And what about the rank-and-file, who would be court-martialed for a similar transgression? I just donтАЩt believe that professional soldiers donтАЩt care. They do.
I always wonder about how тАЬI will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domesticтАЭ gets parsed to give so many people and actions a pass. Or is it just words?
They are probably thinking what the rest of us are, that this is the inevitable outcome of hiring grossly underexperienced and obviously incompetent people into key positions via the crony system rather than based on merit, and realizing that Plan B is "hope that nothing goes wrong."
This is especially true of the brass that Trump already cashiered. Unfortunately, those involved (with the exception of Jeffrey Goldberg) are incapable of this degree of self-reflection.
Not even close. At the very least, it would have to be a gaffe that resulted in major US casualties. Even then, the regime would launch a blitz of excuses, denial, and scapegoating, aided by sanewashing by the corporate media.
This. I've watched as complete incompetents storm forward and gain the highest levels of business by scapegoating and simply refusing to acknowledge that they make mistakes. The resistance to the truth is seen as strength, whereas admitting a mistake is viewed as weakness.
Well, David, there's nothing wrong with hope. That would be a great thing if it turned out to be true. It would make you and me both quite happy, I'm sure.
But the evidence continues to build that this means absolutely nothing at all to the people whose responsibility it would be to do something about it. I think the absolute worst that will happen is that Waltz gets the boot. Maybe. But the rest of the clown show will still be driving their clown car.
So, I hope you won't be too disappointed when that tipping thing doesn't happen.
To lower prices on eggs and other groceries on Day 1
To solve the "immigration problem" on Day 1
To be a dictator on Day 1.
Well, he got the fourth one right, which means he's batting .250.
That ain't bad for minor league player who was born on third base.
However, since the fourth one is the most serious of all, and that's the one he is actually succeeding at, there's very little hope (and I always try not to use "very") that we're about to see a tipping point in the GOP and the Trump Propaganda Machine.
The image of this administration that I would love to see a cartoon drawn about now, is of a clown car with all the recognizable figures from the text chain in clown costumes (with JD Vance and Pete Hegseth most prominent) piled on to the roof of a careening car that at least suggests it just might tip over.
I just read Charlie Sykes's column from March 19, "Idiots with Flamethrowers" in which he makes the important observation that clowns, really, are not the best characters to represent the vile, very unfunny activities of the Trump administration.
To summarize his point, we need clowns to make us happy and laugh, especially in times like these where one's natural tendency is to scream and weep and pull the covers over oneself in bed and hope that the latest "Breaking News" banner is really just a nightmare -- a frightening dream that we can wake up from when the daylight streams through our windows.
Sadly, no, the headlines and copy are not nightmares, they are the world that we must live in, and from now on, I'm going to refrain from calling the Trump weasels "clowns" (if any ferret lovers are out there, I'm sorry to offend your pet weasel), unless it's clear that I'm referring to the class of clowns one finds in a Stephen King novel.
Actually, I want my clowns to be the ones like Red Skelton painted, or like Emmet Kelly, ones with soul as well as the ability to make me laugh. If I think about them, they are indeed the opposite of the horror movie monsters that look like clowns.
I just learned (via the inestimable rabbit hole otherwise known as Wikipedia) that there is in fact an Emmet Kelly Museum in Sedan, Kansas, which includes among significant Emmet Kelly memorabilia, "the world's largest collection of commemorative Jim Beam bottles."
At 1500 bottles, I am inclined to wager that it is even larger than the one that is currently in the arsenal of our erstwhile (?) inebriated Secretary of Defense.
It's hard not to be offended, be one man or beast, if one is used as a metaphor for Donald Trump or any of his associates. I wrote a remark comparing all the Trump officials involved in this Signal chat debacle to kindergarteners trying to do college level work, then apologized for being unfair to the kindergarteners.
I wonder how the top brass in the military is thinking about this domestic threat to the Constitution?
And what about the rank-and-file, who would be court-martialed for a similar transgression? I just donтАЩt believe that professional soldiers donтАЩt care. They do.
I always wonder about how тАЬI will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domesticтАЭ gets parsed to give so many people and actions a pass. Or is it just words?
How to parse it? Easy, but it sounds better in French. L'etat c'est moi.
Exactamente!
They are probably thinking what the rest of us are, that this is the inevitable outcome of hiring grossly underexperienced and obviously incompetent people into key positions via the crony system rather than based on merit, and realizing that Plan B is "hope that nothing goes wrong."
This is especially true of the brass that Trump already cashiered. Unfortunately, those involved (with the exception of Jeffrey Goldberg) are incapable of this degree of self-reflection.
My hope is that this event is a tipping point back to sanity.
Not even close. At the very least, it would have to be a gaffe that resulted in major US casualties. Even then, the regime would launch a blitz of excuses, denial, and scapegoating, aided by sanewashing by the corporate media.
This. I've watched as complete incompetents storm forward and gain the highest levels of business by scapegoating and simply refusing to acknowledge that they make mistakes. The resistance to the truth is seen as strength, whereas admitting a mistake is viewed as weakness.
Well, David, there's nothing wrong with hope. That would be a great thing if it turned out to be true. It would make you and me both quite happy, I'm sure.
But the evidence continues to build that this means absolutely nothing at all to the people whose responsibility it would be to do something about it. I think the absolute worst that will happen is that Waltz gets the boot. Maybe. But the rest of the clown show will still be driving their clown car.
So, I hope you won't be too disappointed when that tipping thing doesn't happen.
Trump promised:
To end the Russian war against Ukraine on Day 1
To lower prices on eggs and other groceries on Day 1
To solve the "immigration problem" on Day 1
To be a dictator on Day 1.
Well, he got the fourth one right, which means he's batting .250.
That ain't bad for minor league player who was born on third base.
However, since the fourth one is the most serious of all, and that's the one he is actually succeeding at, there's very little hope (and I always try not to use "very") that we're about to see a tipping point in the GOP and the Trump Propaganda Machine.
The image of this administration that I would love to see a cartoon drawn about now, is of a clown car with all the recognizable figures from the text chain in clown costumes (with JD Vance and Pete Hegseth most prominent) piled on to the roof of a careening car that at least suggests it just might tip over.
That's more or less the image I had of all these guys *before* this whole chat thing came up. :-)
I just read Charlie Sykes's column from March 19, "Idiots with Flamethrowers" in which he makes the important observation that clowns, really, are not the best characters to represent the vile, very unfunny activities of the Trump administration.
To summarize his point, we need clowns to make us happy and laugh, especially in times like these where one's natural tendency is to scream and weep and pull the covers over oneself in bed and hope that the latest "Breaking News" banner is really just a nightmare -- a frightening dream that we can wake up from when the daylight streams through our windows.
Sadly, no, the headlines and copy are not nightmares, they are the world that we must live in, and from now on, I'm going to refrain from calling the Trump weasels "clowns" (if any ferret lovers are out there, I'm sorry to offend your pet weasel), unless it's clear that I'm referring to the class of clowns one finds in a Stephen King novel.
Actually, I want my clowns to be the ones like Red Skelton painted, or like Emmet Kelly, ones with soul as well as the ability to make me laugh. If I think about them, they are indeed the opposite of the horror movie monsters that look like clowns.
I just learned (via the inestimable rabbit hole otherwise known as Wikipedia) that there is in fact an Emmet Kelly Museum in Sedan, Kansas, which includes among significant Emmet Kelly memorabilia, "the world's largest collection of commemorative Jim Beam bottles."
At 1500 bottles, I am inclined to wager that it is even larger than the one that is currently in the arsenal of our erstwhile (?) inebriated Secretary of Defense.
RE: offending pet weasels
It's hard not to be offended, be one man or beast, if one is used as a metaphor for Donald Trump or any of his associates. I wrote a remark comparing all the Trump officials involved in this Signal chat debacle to kindergarteners trying to do college level work, then apologized for being unfair to the kindergarteners.
Nice work above, though.
Sorry to disappoint. How many times have we thought this? IтАЩd have bet the farm that J6 was the end.
I wonder how many of our allies are reevaluating what they can and canтАЩt share with our intelligence community.
They have to reevaluate since we have shown them that they canтАЩt trust us. Trump is trashing the NATO alliance.How sad!
I think they've already made that decision, Michael. All yesterday's news confirmed was the justification for that decision.
Exactly!!! I'm sure they've already fed them misinformation to see where it leaked.
True, youтАЩre probably right.