Sunday, February 23, 2025
Red Alert: Trump/Hegseth Launch Friday Night Purge of Top Military and JAG Officials at the Pentagon
Photo from Memory Alpha
Through sheer incompetence and MAGA zealotry, this country is headed toward dark and dangerous times.
Fresh off the heals of firing (and then rehiring) the people responsible for overseeing the nation's nuclear weapon stockpile, the Musk/Trump/Vance/Hegseth Administration conducted a Friday night purge of the country's leading military leaders and JAG officials.
Four-Star Airforce General Charles Q. Brown Jr., the person Donald Trump made chief of staff to that branch before Biden made him Joint Chiefs Chairperson, has been fired at the request of the Defense Secretary by a tie-breaking vote Pete Hegseth.
Brown's sin? Before and while Chairperson, he advocated recruitment policies that promoted increased diversity in the military ranks.
That was a major no-no for the former Fox host, a multiple adulterer who likes to drink lots and lots on the job. To him and everyone else in this Administration from Musk down, diversity, equity, and inclusion are dirty words.
In interviews last winter, Hegseth called for Brown's removal, saying he wanted people totally committed to "warfighting."
Scary.
Hegseth does know it is now called the Department of Defense, not the War Department. Also, what wars does he see coming down the horizon? Care to give us a clue.
Along with Brown, five other people at the Pentagon were fired including "Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead the Navy; Gen. James Slife, the vice chief of the Air Force; and the top lawyers for the Army, Navy, and Air Force."
Soon after being sworn in last month, Trump fired Admiral Linda Fagan, the commandant of the Coast Guard.
So in this purge of the country's leading military officials, two women admirals and one black man were let go. See a pattern here.
The lawyers removed seem to fulfill Hegseth's wish to put people in positions that, according to reporting from the New York Times, would not place "needless legal restrictions on soldiers in battle — putting “his or her own priorities in front of the warfighters, their promotions, their medals, in front of having the backs of those making the tough calls on the front lines.”
In other words, war crimes like those committed at Abu Ghraib may be coming back in style if Hegseth gets the people he wants at J.A.G.-People loyal to him and Trump in the chain of command.
To replace Brown, Trump is, since Michael Flynn would probably, even with MAGA Republican sycophancy at an all-time high in the Senate, not get confirmed, nominating a retired three-star General named Dan "Razin" Caine, a military figure who according to Trump, wore a MAGA hat at one of their encounters and reportedly said "I love you, sir. I think you’re great, sir. I’ll kill for you, sir."
Caine, in the New York Times report, says he never wore the hat.
To be considered for the Joint Chiefs Chairmanship, Caine, since he is retired, will need to be called back to active duty and possibly require a Congressional Waver.
Reacting to the purge at the Pentagon, Ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee Jack Reed said:
“Firing uniformed leaders as a type of political loyalty test, or for reasons relating to diversity and gender that have nothing to do with performance, erodes the trust and professionalism that our service members require to achieve their missions."
Arizona Senator, Navy Captain, and Astronaut Mark Kelly posted:
Former Obama Chief of Staff, Chicago Mayor, and Biden Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, called the firings, with China doing military exercises close to the Australian coast, "reckless," "unsteadiness," and "projecting a level of weakness...and chaos."
Senator Elizabeth Warren posted:
Former National Security Staffer Alexander Vindman shared this post from Representative Jason Crow.
This purge at the Pentagon, along with the other acts of idiocy, design, and MAGA White Nationalist catering in this Administration is making the country less secure, vulnerable, and susceptible to both economic distress, potential foreign attack by bad actors through military or covert means, and domestic terrorism by groups that know they have a kindred spirit and friend in the Oval Office.
Can we say RED ALERT?
Trump Administration Moves to Mothball Division Entrusted with Cybersecurity of American Elections
Wonder why they would want to do this?
On February 10, The Musk/Trump/Vance Administration put the 17 staffers at the National Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) entrusted with ensuring election security on leave.
On February 14, with virtually no notice, they fired another 130 members of the division on its weekend purge of Homeland Security staffers including 200 people with FEMA.
Feel safe and secure people.
According to reporting from the Associated Press, the first 17 staffers "have worked with election officials to provide assessments and trainings dealing with a range of threats — from cyber and ransomware attacks to the physical security of election workers...All were former state or local election officials who were brought in to build relationships across all 50 states and the nation’s more than 8,000 local election jurisdictions. They spent the past year meeting with election officials, attending conferences and trainings, and ensuring officials were aware of the agency’s various cybersecurity and physical security services."
The division has received bipartisan acclaim from Secretary of States offices headed by leaders of both political parties.
Aaron Thacker, the Communications Director for the office of the Arizona Secretary of State commented on the move to put 17 people on leave, stating:
"CISA has been an important part of keeping our elections safe and secure. What the Federal Government calls the agency doesn’t matter to us. What matters is that the services they provide continue to help ensure our democracy is safe, fair, and secure as it has been for quite a long time."
According to an anonymous source from Politico, the purging of the 130 people at CISA has created a talent hole at the agency, stating:
"They are just haphazardly cutting the people we need to respond to Russian and Chinese hacks, and they don’t even know it. No one asked us what these people even do.”
At best, this is another example of the gross incompetence displayed time and again during the first Trump Administration.
At medium, it is Trump taking retribution against an agency that would not follow his company line about willingly spreading misinformation about the 2020 elections and COVID.
At worst, it is willing aid and comfort to America's adversaries.
Either way, it is bad for the nation's security and the American People's well-being.
Sunday, February 16, 2025
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