I find this unnerving. I would really prefer it if the military stayed out of any political process. Even just posting a memo like this in response to the attack on the Capitol building can be construed as a political action. It should have been a simple command down the chain that no military personnel should participate in insurrection and that prosecution would result if they did. A public announcement like this could be seen as an attack on the Trump base and start a downward spiral drawing the military more into the political process. But that is my view.
That's what this is. It is an internal memo sent from the Joint chiefs of staff to all service members. The public sees it because of course that's what happens. It's a reaffirmation of the military's support towards the constitution and political due process. Most people who would view this as a political attack happen to be getting arrested for sedition right now.It should have been a simple command down the chain that no military personnel should participate in insurrection and that prosecution would result if they did
A public announcement like this could be seen as an attack on the Trump base and start a downward spiral drawing the military more into the political process.
Look, you just were 'like here's my heart on my sleeve", and then endured what may initially come off as a harsh rebuke from a few hubski peoples. We mean the best :). You typically responded with some variety of "Thanks, and I'll reflect on all of it." That was awesome. I'm also in the biz of Trumpist redemptionings, but I... need some time. So much in flux right now, and we're not technically out of the woods yet. Someone in my field scheduled a mini-conference on the 20th and all the Americans are like "how" :(.
I am not trying to be a Trump apologist by any means. There is a lot to worry about with his supporters, regardless of what he does now. The GOP establishment has jumped the shark and should be abolished. When I initially read the memo, I started getting visions of the military getting involved in determining the winner of elections and spoke hastily. necroptosis corrected me and I do appreciate that. As for kleinbl00 's response, I am not ready to burn it all down as a response. He is right to be angry about things like Michael Flynn; I am too. He is right to point out the hatred Trump's supports have been spewing and the horrible actions some of them have taken. Our government should seek out everyone that engaged in treason/insurrection, and those that attack private citizens or public officials to the same ends. Violence should not be used in the political process. He is right to point out the hypocrisy and double-standards of the police and the systemic racism in our country. The government needs to root out those that oppress others based on race/creed/color/gender/etc. We the people need to vote into office politicians that will pursue these corrections. I believe the only way to make that happen is to get the majority of voters to vote that way. And how do we do that? Where I disagree with kleinbl00 is here. It sounds as though he is ready to condemn all conservatives. It sounds like he has determined that there is no redeeming them and that they should be disenfranchised and treated with complete contempt. I believe that if we treat them as any enemy, we will just reinforce their view that we are their enemy and that we should be fought with violence. In the end, we both want to fix our nation, and for racism and bigotry to be eliminated. We differ on the how.
If you backed Trump, at any point, you are not a conservative. if you backed Trump, at any point, you are not a humanitarian. If you backed Trump, at any point, you're likely going through some things. You earned 'em. You earned every last bit of rebuke you're getting. Every last bit of scorn. Every last bit of shame, every last bit of doubt, every last bit of chagrin. No one - NO ONE - with any experience with the man has been surprised by his unfitness to lead. No one who has met Trump or worked with Trump has been astonished by his self-serving narcissism. No one who has met or worked with any part of the Trump organization has been surprised by their vindictive nature, their opportunism, their hypocrisy or their pure, banal evil. This has been known and publicized back to Bob Dylan. There was a steady stream of conservatives who drew the line in the sand the minute Trump became the nominee. There has been a steady leak of Republicans who have abandoned the party over Trump's excesses. They have been called RINOs and worse. They have experienced derision and career suicide. Right now? People who have seen the light at this late date are experiencing death threats for not setting course for the center of the sun. Right now? Right now you can save money on a MyPillow with the discount code 'QANON'. So it comes down to this: did you disavow shit before fascists beat the head of a cop in with a flagpole? Or after? No you know what it doesn't come down to that it comes down to whether you have any culpability in backing a man who has been telegraphing his disregard for the rule of law since 1989. If that makes you uncomfortable it means you're growing. They'll fight us with violence anyway. They always have. They need no excuse. As half of Twitter has quipped, the NRA went bankrupt before even going a full year without a school shooting. There comes a time when you need to acknowledge that some Americans are enemies of the people. Enemies can be reformed. They have to want it. And if they face no consequences they never will.
It is best to see this as evidence that the "Trump base" is now a target for attack. After all, we now have a "sedition task force" because of the "Trump base." It's been more than four years since Michael Flynn, former assistant director of ODNI, former director of intelligence JSOC, former director of the DIA, former National Security Advisor and confessed and convicted perjurer and foreign agent led a mob in a chant to imprison a political foe OVER A MUTHERFUCKING EMAIL SERVER: There are 20,000 National Guard troops at the capital right now. CBS is doing stand-ups with military vehicles and barricades in the background. Congressmen are getting shabnameh stapled to their doors by other congressmen. It's time to clean house on the "Trump base" and the fact that you still believe that any of this can be walked back to civility says an awful lot about the problems of leniency and forgiveness in the face of fascism, totalitarianism, populism and prejudice.
I am not a law enforcement professional. I never will be. But if I were, you would have a hard time convincing me that "publicity" takes precedent over "operational security" at this time. I also think that mainstream journalism, for obvious and prudent reasons, is focusing on "we can report that" over "we speculate that". There's plenty to report and most any speculation will be at least a little wrong within hours or days. Especially when there's still a few million traitorous vipers threatening staunch Republican flaks with death for showing the slightest inkling of integrity.
One of the things that people keep pointing out, rightly so, is how the Trump base are dehumanizing the left/libs which leads to violence. With that in mind, I prefer to remember that the Trump supporters are people with their own issues and needs. Why are they willing to turn off their brains and blindly follow an authoritarian wanna be, what is driving their anger and resentment towards everyone else? Their needs are not being met by our government and the people that supposedly represent them. Until we address those issues, they will continue to lash out against anyone that naysays them. Employment and Education need to be brought up to snuff in the rural parts of our county. We need to move religion out of the sphere of control and get rational thought back into play. The insurrectionists, and those that incite and enable them, need to be brought to justice. They should feel the full weight of their actions. I am NOT proposing leniency. We need to take appropriate action against fascism, totalitarianism, and prejudice. I don't believe that vilifying anyone that disagrees with me is going to be productive in the long term. It might make me feel better in the short term, it may even make it easier to act against them. In the long term, understanding why they are supporting Trump gives us an opportunity to address their needs and remove the catalyst for their support of him and others like him. Voters should vote based on political actions and their results, not political rhetoric, especially when the rhetoric devolves into populism like the conservatives have. The politicians and media that used racist and dehumanizing rhetoric to stir up the populace to take illegal and inappropriate actions should be culled from the political stage and put in jail. Those that latched on to the narrative and took those actions should be brought to justice. I do however worry about the military taking a stance on any political event. They may be on my side this time, but next time they may not be. And using military force to push a political agenda will not end well for our democracy. I appreciate necroptosis clarification; I jumped too far down the rabbit hole with my internal thoughts and they spilled out into my post. Any who, I don't often share my thoughts because I have difficulty articulating them. I appreciate you helping me to put them into words.
A line at a time: BECAUSE IT'S WHAT THEY WANT Yes. We are addressing this through legal measures. It's been entirely too long in coming. I want you to imagine a bunch of Antifa using bear spray on people from moving vehicles. I want you to imagine a bunch of BLM using bear spray on people from moving vehicles. I want you to imagine a black Kyle Rittenhouse. Their needs include the violent overthrow of the rule of law at the very pinnacle of government. And look. I know - I can TASTE the No True Scotsman you're forming as I write this. The Good Germans you're about to cite. Listen to me closely: we're past that shit. The time has come to acknowledge that treason, armed insurrection and terrorism are not American values. The judge of a person's character is not "are they nice to some people." No, we need to arrest and prosecute treasonous terrorists to the fullest extent of the law. Here's an organic food co-op in Venice being raided by SWAT. Know who hasn't gotten raided by SWAT? ANY NEONAZI OR PRO-TRUMP ORGANIZATION. Explain how whatabouting and excusing behavior that led to armed terrorists storming the capitol is not "inciting and enabling." Like punishing treasonous terrorists and not excusing their behavior because "their needs aren't being met." Know who hasn't stormed the capitol? These guys: On the other hand, On the other hand, I believe that any movement that makes people feel comfortable enough to try to beat a cop to death with a flagpole needs to be forcefully and swiftly condemned so that my elected officials can safely perform the tasks of government. Drink it in: I get what you're saying? I mean, I fuckin' read What's the Matter with Kansas in like 2005? I've taken your side of the argument for a good fifteen fucking years now? But no one ever says "you know, maybe we shouldn't encourage these whiny fucks in every single goddamn thing they do just because they're white." There's been a real trend since THE RECONSTRUCTION to presume that if a white person has a grievance, everyone needs to stop down and soothe his fee-fees despite the fact that the American ethos is to raise each other up and become greater through cooperation. And yeah: it's harder working at a Walmart than it is working at Goldman Sachs but I'm here to tell ya that if you got on a flight in Plague Year 2021 to protest a "stolen election" then your list of grievances DOES NOT IMPRESS ME. Pandora would like to show you her box Know why there's a fence around the capitol? Because of the First Battle of Bull Run. Know why Posse Comitatus passed? Because Southern racists were sick of Northern troops showing up and interfering with their lynchings. Do you have any intentions of storming the capitol? No? Then you should not fear the extraordinary measures put in place in response to terrorists storming the capitol. Nobody has declared martial law, nobody has had their constitutional rights abridged, fuckin' Jacob Chansley is bitching about organic food and Sandra Bland is five years dead because a Texas cop decided to stop'n'frisk her car. There were migra storm troopers IN MY CITY. Throwing protesters in unmarked vans. While a president said "when the looting starts the shooting starts." And you're here wringing your hands that the terrorists who actually tried to overthrow the government might actually experience a minuscule fraction of the prejudice leftists and minorities have experienced since John Fucking Brown or before. I appreciate you articulating your thoughts. I apologize for being harsh. But the time for sympathy is over. I've got an eight year old in the other room who I would like to grow up in a country free of rebellion. And I would like to remind you that people worried about how Hitler's followers would react so they let him out of jail early. We cannot compassion our way out of this one.One of the things that people keep pointing out, rightly so, is how the Trump base are dehumanizing the left/libs which leads to violence.
With that in mind, I prefer to remember that the Trump supporters are people with their own issues and needs.
Why are they willing to turn off their brains and blindly follow an authoritarian wanna be, what is driving their anger and resentment towards everyone else?
Until we address those issues, they will continue to lash out against anyone that naysays them.
Their needs are not being met by our government and the people that supposedly represent them.
We need to move religion out of the sphere of control and get rational thought back into play.
The insurrectionists, and those that incite and enable them, need to be brought to justice.
We need to take appropriate action against fascism, totalitarianism, and prejudice.
I don't believe that vilifying anyone that disagrees with me is going to be productive in the long term.
In the long term, understanding why they are supporting Trump gives us an opportunity to address their needs and remove the catalyst for their support of him and others like him.
Voters should vote based on political actions and their results, not political rhetoric, especially when the rhetoric devolves into populism like the conservatives have.
I do however worry about the military taking a stance on any political event.
They may be on my side this time, but next time they may not be.