout the world.

[Rockstar]

Just look at this even more white supremacists protesting Democrats. This time at the Met Gala. We need more fences and surveillance arrest them all. Hate to say it but protesting Democrats seems to becoming a common theme among both the right and left wing electorate. I guess that’s what happens when people see them getting rich while they cheat, steal and rob from the people.

@6:39

[Skybird]

Milley did his job. That includes maintaining communicational links to defuse possible conflicts before they could cause sparks that might set fire on a fuse that leads to something attached that could blow up.


https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...ump-s-n1279262

[3catcircus]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Milley did his job. That includes maintaining communicational links to defuse possible conflicts before they could cause sparks that might set fire on a fuse that leads to something attached that could blow up.


https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...ump-s-n1279262

Except it's not his job. His job is to advise the civilian leadership of the National Command Authority.

[Buddahaid]

Originally Posted by 3catcircus

Except it's not his job. His job is to advise the civilian leadership of the National Command Authority.

That is his job but he also swore to protect the constitution from foreign and domestic enemies and in that sense he was doing his duty ensuring procedure would be followed when the sitting president was for all intent and purposes refusing to accept the election results. There is no case for treason against Miley.

Oath of Commissioned Officers
I ___, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God. (Title 5 U.S. Code 3331, an individual, except the President, elected or appointed to an office of honor or profit in the civil service or uniformed services)

10 U.S. Code § 163 - Role of Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
U.S. Code
prev | next
(a)Communications Through Chairman of JCS; Assignment of Duties.—Subject to the limitations in section 152(c) of this title, the President may—
(1)direct that communications between the President or the Secretary of Defense and the commanders of the unified and specified combatant commands be transmitted through the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and
(2)assign duties to the Chairman to assist the President and the Secretary of Defense in performing their command function.
(b)Oversight by Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff.—
(1)The Secretary of Defense may assign to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff responsibility for overseeing the activities of the combatant commands. Such assignment by the Secretary to the Chairman does not confer any command authority on the Chairman and does not alter the responsibility of the commanders of the combatant commands prescribed in section 164(b)(2) of this title.
(2)Subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff serves as the spokesman for the commanders of the combatant commands, especially on the operational requirements of their commands. In performing such function, the Chairman shall—
(A)confer with and obtain information from the commanders of the combatant commands with respect to the requirements of their commands;
(B)evaluate and integrate such information;
(C)advise and make recommendations to the Secretary of Defense with respect to the requirements of the combatant commands, individually and collectively; and
(D)communicate, as appropriate, the requirements of the combatant commands to other elements of the Department of Defense.

https://constitution.congress.gov/br...III_S3_C1_1_2/

ArtIII.S3.C1.1.2 Treason Clause: Doctrine and Practice
Article III, Section 3, Clause 1:

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.