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This is probably among the scariest things happening right now:
The Wall Street Journal: “The Trump transition team is considering a draft executive order that establishes a “warrior board” of retired senior military personnel with the power to review three- and four-star officers and to recommend removals of any deemed unfit for leadership.
If Donald Trump approves the order, it could fast-track the removal of generals and admirals found to be “lacking in requisite leadership qualities,” according to a draft of the order reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. But it could also create a chilling effect on top military officers, given the president-elect’s past vow to fire “woke generals,” referring to officers seen as promoting diversity in the ranks at the expense of military readiness.”
https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/trump-draft-executive-order-would-create-board-to-purge-generals-7ebaa606
There is still very little talk about it, probably because he threw a whole pile of handgranades this week.
https://youtu.be/rF5xvO2uqJo?si=6UXUBxH64cRjGnfe
Lol, the title of the video is confident but the video itself is anything but
When people in all seriousness put their faith in military personnel refusing orders… then we’re in a precarious situation.
“This is why Donald Trump is trying to purge the military of good honorable generals”
This is part of what has had me worried the last few days
https://social.vivaldi.net/@Patricia/113482206215664623
I have to believe that the state governments are not going to go along with this, that they’re not this nuts. But are we really at the stage where we are tabletop gaming out a civil war?
https://social.vivaldi.net/@Patricia/113482122372369427
This isn’t about “woke” anything. This is the draft of a plan to take over the last power structure he does not yet fully control. The same force he has repeatedly said he wants to use against the American civilian population.
“Former generals who have worked for Trump say that the sole military virtue he prizes is obedience. As his presidency drew to a close, and in the years since, he has become more and more interested in the advantages of dictatorship, and the absolute control over the military that he believes it would deliver. “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had,” Trump said in a private conversation in the White House, according to two people who heard him say this. “People who were totally loyal to him, that follow orders.””
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/10/trump-military-generals-hitler/680327/
“Gen Mark Milley, the top US military leader, resisted Donald Trump’s demands that his forces “crack skulls” and “beat the fuck out” of protesters marching against police brutality and structural racism, according to a much-trailed new book. “Just shoot them,” the president reportedly said.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/25/donald-trump-general-mark-milley-crack-skulls
This video had a nice graphic, not done watching it yet.
https://youtu.be/eGhj2XRhWwI?si=0XPAHgPBPI08YjrA
Found the video because it was referenced from this short by msnbc
https://youtube.com/shorts/q0uaZzlZbVc?si=rrgq2XHN8WnI_fLa
And there you have it. Trump confirms that he will deploy the US military inside the US.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/18/trump-administration-transition/
So I guess the Democrats are just going to hand over the country to a despot because that’s what you do when you play by the rules? Good luck with that. Good luck with history recording you as the Good Guys that handed over the nation to a fascist dictator.
He should’ve been in jail years ago, and here you are.
You want to be scared? Watch Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa talk about how fast institutions were dismantled in the Philippines, after pointing out that they had modeled their constitution and democracy on America.
https://youtu.be/RtSTBoPloqI?si=fEzzaN1sAouWLSWw
As wild as it sounds, I’m starting to root for variation on Costa Rica’s “Civil War” : arrest Trump and call a new election.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rican_Civil_War
The US running all over the world saying they’re fighting for their country, but will just hand it over to a dictator because he managed to game their system.
@Patricia Nobody could have seen that coming! [end depressing sarcasm]
Vote Midterms @Patricia Trump allowed more immigrants to enter the US during his term than any other four-year term. As the DoJ documented, he the biggest liar in American history.
@Patricia I root for the much less deadly, and somewhat more probable:
Trump's suggestions for top positions have gone too far, even for craven GOP senators, slowing down Trump the way pure incompetence did in his first term.
The US federal system doesn't completely collapse from the infighting and outright assault by the president.
After a blue wave in 2026, due to lack of enthusiasm from GOP voters, Trump and Vance are both impeached.
@btuftin there is zero evidence that they will stop him. Literally zero. They could’ve raised their hand at one point and he’d be in jail.
@Patricia Evidence 1. They held actual hearings on Trump nominees in his first term and 87 were rejected or withdrew. 2. Trump's favored Senate leader, who promised to let him skip hearings, was defeated.
I'm not saying it's a foregone conclusion, but it's at least plausible. Any sort of revolution is not. From what Wiki tells me the Costa Rica revolution was a private army defeating an already unpopular and weak army to topple a long ruling government. What's your version of that for the US?
@btuftin Biden is still president. He is literally Commander in Chief right now. Whose army? The US army. I feel like I’m being punked.
@Patricia @btuftin if they don't have a legal path to do this, i don't see how biden could do it without being accused of seeking dictatorship himself.
And the most compelling part of the democratic ticket was adherence to and respect for law & democracy. Those of us who voted democrat did so largely because we wanted to preserve democracy (and all the protections that come with it, at least in principle). If the democratic president doesn't uphold democracy now, what's the value of our word?
@Patricia Who do you think would run in the next presidential election? And do you genuinely think one candidate wouldn't be a rabid, Trumpian, populist liar who'd win in a landslide?
Large portions of the US electorate are deluded and delusional, and most US money is on the side of the liars. Trump and his cheerleaders lie constantly, and his first term was a shit show, and yet he won a second term. Violently overthrowing him is a recipe for those lies to become "truer"!
@btuftin there aren’t many trumps, that’s why the Republicans put up with him in the first place
@Patricia Ron DeSantis, Greg Abbott, Matt Gaetz puppeteered by Elon Musk. Perhaps e.g. DeSantis would be marginally saner had he been elected in 2020, though his policies in Florida are right up there, but post a US mini-revolution the GOP gets worse.
And people wouldn't _vote_ for Harris to stop Trump, where are they getting the motivation for a revolution from?
@btuftin @Patricia though, i don't know if there is a legal mechanism for impeaching a president before he's sworn in, which is what you would need.
even sending him to jail by itself might not change the outcome: i don't think there's a law that says the president cannot perform the duties of the office from prison...?
@Patricia Unfortunately, there's no armed force outside the current US government capable of organizing something like this. And the history of coups *by* the military in Latin America is... extensive and not encouraging.
@rst Biden is president, he can literally have Trump arrested today.
@rst Shit, according to the US Supreme Court he could have him killed and still be immune
@Patricia The partisan judges on the Supreme Court gave the Presidency that power because *this* President would never use it -- Democrats see themselves as stewards of process, to a degree that makes them its slaves. (e.g., dithering four full years after January 6th without bringing Trump to trial.)
They also anticipated the next President.
If Biden was going to do anything like that, he would have done it before the election, with ample reason.
So, it'd have to be someone else. But who?
@rst what? He is still president. I really don’t understand any of this. “He cheated at UNO, so now I need to give him my house”? I feel like I’m in a bad movie.
@Patricia No, you're watching one. Us in the States, we're in it.
(The logic seems to go something like "The problem is he'd be breaking the rules. But if I break the rules, I'm just as bad as he is. So I won't do that." Pure self-indulgence, masquerading as virtue -- but it's the entire Democratic leadership, not just Biden.)
@rst yeah, if I arrest a man who should’ve been in jail already that’s pretty much the same as enabling a man who is going to steal our whole country and most likely perform a genocide. Basically the same.
@Patricia The top comment is probably worth repeating here, as it might come in handy for others than just journalists:
Maria Ressa’s points:
1. Autocracy is about power and money, not about ideology
2. Beware of bottom up attacks on journalists through social media (journalist = criminal)
3. Beware of top down attacks through legal cases, tax audits, vindictive government agencies
4. Do not normalize autocratic behavior
5. Hold on to democratic values
6. Be transparent
7. Stay committed
/1
@Patricia 8. Not about taking sides, but on the side of facts
9. Hold the line: defend the Constitution
10. In some ways a corrupt government is easier to deal with, as everything is transactional
11. Build community, engage with the real world
12. Crowd funding to address challenges
13. We are factionalized through social media (it connects as well as corrupts us and separates us), has led to people electing illiberal leaders democratically
14. Collaborate
/2
@Patricia 15. Reach across the ideological spectrum to like-minded people who also care about democratic values
16. Embrace your fears
17. Imagine worst case scenarios and workflow them (through drills)
/3
@Patricia Weimar republic moment
@Patricia I'm sorry, but this to me is kinda indicative of a more general problem in which people blame specifically the Democratic party (not the best guys and gals, by any means) for stuff that everyone is responsible for. If "Democrats are going to hand over the country to a despot" then it follows that the rest of the people are also going to do this. Either people stand together against the despot, or it's somewhat a matter of blaming somebody else.
@Patricia "The Dems/Harris ran a terrible campaign!" Look people, if 10 million of you decided that ehh, not worth it anymore in this election, it's not just the fault of Kamala Harris's campaign management. You knew what was up. You knew what was on the other side. If you sat this one out because "what has Biden done for me?!" then ... I'm really sorry, but it's on y'all.
@adriano oh I’m not talking about the election, that’s done. Biden is still president. He has wide immunity. He is the commander in chief. He doesn’t have to go quietly.
@adriano there comes a time when you actually have to fight for your country.
@adriano and there are so many moral issues with that, but if the alternative is turning over power to a fascist dictator? Then there isn’t really a question to me.
@adriano Trump is being very clear, at least to me.
@adriano that’s what this whole thread is about
@Patricia Trump is, and has been crystal clear about everything. And people said they're fine with that. He won the popular vote.
@adriano that’s not how democracy works. You don’t vote out democracy in an election.
@Patricia I'm not trying to be flippant or whatever. I'm really really angry. But the time for Biden to do stuff like this was when he had some actual or perceived power. People actually, really did vote out democracy in the election. They were told this was going to happen, by Posobiec, by Trump, by everyone. And some people voted directly for Trump, 10 million people who had voted for Biden in 2020 stayed home this time. I hope Biden does something, but.
@adriano that’s not how this works, and people never thought it was, they wanted cheaper eggs and thought the dems were exaggerating. Biden still commands the US military, he is still president.
@Patricia I'm sorry I misunderstood you. If there is really some semblance of accusation of high treason that can be made, I hope they take the opportunity.
@Patricia The nation has said they're fine with that. They gave Trump and the Republican party full control of the government. Biden would be actually rebelling against the popular will.
@adriano the people didn’t sign away democracy. There are 330 million people there, 70 voted for him, and most of them didn’t vote for this.
@Patricia the people fucked around and now everyone will find out if the Republicans will allow Trump to throw away democracy. Many believe they won't, many believe Trump will not, some even hope he will because they delude themselves that they will benefit from it. Only time will tell how many bad things will happen.
@mrt181 so just hand over the country to the fascist dictator? Ok
@Patricia I didn't say that, I do not have any solution to this mess. But should Biden kill or jail Trump, the Americans will see him as the dictator that ignores the will of the majority of voters - the non voters didn't seem to care about who becomes president anyway
@mrt181 this is my suggestion, give the man the trial he would’ve had if the supreme court hadn’t been corrupt
https://social.vivaldi.net/@Patricia/113505635600990575
@Patricia Biden should have increased the number of scotus justices and appoint the new ones but he just didn't give a fuck and now it's to late. If they start rounding up people and realise that bullets are cheaper than deportations you can only hope that someone takes matters into their own hands and fixes the situation