DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Trump’s Campaign Promises. The scoreboard.

MAGA TRIPE.

Nobody cares about these trash people because no sane person would appoint such people. PERIOD.

For sure there would’ve been the posters going “omg you guys are being dramatic. Republicans aren’t gonna appoint ppl like this in positions of power. You just have TDS. Nobody is gonna appoint Matt Gaetz to the WH”

I actually had a very substantive discussion with P, because that's what he brings to the discussion: substance.

100%. Like we saw from the same people that "Trump will not be the nominee in 2024."

Welp...

Sadly this is what Murica is now. Trumpians are running the show. The authoritarian world loves to see US collapse into their arms.

It's hard to have a substantive discussion around here. I have pretty much quit trying.

On defense matters you have made the point on many occasions about the waste and abuse. I think Hegseth is a fine pick. Especially if cleaning up the waste is a goal. These defense secretaries all get sucked up by Raytheon and others. Sure, they say they recuse, but they go back on the board when they retire from government

"hey Lloyd, thanks for sending all those weapons to Ukraine." By the way, your bonus checks will be pulled out of escrow.

This 100. I've thrown in the towel. I said it a couple months ago when everything I posted was suddenly met with attacks from all angles -- "this place works best as the liberal echo chamber it has become".

I told you:

COVID came from a lab
Herd would only come when the masses got sick, vaccination wouldn't survive different strains and boosters will never keep up.

I told you:

The border was a disaster the entire time you all said it was closed
Biden would NEVER run for a second term, they wouldn't let him (said that over a year ago). I even told you when and what excuse they would use.
Kamala had no hope and would lose in a LANDSLIDE
People are fed up with the machine and would hold their noses and vote for Trump en masse.

Every discussion was met with ridicule, attack and being called a conspiracy theorist. I think oober? (if it wasn't you, I apologize) even called me Alex Jones.


Me too, for the most part. And I'll restate what pdawg said as that will be the only two times it gets mentioned at DT: Hegseth is a combat veteran with 20+ years of service. He did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, receiving two bronze stars. He has a BA from Princeton and a master's degree from Harvard. He has always gone out of his way to honor our country and our veterans. I've watched him on Fox, he's fed up with the dysfunction in the military, especially that it's more concerned with being woke than being efficient. I'm not in love with the pick, but it fits well with a POTUS that's a leader and not a puppet.

At Dawgtalkers, he's just a reporter from Fox. 🤣


It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. But then again, this is a place that loved Tulsi Gabbard and her courage to be a centrist, but now she's suddenly "stupid".

It's funny to me that people that have pushed some of these ridiculous narratives still bear no responsibility for America, as a whole, co-signing on a complete government rebuild -- in drastic numbers. Still you all continue with the "Russian asset" b.s. And the resident know-it-all is still screaming "Hitttller!!" Do you really not realize that the reason American showed up in droves to vote (R) is because they think you're batsh*t crazy??


Oh, well. Y'all enjoy the holidays. Careful with the "Thanksgiving is celebrating racist genocide" talk -- before you know it you'll help usher in eight years of Vance / Ramaswamy. 🤣

If you want to "do biden' so badly, do him yourself.

It's not surprising you would invoke the name of a movie where the plot is the government sanctions an annual 12-hour period during which all criminal activity -- including murder -- is legal. Par for the trumpian course.

At this point in time if you get your hands on any of it you might wish to consider taking it instead of dropping it. It may help temporarily and it certainly wouldn't hurt anything.

Here are some comments from some Republican senators............

Gaetz, as a man, appears to be widely detested by his former colleagues, given the number willing to publicly lambaste him. The guy “is literally worse than the gum on the bottom of my shoe,” Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, told CNN on Wednesday. Former Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., likewise called the pick “absurd,” saying the selection of Gaetz — along with the nomination of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, for director of national intelligence — suggests Trump is filling his cabinet with “Putinists and pedophiles.”

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she was “shocked” by the nomination, saying it reaffirmed the need for the Senate to hold on to its constitutional duty of providing “advice and consent.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, charged that Gaetz is simply “not a serious candidate.” That’s two votes that area already iffy; Trump can hardly afford to lose two more.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/senators-shocked-matt-gaetz-selection-160836131.html

Here is a quote by republican senator Sen. Markwayne Mullin as to why Republcans didn't defend the allegations against Gaetz at the time of the sexual allegations.....

'This is a guy that the media didn't give the time of day to after he was accused of sleeping with an underage girl. And there was a reason why no one in the conference came and defended him because we had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor … of the girls that he had slept with,' Mullin told CNN earlier this year.

'He'd brag about how he would crush ED (erectile dysfunction) medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night,' Mullin explained. 'This is obviously before he got married. So when that accusation came out, no one defended him.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...gaetz-donald-trump-attorney-general.html

Why would you think that? Trump quoted Hitler over and over on the campaign trail out load. Pay attention, none in the GOP are using code.

She likes to push a lot of Russia-aligned propaganda. She is an isolationist that tends to strongly be against American intervention. I don't, as a rule, disagree with that but I think it makes for an odd DNI pick... especially considering her resume is relatively light compared to those that came before her.

One would hope that's true. The problem is things you would think they should be saying behind closed doors are things they now say out loud. Tubberville has threatened every member of the Republican party in the senate who dares not to vote in line with trump will be ran out of office.......

Senator Tommy Tuberville threatens Republicans who might vote against Gaetz for Trump’s AG

‘If you wanna get in the way, fine. But we’re gonna try to get you out of the Senate,’ the GOP Alabama senator warned

“I don’t know, you’re finding all the swamp creatures coming out right now,” Tuberville said of those sharing their disdain over Gaetz’s prospective role.

“I’ve already seen where a couple says, ‘I’m not voting for him.’”

“Wait a minute. You are not the United States of America. You have one vote in the US Senate. You did not get elected the president. Vote with President Trump."

“This is the last chance we’re gonna have of saving this country. And if you wanna get in the way, fine.”

He then warned: “But we’re gonna try to get you out of the Senate, too if you try to do that.”

https://www.the-independent.com/new...lle-trump-attorney-general-b2646984.html

The warning bell has sounded. Do what trump tells you to do or else.

Trump names RFK Jr. as his choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Isn’t that the guy who had a worm eat part of his brain? He sounds totally qualified. What medical school did he graduate from? Anyone know?

Where Did Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Go to College?

As The New Yorker Editor David Remnick put it in a profile/interview of the aspiring politician: “As a young man, he was kicked out of prep schools, got arrested for marijuana possession, was addicted to heroin, and still managed to graduate from Harvard.”

Harvard and the University of Virginia School of Law

New York Magazine’s Rebecca Traister wrote a profile that revealed Robert Kennedy Jr.’s rocky academic career.

Kennedy entered Harvard as a legacy admit in 1972 and graduated in 1976. During this time, he dealt with a substance use disorder that lasted past his time at the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Law.

He graduated from Harvard with a bachelor’s degree in American history and literature, but one conspiracy theory continues to dog the presidential dark horse to this day.

Biographer Jerry Oppenheimer alleges that Kennedy’s roommate, Peter Kaplan, may have written his high-performing thesis. Kaplan, who was Kennedy’s roommate for all four years at Harvard, went on to a highly distinguished New York journalism career, writing and editing for Time, The New York Times, and The New York Observer.

Kennedy’s Harvard friends told Oppenheimer how Kaplan would help his friend with writing. They said despite being exploited to some degree, he enjoyed being Kennedy’s friend and “the excitement, and the fun and the glitter of the Kennedy family.”

“But Bobby saw Peter as a great asset academically, and whenever he could make use of his terrific mind, he certainly would, like penning all or some of Bobby’s thesis,” a close friend of the duo from Harvard claimed in Oppenheimer’s book. “Peter was to Bobby what Google is to anyone today.”

Kaplan passed away in November 2013 prior to the publishing of Oppenheimer’s unauthorized biography and never publicly addressed the rumors; Kennedy has likewise never commented on the allegations.

Beyond academics, during his time at Harvard, Kennedy took up activism that would continue for his career into his candidacy. On Oct. 24, 1974, he spoke at the Catholic Youth Convention reflecting on the Vietnam War and the economic repercussions.

“We’ve just come out of a war that did no good for anybody. It killed more people than a mind can imagine, over 40,000 of them Americans. Even those that defended it then can find no joy in its memory now,” Kennedy said.

“One-third of the country is at the poverty line or below. Another one-half, more than one-half, is made up of people who are doing the work that makes this the country (that) is called the richest in the world. And yet who could say that, that many are appreciated with an appropriate and just due?”
Little Known of RFK Jr.’s UVA Law School Days

While not much is known about Kennedy’s time at the UVA law school, he continued the strong legacy that his father and his uncle, longtime Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, began there — graduating and then going into public service.

In fact, the law school hosts Robert F. Kennedy ’51 Public Service Fellowships for Juris Doctor (JD) graduates starting public service attorney careers.

RFK Jr. met his first wife at the law school where he graduated with a JD degree in 1981.

https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/where-robert-kennedy-jr-go-college/

So he has no medical degree. And now he is the top expert on health, medicine and human services. At least Gaetz has a law degree as an AG.

I’d like to hear Kennedy’s answer for homelessness.


I wonder if he owned a gun during that time period.

I wouldn't argue that Esper was an awful pick because he was a fox running the hen house, but we also know who was responsible for that pick. Mattis and Austin are/were great picks. What about Hegseth whatsoever makes you think that he is qualified to clean up that mess?

Bringing up Ukraine is a false equivalent. To me, arming Ukraine and fighting against waste is chewing gum and walking in a straight line. They are not mutually exclusive, but both dire needs. I've gone to great lengths at providing substance as to why both are priorities. Even Mike Johnson, who criticized Ukraine aid, walked out of his classified briefing before the last aid package and basically said "Yeah, we really need to arm Ukraine." There are a lot of things about it the general public does know, and there are a lot of things about it the General public is either misinformed on, or disinformed on. They're going to watch Jr. berate the leader whose country was attacked and join in on the idiocy of conducting the same despicable, childish behavior.

I've noticed that last part has been a recurring theme.

I'm using my nice words.

You’re a better man than I.

The more I thought about it, the more this irked me, so I again want to reframe the appointment of Hegseth.

The current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is a four star and heads a team of four stars, will have to be a subordinate to a retired Major reservist, who is currently operating as a host of a morning show.

Nothing about that is inaccurate. The amount of gymnastics people have to do in order to justify their preconceived notions on the topic to me are baffling.

Obviously you don't know that many heads of the Dept of H&HS didn't go to medical school as well. What is your point?

How Many U.S. Secretaries of Defense Have Served in the Military?
By Dr. Eric Ostermeier | April 28, 2011 | 15


Nearly three in 10 defense secretaries never served in the nation’s Armed Forces

With Leon Panetta slated to be the nation’s 23rd Secretary of Defense this summer, the U.S. Army will have yielded its first head of the Defense Department since the mid-1990s.

Panetta served in the Army from 1963 to 1965, exiting with the rank of First Lieutenant.

Of the 21 men who have been appointed Secretary of Defense over the last 64 years, seven have come from the Navy, with seven from the Army, and one from the Air Force. (With Donald Rumsfeld, who served 13th and 21st defense secretary, counted just once for the Navy).

More than one in four defense secretaries, however, never served in the Armed Forces, or six of 21 (29 percent).

Four of these six men without military service were appointed by Republican presidents: Charles Wilson (Eisenhower), Neil McElroy (Eisenhower), James Schlesinger (Nixon), and Dick Cheney (George H.W. Bush).

Harold Brown (appointed by Carter) and William Cohen (Clinton) also never served. (Brown had been a consultant to the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board from 1956-1957, a member of the Board from 1958 to 1961, and Secretary of the Air Force from 1965 to 1969).

Of the seven defense secretaries who have served in the Army, five achieved a higher rank than Panetta’s First Lieutenant: George Marshall (Five-Star General), Robert McNamara (Lieutenant Colonel), Louis Johnson (Captain), Caspar Weinberger (Captain), and Les Aspin (Captain).

Elliot Richardson, who was Secretary of Defense for less than four months in 1973, also was a First Lieutenant in the Army, while Clinton appointee William Perry was an enlisted man in the Army Corps of Engineers just after World War II and went on to reach the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Army Reserves in the 1950s.

The Air Force has been represented by two well-known wartime defense secretaries: Kennedy appointee Robert McNamara (1961-1968) who headed the DoD at the beginning of the Vietnam War (and served in the U.S. Army Air Forces) and current Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Naval alumni are James Forrestral (1947-1949), Robert Lovett (1951-1953), Thomas Gates (1959-1961), Clark Clifford (1968-1969), Melvin Laird (1969-1973), Frank Carlucci (1987-1989), and Donald Rumsfeld (1975-1977, 2001-2006) who also served in the Naval Reserves.

World War II veterans Elliot Richardson and Melvin Laird were Purple Heart recipients while Robert McNamara received the Legion of Merit. George Marshall earned a Distinguished Service Medal as well as a Silver Star.

Follow Smart Politics on Twitter
https://smartpolitics.lib.umn.edu/2011/04/28/how-many-us-secretaries-of-def/

I knew that the Defense Secretary was a civilian position but wasn’t sure how many were not in the service. I remembered Dick Chaney was not so I looked it up. This only goes to 2011.

I would agree that her resume is a little light compared to the person filling this role now. However, she is right in line with many of the DNI’s. It is a relatively new position and only made a cabinet level position since Trump. As to the Russian stuff I think it has more to do with isolationism than anything to do with Russia. I will say she has been a staunch supporter of anti-terrorism policies. I like this pick.

This one resonates with me.
My Best Bro is USAF (ret). Full Colonel.

He chose me for his last 'pinning-on' ceremony. Most pressure I've ever felt in front of a crowd. "Bob- it's just a pin. Aim. Stick it!" [crowd chuckles]

When he joined, it came as a real surprise. Dude was next in line to assume the family professional legacy. Future: secure, and in the bag. Born on 3rd base, compared to me.
I asked him why he made this choice. His answer: "I don't want to ride Dad's coat tails. I want my place. The Military is the most real meritocracy I can think of" (yes... we actually converse like this, over bourbons and a campfire. Always have, always will- until old Age takes that from us).

Meritocracy: earned position, prestige, responsibility, and influence.

__________________

We had institutional guardrails in place during DJT's first residency. Principled professionals dedicated to The Job/career/country. They occupied the highest posts in Admin45. Those people are now gone. Forever. In their place, we will find untried, untested, unqualified people who are wholly unfamiliar with the culture they will be inheriting/presiding. This will be played on the World Stage, for all to see.

What could possibly go wrong for US in this scenario?

What could go wrong besides everything? Nothing that I can think of…

Nobody can make it make sense if it’s senseless to begin with. If he jams his picks through with recess appointments, all we can do is watch the fireworks and hope there is a fire department to call when they blow themselves up.

Some of them have not been in the military, but were still qualified for the position. Ash Carter for instance organically came through the ranks on the civilian side of the defense sector. He was well qualified because he had so much experience in that aspect of it. They need to have good, upper echelon experience. Despite not being active duty, he was well versed in DoD policy and had the respect of the upper brass. He also had to rescue the situation from his predecessor...more on that below...

Chuck Hagel, only spent two years in the military, and he was enlisted as a Sergeant in Vietnam, I believe. No admin experience. Had zero clue how to approach Defense from an overarching leadership level. He was a bumbling moron. Easily the worst SecDef I have experienced in my 14 year career in DoD. A completely boneheaded appointment by Obama, and it showed when he canned him and put Carter into place. Between how he handled sequestration, furloughing the civilians, among other bumbling, moronic decisions. He also had zero respect from the Generals. When someone gets into that position who has no clue what they're doing, it really shows and has a massive ripple effect.

I mean, Hagel was awful, and I get the same - or worse - signs from a guy who currently hosts a morning show on Fox News and has had absolutely zero experience working in military admin at higher levels.

Well said, as usual.

Pulling on the thread of what you're saying - the guardrails in place. One of them was Mattis. Excellent pick. Working within his style of leadership was great. He brought instant credibility.

He also resigned. Because of his boss, and he said so in no uncertain terms.

His replacement was a former Raytheon executive, who we didn't like because he was considered a fox running the hen house. But at least he had that upper echelon experience. Even that "fox" thought his boss was horrible.

Now we have a morning show host.

Race to the bottom...

RFK Jr texts apology to sexual assault accuser - reports

Independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr has apologised to a former family babysitter who accused him of sexual assault, US media report.

Mr Kennedy reportedly texted his apology to Eliza Cooney, shortly after her allegations were published in Vanity Fair magazine.

Ms Cooney accused the former environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist of groping her on several occasions in the late 1990s.

“I have no memory of this incident but I apologize sincerely for anything I ever did that made you feel uncomfortable or anything I did or said that offended you or hurt your feelings,” Mr Kennedy said according to screenshots of the text the woman shared with US media.

“I never intended you any harm. If I hurt you, it was inadvertent. I feel badly for doing so.”

The message was first reported on Friday by the Washington Post and Reuters, which said it had verified the message and linked the phone number it was sent from to Kennedy.

Mr Kennedy told the Post “the text message speaks for itself" declining to comment further. The BBC has contacted Mr Kennedy’s campaign for comment.

Ms Cooney was 23 at the time of the alleged assault and was working as a live-in babysitter to Mr Kennedy’s children and at the same time helping him with his legal work.

She told the Post that she found the message from Mr Kennedy “disingenuous and arrogant”.

“I’m not sure how somebody has a true apology for something that they don’t admit to recalling. I did not get a sense of remorse,” she said.

The Vanity Fair story included a number of allegations about the candidate, including that he ate dog meat during a trip abroad, had several extramarital affairs and vigorously defended a cousin, Michael Skakel, who was convicted of murdering a 15-year-old girl in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Mr Kennedy, the nephew of President John F Kennedy and son of Robert F Kennedy, called the story a "lot of garbage".

He denied eating dog meat and shortly after the story came out he told a podcast: "I am not a church boy."

“I had a very, very rambunctious youth,” he said. “I said in my announcement speech that I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they could all vote, I could run for king of the world.”

He did not directly address the sexual assault allegations.

The BBC has contacted Ms Cooney for comment.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1rw8d0p2j7o

The birds of a feather theory proves to be relevant once more.

And now of course there's the effort to hide the ethics report. Why else did anyone think Gaetz resigned from congress immediately?

Speaker Johnson says he’s going to request Ethics Committee not release Gaetz report

House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Friday that he does not think the House Ethics Committee report on allegations related to Matt Gaetz should be released and is “going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report.”

The former Florida congressman, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for attorney general, resigned his seat in the House when Trump announced that he was going to nominate him to serve in the role. Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

“I do not. No, I think it’s a terrible breach of protocol,” Johnson said when asked by reporters if he thinks the report should come out.

The speaker said he planned to talk to House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest about the situation.

“I will talk to him and anybody else. I’m going to try to reach him. I’ve been a bit busy,” he said, noting he got back from Mar-a-Lago late last night.

Asked if he would respect the panel’s decision if the Ethics Committee chose to share the report with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Johnson replied, “I’m going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report.”

“That is not the way we do things in the House, and I think that would be a terrible precedent,” he said.

Pressed about whether the public had the right to more information about the allegations now that Trump has picked Gaetz to serve as his attorney general, Johnson responded, “the rules of the House have always been that a former member is beyond the jurisdiction of the ethics committee, and so I don’t think that’s relevant.”

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/15/politics/johnson-ethics-report-gaetz/index.html

I think just about anything of this nature that are non-classified should be released. I don't care what party that person belongs to.

It’s the Pedo Admin.

They don’t care about anything but pwning the libs.

It seems Elon's job has been expanded to foreign affairs with Iran in the Middle East. The vast wealth of experience he has in such matters makes me hopeful.

Elon Musk meeting with Iranian ambassador alarms national security experts

Former Trump Iran envoy Elliott Abrams: ‘This meeting seems dangerous, because it does not seem that Mr. Musk was briefed on previous U.S.-Iran exchanges’

https://jewishinsider.com/2024/11/e...ssador-alarms-national-security-experts/

It seems the Iranian's considered the meeting "positive".

How the hell do Elon and Trump get to conduct diplomacy as private citizens? Pretty sure that’s illegal.

Illegal? Since when did something being illegal matter? Rumor has it that trump isn't sure what the word illegal even means but he does have a concept of it.