Let's have every single general, admiral, and other very high ranking military personnel in the same room with the secretary of war and the president. Oh, and let's announce it publicly ahead of time. What could go wrong?
JFC Pete is so fucking stupid. A smart, motivated, and malicious individual could have wiped out all of our military leadership in an instant.
I felt the same way on 9/11... The reaction was to close every bridge and tunnel on and off Manhattan and my first thought was "Well, shit, captive audience, so if whoever did it has a dirty nuke, that's the time for the dirty nuke."
Dirty bomb sounds much worse than the danger it actually creates, although it does creates panic and having closed bridges and tunnel would def increase effects of it
I know Hanlon's Razor and what not, but in this case, I do have to wonder if the intent was malicious, or more data from this was gleaned by our adversaries than we realize.
At this point we know the GOP is compromised with Kremlin assets masquerading as asshats.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, and almost all their internal documents became public, western intelligence was shocked to discover that their own operations far, far outpaced the KGB in both scope and budget.
I don't really think we need "Kremlin assets" to explain this. Trust me, we have a more than sufficient asshat capacity.
The US goes through a threat situation like this every state of the union, if they can't handle something like that for this, they can't handle it for that either, and the state of the union is a better target.
The best part is that both him and trump prepared a "funny" speech with pauses for cheers and applauses but were too stupid to realize the difference between a military meeting (listening in silence at blank face) and a political rally (cheering at whatever you say, even if it doesn't make sense)
With so many generals and admirals together in the room, would they talk to eachother? Would they wonder if the country is going in the right direction? Would theyy be okay with being deployed in the US to arrest and fight citizens?
Would they talk about being okay having a drunk and irresponsible idiot as their boss who will push them to commit war crimes?
One wonders if any of these guys are willing to talk about better solutions
The best scenario we can hope for is for generals to simply refuse an illegal order, and when told to retire, refuse, and when reassigned to also refuse on the grounds that it's illegal punishment for refusing an illegal order.
Anything more and you're in coup territory, which sets the precedent that the military can step in and "correct" civilian government when it's wrong in their view. See, for example, Myanmar. Even after the military relinquished control to allow democracy, they still decided to "correct" that democracy when it started to drift from their wishes.
Refusing civilian government requests that violate the constitution is literally part of their oath. It is the highest and most important part. To cede ultimate authority to the constitution, to the law, and not to a leader.
This is an existential battle between those who want a framework of power that is a hierarchy and those, like the founders, who wanted a division of power across a community of leaders, to prevent monarchic hierarchies. If democracy falls to the consolidation of a hierarchy then the American experiment has concluded and we return to the age of kings and warlords. The dream of community rule, not individual power, must be tried elsewhere, with whatever learnings can be gained, like the influence of power of private capital and the role of wealth on democratic integrity.
I hope American patriots, those who believe in the separation of power as the founders did, win this battle.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Well, it's also part of the oath the civilian leadership takes, for what it's worth.
Point is, you want the military to say "you can't tell me to do that" and not "I won't let you do that".
The latter is the military exerting power over the civilian government, which is a deeply dangerous precedent.
Myanmar is a bit different. It was under constant control of the military and families connect to it (which also got extremely rich through corruption).
They switched to "democracy" to get sanctions lifted, but they still controlled what government did. Once people voted on a bill that would remove their power and turn Myanmar to true democracy, that's when they stepped in and took control back to prevent it.
These generals have been doing war crimes for decades for money. You think they will stop taking orders when they tell them to turn their guns on you? These soulless fucks execute orders as told, and would gladly kill you for a promotion
The upper ranks in nearly every American organization is a poor representation of those in lower ranks. Roughly 1/5 of military members are black. 6/150 is 1/25, so not really an accurate representation.
.... quite a few friends were made right there. I personally would not gather them all in a room to tell them how fat they are. A veteran like that could do me in with a toothbrush.
There is one person with long blonde hair right off the center and one with longer black hair in the same position on the left side. Alltogether there could be eight female generals.
The Corps has about 10 and theres a couple dozen in each of the other branches, then again there are also a bunch of enlisted folk sitting there so it’s not just a room full of generals. The enlisted Marine front right for example, is sitting in a seat that could be filled by a female black Marine General but something tells me the folks organizing this wouldn’t want to see her prominently displayed during their practice civil war speech
He sounded like a guy in my area who gets drunk, gets on Grindr, and complains that there aren't any twinks around here in their constsntly updating profile.
Yep, our satellite is still up there physics is continuing to work, we'll check again in 10 minutes.
It's not like they have any human assets to order around, everyone in space is either a civilian or not an American citizen anyway. It's not as if Russia is likely to invade the moon or anything
You're probably thinking of their "dress blues". Its like the military equivalent of a formal suit, they get worn to parades and weddings and stuff. Every branch is a little different, but the dress blues for the Marine Corp is a really dark navy.
A lot of black men have pseudofolliculitis, which causes bumps, scarring, and rash on their faces from daily shaving. Black men are a big portion of people that request the shaving waivers in the military.
I don't think the meeting goals are what has been discussed.
This might have been : 1) prepare for war with Iran, or 2) gather intelligence on these people to see who might be a problem they need to get rid of before the 4 years mark.
I think there was more to this than just pointlessness. Say, you want to have a meeting with specific leaders, but you know that bringing them in will get out, and folks may be able to figure out what you're up to based on who you bring in for the meeting.
So, you bring every leader in for a pointless meeting publicly, while then having a secret meeting afterwards with the actual leaders you wanted to talk with.
Who they actually wanted to talk to, i don't know, but my guess it was the leaders stationed in the Middle East, based on all the ships we've been sending to the region, as well as Trump's ultimatum to Hamas, and the recently announced plan to turn Gaza over to Tony Blair. I have a strong feeling Trump is sending American troops in to help Israel take over Gaza entirely.
Why hide that though? Who would stop America from invading Gaza? The kind of subterfuge you are suggesting would be more likely before an invasion of say Europe, China, or Russia. Or a coup.
Because, militarily, you never want to give away information you don't need to. If Hamas could find out which generals, admirals, and other leaders they were having come to Washington for meetings, it would tell them what forces to expect, and they could plan a resistance, as ineffectual as it would probably be.
But, it could cause more US casualties, which might cause more unhappiness in America, as Americans don't like it when American soldiers die in pointless wars. Remember, Trump ran as the man who would get the country out of pointless wars, so the more deaths from this pointless war, the more complaints from his political base.
I disagree. An email wouldn't have captured the full scope of Hegseth's immaturity and desperation. Now, all our military leaders have seen it first hand. Well done.
Those generals agree with 80% of what was said and will 100% follow whatever orders come down. Just because they grimace at stupid meetings doesn’t mean they are the peoples’ friends.
They're all 4-star general West Point graduates. They do not agree with 80% of the speech, and whether they'll follow orders is not a given. There is a balance of power at play.
No one is "the people's friend" and that's not the point. Some of these guys believe in nothing but power, but a significant number are also constitutional ideologues. And both of those groups among the generals know their power is both at risk and so is the constitution. And this meeting has been largely been disliked according to reporters among all of them.
hesgeth is also overcompensating that during bidens presidency, when he was still enlisted? that he couldnt get close enough to BIDEN entourage to harm him. also trump had him to distract this from the files, anything to take up news space.
Let's have every single general, admiral, and other very high ranking military personnel in the same room with the secretary of war and the president. Oh, and let's announce it publicly ahead of time. What could go wrong?
JFC Pete is so fucking stupid. A smart, motivated, and malicious individual could have wiped out all of our military leadership in an instant.
I felt the same way on 9/11... The reaction was to close every bridge and tunnel on and off Manhattan and my first thought was "Well, shit, captive audience, so if whoever did it has a dirty nuke, that's the time for the dirty nuke."
Dirty bomb sounds much worse than the danger it actually creates, although it does creates panic and having closed bridges and tunnel would def increase effects of it
Yeah, I didn't expect them to have a NUKE nuke, but a dirty bomb felt like an actual possibility.
I know Hanlon's Razor and what not, but in this case, I do have to wonder if the intent was malicious, or more data from this was gleaned by our adversaries than we realize.
At this point we know the GOP is compromised with Kremlin assets masquerading as asshats.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, and almost all their internal documents became public, western intelligence was shocked to discover that their own operations far, far outpaced the KGB in both scope and budget.
I don't really think we need "Kremlin assets" to explain this. Trust me, we have a more than sufficient asshat capacity.
How? Is a foreign actor going to launch an ICBM at Virginia? This was at Quantico, not exactly a place where anybody can enter or even get near.
Edit because I was curious and checked: the base occupies over 55,000 acres.
An insider threat (which is seeming more and more likely) wouldn't've needed an ICBM
The US goes through a threat situation like this every state of the union, if they can't handle something like that for this, they can't handle it for that either, and the state of the union is a better target.
Sure, I'm not saying it would be easy for an insider threat, I'm just saying there's options other than an ICBM.
A quick reminder
he declared war on American citizens yesterday
He encouraged war crimes against American citizens
He told them to prepare for war
Trump told them they are loyal to him now or they’re fired
I am not advocating for it but in other nations, that would cause a military coup.
I've been wondering why that didn't happen right then and there. A boy can only dream, I guess.
Thank you, everybody is focusing on Pete and his stupidity and not the important part, I feel??
This was a "look how powerful I am that I can demand you all show up to here me rant" meeting on Pete's part. So yes, a waste of time, and money.
The best part is that both him and trump prepared a "funny" speech with pauses for cheers and applauses but were too stupid to realize the difference between a military meeting (listening in silence at blank face) and a political rally (cheering at whatever you say, even if it doesn't make sense)
they wanted a north korean, russian style rally.
Remember that conspiracy theory about JFK being taken out because he crossed the military complex?
Well now we can see how this experiment goes, piss off every capable military leader, and see how long this attempted dictatorship lasts.
Stress-testing the government to find out who shot JFK.
It was Lee Harvey and the Secret Service
HW Bush was supposedly in the city at the time, and spent decades being "unable to recall where he was" on that very memorable day
One does wonder....
With so many generals and admirals together in the room, would they talk to eachother? Would they wonder if the country is going in the right direction? Would theyy be okay with being deployed in the US to arrest and fight citizens?
Would they talk about being okay having a drunk and irresponsible idiot as their boss who will push them to commit war crimes?
One wonders if any of these guys are willing to talk about better solutions
Bros flew 20+ hours from South Korea for important briefing: “no fatties on the frontlines.” It would be unreasonable to not be pissed.
Hopefully they are.
In private
Given their rank, they're probably not doing it in private, but just in general
Dammit alright you got me, that was funny.
The best scenario we can hope for is for generals to simply refuse an illegal order, and when told to retire, refuse, and when reassigned to also refuse on the grounds that it's illegal punishment for refusing an illegal order.
Anything more and you're in coup territory, which sets the precedent that the military can step in and "correct" civilian government when it's wrong in their view. See, for example, Myanmar. Even after the military relinquished control to allow democracy, they still decided to "correct" that democracy when it started to drift from their wishes.
Refusing civilian government requests that violate the constitution is literally part of their oath. It is the highest and most important part. To cede ultimate authority to the constitution, to the law, and not to a leader.
This is an existential battle between those who want a framework of power that is a hierarchy and those, like the founders, who wanted a division of power across a community of leaders, to prevent monarchic hierarchies. If democracy falls to the consolidation of a hierarchy then the American experiment has concluded and we return to the age of kings and warlords. The dream of community rule, not individual power, must be tried elsewhere, with whatever learnings can be gained, like the influence of power of private capital and the role of wealth on democratic integrity.
I hope American patriots, those who believe in the separation of power as the founders did, win this battle.
Well, it's also part of the oath the civilian leadership takes, for what it's worth.
Point is, you want the military to say "you can't tell me to do that" and not "I won't let you do that".
The latter is the military exerting power over the civilian government, which is a deeply dangerous precedent.
Agreed.
Myanmar is a bit different. It was under constant control of the military and families connect to it (which also got extremely rich through corruption).
They switched to "democracy" to get sanctions lifted, but they still controlled what government did. Once people voted on a bill that would remove their power and turn Myanmar to true democracy, that's when they stepped in and took control back to prevent it.
and they used aung sun suu kyi as a lightning rod, eventhough she had no power in the government.
Well that's sort of my point. Once you go down the military coup path it's hard to get out.
These generals have been doing war crimes for decades for money. You think they will stop taking orders when they tell them to turn their guns on you? These soulless fucks execute orders as told, and would gladly kill you for a promotion
What does that have to do with what I said, which was about how a military coup is bad?
Whether you're right or wrong, it's just unrelated to what I said.
Something like 150 people sitting in this picture and 6 black men and 3 women. But there's too much diversity in the military!!!!!!!!!
The upper ranks in nearly every American organization is a poor representation of those in lower ranks. Roughly 1/5 of military members are black. 6/150 is 1/25, so not really an accurate representation.
Just like our representatives are
How to waste money 🙂
"in USA they can only choose between two haircuts"
DPRK has 7.
.... quite a few friends were made right there. I personally would not gather them all in a room to tell them how fat they are. A veteran like that could do me in with a toothbrush.
"You might think I'm fat, but I can still kick your ass" - the generals to Hegseth
Although he called and made the speech for general, the fact this was broadcast tells me this speech was not for the generals…
I am glad to see several skin tones. There are not enough women in this picture.
I would like my Military-Industrial Complex that bombs schools and hospitals to come in pink, please.
hesgeth, trump got rid of them.
:(
can't seem to find any though
Not that it matters, but the colours in there are just black and white, no asians or latinos
I think there are some female generals in the upper right corner, but the resolution is too low to be sure
There is one person with long blonde hair right off the center and one with longer black hair in the same position on the left side. Alltogether there could be eight female generals.
The Corps has about 10 and theres a couple dozen in each of the other branches, then again there are also a bunch of enlisted folk sitting there so it’s not just a room full of generals. The enlisted Marine front right for example, is sitting in a seat that could be filled by a female black Marine General but something tells me the folks organizing this wouldn’t want to see her prominently displayed during their practice civil war speech
The drunk TV guy with a make-up room tells generals he wants manly men. Did I get that right?
He sounded like a guy in my area who gets drunk, gets on Grindr, and complains that there aren't any twinks around here in their constsntly updating profile.
"You're all too fat and hairy!"
All to watch Fat Man and Little Boy.
What's the difference between the green and blue uniform?
What branch of military they're in. Green is army/marine, blue is navy/airforce/space force.
forgot about space force, besides that netflix show, haven't heard anything about it
I wonder what space force do all day.
Yep, our satellite is still up there physics is continuing to work, we'll check again in 10 minutes.
It's not like they have any human assets to order around, everyone in space is either a civilian or not an American citizen anyway. It's not as if Russia is likely to invade the moon or anything
They're the two in the front row, second and third from the left. Diagonal silver buttons.
Thanks! I kinda guessed that but didn't want to assume.
Isn't the marines uniform black? Or is it something for the lower rank only
You're probably thinking of their "dress blues". Its like the military equivalent of a formal suit, they get worn to parades and weddings and stuff. Every branch is a little different, but the dress blues for the Marine Corp is a really dark navy.
Honestly, I’m just happy they didn’t lock them in and burn the building down.
I mean there’s two ways to interpret this and one of them doesn’t make me all that sad
Meanwhile Pete Hegseth: 'We have too much diversity!!!!!' and bans beards
A lot of black men have pseudofolliculitis, which causes bumps, scarring, and rash on their faces from daily shaving. Black men are a big portion of people that request the shaving waivers in the military.
I don't think the meeting goals are what has been discussed.
This might have been : 1) prepare for war with Iran, or 2) gather intelligence on these people to see who might be a problem they need to get rid of before the 4 years mark.
I think there was more to this than just pointlessness. Say, you want to have a meeting with specific leaders, but you know that bringing them in will get out, and folks may be able to figure out what you're up to based on who you bring in for the meeting.
So, you bring every leader in for a pointless meeting publicly, while then having a secret meeting afterwards with the actual leaders you wanted to talk with.
Who they actually wanted to talk to, i don't know, but my guess it was the leaders stationed in the Middle East, based on all the ships we've been sending to the region, as well as Trump's ultimatum to Hamas, and the recently announced plan to turn Gaza over to Tony Blair. I have a strong feeling Trump is sending American troops in to help Israel take over Gaza entirely.
Why hide that though? Who would stop America from invading Gaza? The kind of subterfuge you are suggesting would be more likely before an invasion of say Europe, China, or Russia. Or a coup.
Because, militarily, you never want to give away information you don't need to. If Hamas could find out which generals, admirals, and other leaders they were having come to Washington for meetings, it would tell them what forces to expect, and they could plan a resistance, as ineffectual as it would probably be.
But, it could cause more US casualties, which might cause more unhappiness in America, as Americans don't like it when American soldiers die in pointless wars. Remember, Trump ran as the man who would get the country out of pointless wars, so the more deaths from this pointless war, the more complaints from his political base.
Fair points. Still seems too big brain for his current single chromosome admin, but there's always the heritage foundation to think of.
This is right out of a Sacha Cohen movie..Haffaz Aladeen.. complaining to military the missiles should be pointy.
Brings new meaning to the word "uniform."
Always has been?
That was the original function, to remove individuality from the soldiers.
I bet every single one of them is thinking "This little toe-rag is my boss?"
And because it wasn't an email, they can share their discontent in person with each other without being spied upon.
I bet they all walked away with something better! Their new Russian friends who will always be there! Listening in...
I bet those people shoved in the back corners are even more pissed to be there
if it was trump ordering it, he wouldnt even give them chairs to sit in.
I'm convinced what we saw was just a distraction for the public.
They definitely did the more nefarious shit off camera.
I disagree. An email wouldn't have captured the full scope of Hegseth's immaturity and desperation. Now, all our military leaders have seen it first hand. Well done.
Make note of the ones that are smiling.
Idk; if I had to fly 4000 miles to get yelled at by a drunk retard LARPing as what I do professionally, I'd crack up a little
This was distraction. The main reason for the meeting was to galvanize the troops for world war 3.
Which they will lose in three seconds with him in charge.
F-A, F-O. 😃
dead silence
🥲🤡
Those generals agree with 80% of what was said and will 100% follow whatever orders come down. Just because they grimace at stupid meetings doesn’t mean they are the peoples’ friends.
They're all 4-star general West Point graduates. They do not agree with 80% of the speech, and whether they'll follow orders is not a given. There is a balance of power at play.
No one is "the people's friend" and that's not the point. Some of these guys believe in nothing but power, but a significant number are also constitutional ideologues. And both of those groups among the generals know their power is both at risk and so is the constitution. And this meeting has been largely been disliked according to reporters among all of them.
Pete Hegseth is completely retarded.
We could clip and simplify that headline to "Hegseth's pointless".
hesgeth is also overcompensating that during bidens presidency, when he was still enlisted? that he couldnt get close enough to BIDEN entourage to harm him. also trump had him to distract this from the files, anything to take up news space.
Look at all those beards. Disgusting!
A bunch of fatties
and a lot of baldies
Look at all those guys and their big important medals and their little hats.