Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Ripster42]

For a moment I thought you were talking about Steven King.

Different spellings.

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Can this senator be brought up on witness intimidation charges?

Not with barr as the AG.

[StarDog]

https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status...455593985?s=19

Trump is so inept, such a moron, the top Navy leadership has to threaten to resign if our Idiot in Chief stops interfering.

Oh btw, the Navy is proceeding with disciplinary plans against Gallagher. Basically daring Trump to stop them.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/23/u...gallagher.html

One of the more interesting comments in that thread is comparing King Cheeto to the Nazi war machine during WWII. Aside from the real reason the Nazis lost the 2nd world war (resource management), another widely held assessment is that Hitler opened up too many fronts. Russia, Africa, Western Europe. So on and so forth. They fought too many wars against too many people and it broke them apart.

And so we turn to Donald Trump's 2019. He has made enemies of the following:
-Manufacturers (tariffs)
-Farmers (tariffs again)
-The Foreign Service ("domestic political errands")
-The Public Writ Large (impeachment)

And now he is firmly adding:
-The military (attacks on LTC Vindman & overruling The Navy)

It's a lot of political fronts to be fighting on.

To quote the Bard, "It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it works out for him."

[Redwyrm]

-The military (attacks on LTC Vindman & overruling The Navy)

Unfortunately his fighting with the military top brass (and including the CIA and FBI in this) doesn't translate into the rank and file military and law enforcement turning against hin en masse as you would expect

[Edge-]

https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status...455593985?s=19

Trump is so inept, such a moron, the top Navy leadership has to threaten to resign if our Idiot in Chief stops interfering.

Oh btw, the Navy is proceeding with disciplinary plans against Gallagher. Basically daring Trump to stop them.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/23/u...gallagher.html

Is it bad that I want this to happen? Because I totally do, as it would perfectly separate those that actually support the military vs. those that claim to but would rather side with a draft dodger.

Would be interesting to see if the Republican party backs the military, or Trump.

[Breccia]

Is it bad that I want this to happen?

The Navy is telling the Commander in Cheetos "This action was wrong and it needs to have consequences, and we're going to ensure that it does."

It has already happened. Either Trump backs off, or the Navy follows through. Neither result is redeeming for Trump.

"What if the Navy chickens out?"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Templar 331]

Is it bad that I want this to happen? Because I totally do, as it would perfectly separate those that actually support the military vs. those that claim to but would rather side with a draft dodger.

Would be interesting to see if the Republican party backs the military, or Trump.

The downside to this is how many will step down before the Navy top brass is filled with "yes men?"

[Polyxo]

Is it bad that I want this to happen? Because I totally do, as it would perfectly separate those that actually support the military vs. those that claim to but would rather side with a draft dodger.

Would be interesting to see if the Republican party backs the military, or Trump.

According to them, those are "Obama officers."

[Xyonai]

Is it bad that I want this to happen? Because I totally do, as it would perfectly separate those that actually support the military vs. those that claim to but would rather side with a draft dodger.

Would be interesting to see if the Republican party backs the military, or Trump.

Trump has proven time and time again to be nothing more than a Paper Tiger, and will undoubtedly fold under pressure, because I don't think he pardoned these people for any reason beyond throwing meat to the Deplorables in his Base and having no grasp of the heinous nature of their crimes to begin with, because he's a self-serving sociopath. So it's likely he'll just wash his hands of this in the face of the barest amount of pushback, shrug, and call it a win anyway.

On the other hand, however, he's got a petty and vindictive streak miles long and has proven time and time again how much he seems to disdain anyone who thinks ill of him and how little he actually cares about our institutions, so firing these men isn't out of the question from that point of view. But Trump can't just appoint Admirals, and it's very, very likely The doesn't even know that. He'd need to uproot the Navy's entire command structure in order to find a 'yes man' to fill in that spot and end up looking like a Deranged Despot in the process.

But, again, that's too much work for a pet project Trump probably only half cares about, so the first point still stands.

[Bakis]

This is what you have become

The Navy secretary, Richard V. Spencer, later denied that he had threatened to resign but said disciplinary plans against Chief Gallagher would proceed because he did not consider Mr. Trump’s statement on Twitter to be a formal order.

Holy fck!

[Dontrike]

This is what you have become



Holy fck!

But Twitter is where all the orders happen nowadays. Get with the times!

The man is right though (Spencer, not Trump.)

[DarkTZeratul]

This is what you have become



Holy fck!

This is not the first time the military has used that excuse. If I recall, last time it ended with Trump just sort of forgetting whatever he ordered them to do and moving on to his next bout of idiocy.

[Breccia]

This is not the first time the military has used that excuse.

Well, at least it's better than "Pentagon 'worried Trump was going to declare war on North Korea' during today's tweets about military".

Which is a low bar to set.

[Paranoid Android]

John Kennedy on Russia being responsible for DNC hack: '“Right, but it could also be Ukraine" https://t.co/3SWYacduh8 https://t.co/RFJt3zdRkp

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1...385225216?s=19

Now a US Senator pushing the conspiracy spread by Russia.

[Breccia]

Now a US Senator pushing the conspiracy spread by Russia.

Also, still not an excuse for what Trump did. He had every opportunity to make a public investigation, with the US involved on an official level. Instead, he sent his personal lawyer and make backroom calls then hid the transcripts, which are still hidden.

[Skroe]

The Secretary of the Navy was just fired by the Secretary of Defense for arranging a private non-interference deal with the White House, outside of the rest of the DoD, to let the War Criminal US Navy Seal CPO Edward Gallagher off the hook. The Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs found out about it on Friday during their meeting with Trump, and the Secretary of Defense asked for his resignation today.

Basically (now) former Secretary of the Navy Spencer told White House officials that if they don't interfere with the Navy handling Gallagher's case, he'll make sure that Gallagher retired as a Navy SEAL with his rank. The problem with that is that it is up to the actual Navy to sort that, based on the facts. In other words, Spencer was going to let the process play out, and then decide a White House friendly outcome. He did this without informing anyone, including the Navy, the Joint Chiefs and his direct civilian superior, the Secretary of Defense.

The Secretary of the Navy's public statements were made in opposition to White House interference for the purposes of plausible deniability.

Only the best people. Another corrupt Trump appointee. Shocking. Thank god John McCain isn't alive to see this shit. It would have broken his heart.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...vy-seals-case/

Friendly reminder that Trump and his cult only view service members as props. They want to let Gallagher off the hook because in their eyes no US servicemember can do any wrong, even though there absolutely can, and sorting that out is integral to maintaining discipline in the armed services, which is why the Navy wants to kick Gallagher out of the SEALs in the first place.

After this episode any service-member supporting him, especially any present or past member of the Navy, is a completely irredeemable fucking fool for doing so. Like what more does the illegitimate POTUS have to do to illustrate that he does not respect service members and he just likes how they make him look.

Letting War Criminals off the hook in this manner is quintessentially a Putinesque thing to do and is an excellent example of how Trump corrupts everything he touches. And for those Trumphadis who think "it's no big deal taking pictures next to a dead ISIS member", remember, the Laws of War are in place to protect our people first and foremost. Because some day it may be to be a US Navy SEAL's corpse being sat on by a Chinese soldier who posts a picture of it on Weibo with his Huwaei phone. And then we'll be crying for justice.

[Thekri]

The Secretary of the Navy was just fired by the Secretary of Defense for arranging a private non-interference deal with the White House, outside of the rest of the DoD, to let the War Criminal US Navy Seal CPO Edward Gallagher off the hook. The Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs found out about it on Friday during their meeting with Trump, and the Secretary of Defense asked for his resignation today.

Basically (now) former Secretary of the Navy Spencer told White House officials that if they don't interfere with the Navy handling Gallagher's case, he'll make sure that Gallagher retired as a Navy SEAL with his rank. The problem with that is that it is up to the actual Navy to sort that, based on the facts. In other words, Spencer was going to let the process play out, and then decide a White House friendly outcome. He did this without informing anyone, including the Navy, the Joint Chiefs and his direct civilian superior, the Secretary of Defense.

The Secretary of the Navy's public statements were made in opposition to White House interference for the purposes of plausible deniability.

Only the best people. Another corrupt Trump appointee. Shocking. Thank god John McCain isn't alive to see this shit. It would have broken his heart.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...vy-seals-case/

Friendly reminder that Trump and his cult only view service members as props. They want to let Gallagher off the hook because in their eyes no US servicemember can do any wrong, even though there absolutely can, and sorting that out is integral to maintaining discipline in the armed services, which is why the Navy wants to kick Gallagher out of the SEALs in the first place.

After this episode any service-member supporting him, especially any present or past member of the Navy, is a completely irredeemable fucking fool for doing so. Like what more does the illegitimate POTUS have to do to illustrate that he does not respect service members and he just likes how they make him look.

Letting War Criminals off the hook in this manner is quintessentially a Putinesque thing to do and is an excellent example of how Trump corrupts everything he touches. And for those Trumphadis who think "it's no big deal taking pictures next to a dead ISIS member", remember, the Laws of War are in place to protect our people first and foremost. Because some day it may be to be a US Navy SEAL's corpse being sat on by a Chinese soldier who posts a picture of it on Weibo with his Huwaei phone. And then we'll be crying for justice.

Well that was unexpected. But a good reminder that despite all Trump's attempts to undermine justice, the system still insists on holding people accountable. Spencer needed to be fired, and I am frankly surprised that this weak and corrupt SecDef had the spine to do it.

To be clear, Trump absolutely has the right to pardon Gallagher. He does not have the right to keep Gallagher from getting kicked out of the SEALs. Being pardoned doesn't mean you are innocent, and it doesn't mean the Navy has to have any confidence in your ability to provide honorable service, especially when Gallagher has been an unrepentant dick about the whole thing.

[Belize]

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1...385225216?s=19

Now a US Senator pushing the conspiracy spread by Russia.

Daily reminder that the GOP also had their emails hacked, and are for all intent and purposes to be considered compromised.

[Breccia]

The Secretary of the Navy was just fired by the Secretary of Defense for arranging a private non-interference deal with the White House, outside of the rest of the DoD, to let the War Criminal US Navy Seal CPO Edward Gallagher off the hoo

Came here to post exactly this. So instead, I'll add Trump already gave up as shown in this now outdated 5-hour-old summary:

The Navy has been notified that the White House will not intervene to stop a disciplinary proceeding that could cost a SEAL his position in the elite unit, a senior Navy official said Sunday.

Although President Donald Trump had tweeted on Thursday that he would not let the Navy remove Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher from the SEALs, the Navy was given White House guidance on Friday that it can proceed as planned, the Navy official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.

This would seem to have defused a conflict between the president and Navy leaders, although it remained possible that Trump could still use his authority as commander in chief to intervene in the volatile and politically charged Gallagher case, despite assurances received by the Navy.

Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said Saturday at an international security forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that he did not consider a tweet by Trump an order and would need a formal order to stop the Navy review board, scheduled to begin Dec. 2, that would determine whether Gallagher is allowed to remain in the SEALs.

“I need a formal order to act,” Spencer said. Of Trump’s tweets, “I don’t interpret them as a formal order.”

Trump tweeted Thursday that the Navy “will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin,” inserting himself into the ongoing legal review of the sailor’s ability to hold onto the pin that designates him a SEAL.

[Cizr]

https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status...455593985?s=19

Trump is so inept, such a moron, the top Navy leadership has to threaten to resign if our Idiot in Chief stops interfering.

Oh btw, the Navy is proceeding with disciplinary plans against Gallagher. Basically daring Trump to stop them.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/23/u...gallagher.html

Looks like NYT made that up.

"There seem to be rumors out there that I threatened to resign. I have not threatened to resign,” Richard Spencer told reporters at a security conference in Halifax. The New York Times reported earlier on Saturday that Spencer had threatened to quit if Trump subverted the process.

The trident review hearings for Gallagher and his immediate superiors were ordered by the commander of Naval Special Warfare, Rear Admiral Collin Green, whom the New York Times also reported had threatened to resign. Spencer also said Green has not threatened to quit."

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKBN1XX0NT


"Contrary to popular belief, I am still here. I did not threaten to resign. We are here to talk about external threats and Eddie Gallagher is not one of them."

https://twitter.com/secnav76/status/1198344138934099971

[Breccia]

Looks like NYT made that up.

Um, Trump stopped interfering a few hours ago, and then the dude was fired. What you have is the guy protesting, but he never had time to resign.

"I am still here" is now false, by the way.

EDIT: Also, I don't think you can use "Team Trump member contradicts story" to say "story is therefore false". We have nearly 1,700 pages of Team Trump members saying something is false, that turns out to be true.