What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Tonitrus]

So the Hegseth meet up was just some weirdo MAGA pep talk? Pulling senior leadership out of commands all over the world so they can hear a former National Guard junior officer lecture them about fitness standards and being a WARRING WARRIOR for WAR?

You expected dumb things not continue? 

I did think the whole "it's going to be Hitlerian loyalty oaths!" thing was dipping a bit too much into the conspiracy-mindedness (not that we shouldn't expect the worst case scenario out of these folks) that we accuse the right of.  But I understand that predicting/assessing the actions of the administration seems to bounce randomly between the outrageous and the stupid (or both).

We can react appropriately to outrages...but I am not sure we should project them.

[Syt]

Anyone who moans (or is reported to moan) about the stunt will be dismissed from command. So mission accomplished, I guess?

[crazy canuck]

Who amongst us.

 

[Jacob]

That looks healthy for democratic rule. Isn't Hegseth busy demanding oaths of loyalty now?

No...railing against fatties and Nordic pagans.

Rallying against Nordic pagans?

I guess viking enthusiasts undermine the Christian nationalist deus vult vibe Hegseth prefers?

[Tonitrus]

That looks healthy for democratic rule. Isn't Hegseth busy demanding oaths of loyalty now?

No...railing against fatties and Nordic pagans.

Rallying against Nordic pagans?

I guess viking enthusiasts undermine the Christian nationalist deus vult vibe Hegseth prefers?

It is kind of a joke (meaning I am sure some are real about it) in military circles that white dudes who want to grow beards become "Nordic pagans" in order get a religious exemption. 

The circles I worked in might have been the most left-leaning/atheist in the military you'll find, so I've known a fair few.

[crazy canuck]

From the speeches today

The president delivered a rambling address that including familiar talking points and critiques, and also Mr. Trump's revelation that he had told Mr. Hegseth to use American cities where he has deployed troops as "training grounds" for the military.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Also from today:

"I think we should maybe start thinking about battleships by the way," he said at one point, pausing a riff about tariffs to bring up a 1950s documentary series about naval warfare. "I used to watch 'Victory at Sea.' I love 'Victory at Sea.'"

[Syt]

 

[Valmy]

Good thing he didn't see The Horse Soldiers or he would be bringing back the cavalry.

[Syt]

https://apnews.com/article/trump-hegseth-generals-meeting-military-pentagon-0ecdcbb8877e24329cfa0fc1e851ebd2

[...]

Hegseth said he is loosening disciplinary rules and weakening hazing protections, putting a heavy focus on removing many of the guardrails the military had put in place after numerous scandals and investigations

He said he was ordering a review of "the department's definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second guessing."

The defense secretary called for "changes to the retention of adverse information on personnel records that will allow leaders with forgivable, earnest, or minor infractions to not be encumbered by those infractions in perpetuity."

"People make honest mistakes, and our mistakes should not define an entire career," Hegseth said. "Otherwise, we only try not to make mistakes."

Bullying and toxic leadership has been the suspected and confirmed cause behind numerous military suicides over the past several years, including the very dramatic suicide of Brandon Caserta, a young sailor who was bullied into killing himself in 2018.

A Navy investigation found that Caserta's supervisor's "noted belligerence, vulgarity and brash leadership was likely a significant contributing factor in (the sailor)'s decision to end his own life."

[...]

[Zanza]

Also from today:

"I think we should maybe start thinking about battleships by the way," he said at one point, pausing a riff about tariffs to bring up a 1950s documentary series about naval warfare. "I used to watch 'Victory at Sea.' I love 'Victory at Sea.'"

How will big gun battleships fare against Chinese drone swarms, hypersonic missiles, lasers or railguns? 

[Valmy]

https://apnews.com/article/trump-hegseth-generals-meeting-military-pentagon-0ecdcbb8877e24329cfa0fc1e851ebd2

Did you order the Code Red?

You're goddamn right I did!

Awesome.

[Syt]

Ka-ching!

https://apnews.com/article/trump-youtube-google-settlement-january-6-01275f67afed84402fcff0118ce698a5

YouTube to pay $24.5 million to settle lawsuit over Trump's account suspension after Jan. 6 attack

Google's YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit President Donald Trump brought after the video site suspended his account following the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks on the Capitol following the election that resulted in him leaving the White House for four years.

The settlement of the more than four-year-old case earmarks $22 million for Trump to contribute to the Trust for the National Mall and a construction of a White House ballroom, according to court documents filed Monday. The remaining $2.5 million will be paid to other parties involved in the case, including the writer Naomi Wolf and the American Conservative Union.

Alphabet, the parent of Google, is the third major technology company to settle a volley of lawsuits that Trump brought for what he alleged had unfairly muzzled him after his first term as president ended in January 2021. He filed similar cases Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Twitter before it was bought by billionaire Elon Musk in 2022 and rebranded as X.

Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle Trumps' lawsuit over his 2021 suspension from Facebook and X agreed to settle the lawsuit that Trump brought against Twitter for $10 million. When the lawsuits against Meta. Twitter and YouTube were filed, legal experts predicted Trump had little chance of prevailing.

After buying Twitter for $44.5 billion, Musk later became major contributor to Trump's successful 2024 campaign that resulted in his re-election and then spent several months leading a cost-cutting effort that purged thousands of workers from the federal government payroll before the two had a bitter falling out. Both Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg were among the tech leaders who lined up behind Trump during his second inauguration in January in a show of solidarity that was widely interpreted as a sign of the industry's intention to work more closely with the president than during his first administration.

ABC News, meanwhile, agreed to pay $15 million in December toward Trump's presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos' inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. And in July, Paramount decided to pay Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit regarding editing at CBS' storied "60 Minutes" news program.

The settlement does not constitute an admission of liability, the filing says. Google confirmed the settlement but declined to comment beyond it.

Google declined to comment on the reasons for the settlement., but Trump's YouTube account has been restored since 2023. The settlement is will barely dent Alphabet, which has a market value of nearly $3 trillion — an increase of about $600 billion, or 25%, since Trump's return to the White House.

The disclosure of the settlement came a week before a scheduled Oct. 6 court hearing to discuss the case with U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers in Oakland, California.

"a volley of lawsuits that Trump brought for what he alleged had unfairly muzzled him after his first term as president ended in January 2021" - so unfairly muzzled he became president again! Damn you, cancel culture.

[Valmy]

Yeah this is Trump's classic move. He has been suing everybody constantly since the 1980s. But now it is even more lucrative.

[Syt]