A Deeply Fractured US

[HavokFour]

Lots in the Hegseth/Trump speech to the generals and admirals today, but the U.S. of U.S. military in domestic law enforcement talk very much jumped out at me and seems suitable for this thread. Selected portions of BBC’s reporting:

Trump says US cities should be military training grounds

The US president warned military leaders of a "war from within", and signals they will be tasked with intervening.

www.bbc.com

Trump appears determined to continue pushing boundaries regarding what the federally controlled military can and cannot do… I’d love to know what kinds of quiet conversations are happening among senior military leadership regarding legal lines in the sand.

There's going to be quiet a few off the record meetings over the next 24 hours between generals and admirals that wouldn't have happened otherwise with them all being there, bar tenders are going to be hearing an earful of smack talk for sure.

 

[McG]

Was anyone speaking when that picture was taken? Nobody seems to be paying attention to a common location forward, and the guy making a goofy face circled in the centre is clearly focused on a conversation with the person beside him.

 

[Czech_pivo]

There's going to be quiet a few off the record meetings over the next 24 hours between generals and admirals that wouldn't have happened otherwise with them all being there, bar tenders are going to be hearing an earful of smack talk for sure.

Gotta wonder if they put them all up at the same hotel in DC……

 

[The Bread Guy]

No, this is NOT from The Onion - check the domain name on this announcement about The Big Chat ....

https://www.war.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4318394/hegseth-announces-series-of-war-department-reforms-in-sweeping-speech-to-top-mi/

https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4318734/secretary-of-war-announced-memorandums/

Associated memos from the "meeting that could have been (and is also) a memo" (all in one PDF) attached for your reading pleasure - enjoy!

 

[brihard]

Career fires alright, career stops.

 

[Remius]

Career fires alright, career stops.

Oh he’s effed to be sure. I mean, he could just be reading his emails but it won’t matter….

 

[mariomike]

There's going to be quiet a few off the record meetings over the next 24 hours between generals and admirals that wouldn't have happened otherwise with them all being there, bar tenders are going to be hearing an earful of smack talk for sure.

Wonder how popular this will be,

"No more beards, long hair, superficial, individual expression. We’re going to cut our hair, shave, shave our beards and adhere to standards.”

 

[FSTO]

Wonder how popular this will be,

What about Crusader tattoos?

 

[rmc_wannabe]

Wonder how popular this will be,

I am certain the response will be "you first"

 

[Retired AF Guy]

So the Secretary of War has just released 11 memorandums that cover details that he discussed earlier today during his big powwow with the US military generals/admirals earlier today. They can found here:

https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4318734/secretary-of-war-announced-memorandums/

 

[mariomike]

I am certain the response will be "you first"

See how they like it,

SUBJECT: Grooming Standards for Facial Hair Implementation

 

[Infanteer]

To understand Hegseth's approach to the SecDef (er...SecWar) job, you need to know the auspices under which the clearly political part-time soldier left the service.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/15/pete-hegseth-flagged-insider-threat-00189991

Hegseth Insider Threat Email Redacted

www.documentcloud.org

You can see this incident, rightly or wrongly, within all of his announcements and actions.

 

[FSTO]

Does the entire White House staff not know that prior to the creation of the Department of Defense that there was two separate departments; the War Department that ran the US Army and the Department of the Navy that ran the Navy and USMC. The hiving off of the USAAF from the Army, and the joint nature of modern war necessitated the creation of DoD.

They are idiotic morons of the highest order.

 

[Jarnhamar]

To understand Hegseth's approach to the SecDef (er...SecWar) job, you need to know the auspices under which the clearly political part-time soldier left the service.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/15/pete-hegseth-flagged-insider-threat-00189991

Hegseth Insider Threat Email Redacted

www.documentcloud.org

You can see this incident, rightly or wrongly, within all of his announcements and actions.

He's got some sick infantry corporal tattoos going on.

 

[lenaitch]

So the Secretary of War has just released 11 memorandums that cover details that he discussed earlier today during his big powwow with the US military generals/admirals earlier today. They can found here:

https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4318734/secretary-of-war-announced-memorandums/

I'm surprised there was no directive ordering the Navy to stop building ugly ships.

Trump Whines That Current Battleships Are Too Ugly

Donald Trump ranted about how the military should bring back old-school battleships that don’t “melt.”

newrepublic.com

 

[FSTO]

I'm wondering if the SecDef's staff had cameras set up to scan the faces of the assemblage to see who's facial expression conveyed their true feelings. Facial recognition software would have a field day.

Kudos to the folks for staying stoic to 2 hours.

 

[Remius]

I'm wondering if the SecDef's staff had cameras set up to scan the faces of the assemblage to see who's facial expression conveyed their true feelings. Facial recognition software would have a field day.

Kudos to the folks for staying stoic to 2 hours.

No real applause or cheering either.

 

[Genetk44]

I saw about 2-4 minutes of Hegseths speech and about 8-10 minutes of Trumps speech. Hegseth just came across as a reactionary who wants to turn the clock back to the 1950s. Trump was just purely rambling, nonsensical stream of consciousness, embarrassing, especially considering who he was talking to. In a way it was far worse than his speech to the UN a few days ago.

 

[Quirky]

Hegseth just came across as a reactionary who wants to turn the clock back to the 1950s.

You mean focus on combat effectiveness and fitness? Choose the best PERSON for job without lowering the standards for DEI reasons? Yeah, horrible, horrible.

 

[Remius]

You mean focus on combat effectiveness and fitness? Choose the best PERSON for job without lowering the standards for DEI reasons? Yeah, horrible, horrible.

If that whole debacle was limited to just that you would have a point.