Breaking - from Woodward's new book PERIL just lil bits

[malaise]

Milley backs up Speaker Pelosi.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/08/pelosi-prevent-trump-from-launching-nuclear-strike.html

No matter what Trump tells you (Milley told the chain of command) contact me.

After Jan 6, Trump signed an order to get the troops out of Afghanistan by Jan 15. He told no one. Milley told O'Brien who convinced Trump not to withdraw the troops.

Trump and Pence - I don't want to be your friend if you don't do this (overthrow Biden)
Holy Shit!!

[underpants]

1. unstable. Milley us to ease tensions with the Chinese military

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215854030

[lagomorph777]

2. With friends like Trump, who needs enemas?

Why would Pence care about a threat like that?

[malaise]

3. Slobby still behaves like a five year old

Can't help himself. Pence should have exposed him ages ago - he's actually worst than the Slobfather - a freaking mouse not a man.

[LymphocyteLover]

20. seriously-- I'm so tired of the people who worked with him who knew he was a huge danger

and just fucking covered it up. Traitors in their own right. (Not referring to the military people, as they had a tricky act to balance, but fuckos like Pence)

[malaise]

23. Remember that when we get right down to it,

he's just another talk radio over-zealous evangelical asshole

[Hortensis]

25. Yes, but most of them had serious personality and character issues themselves

or tRump wouldn't have allowed them around him -- and critically, they would not have joined him. So I never expected them to act responsibly and normally, any more than I'd expect a collection of purse-snatchers and addicts gathered off the streets to grow into the responsibilities of running a preschool.

I see Pence just as a much higher functioning version than most of the wrong stuff. Almost certainly he joined tRump because he and his allies like the Kochs believed he could both succeed to the presidency and further his goals as VP, which he did! His alternative prospects weren't looking good, but for an honorable man this would not have been a choice. Look at how he tried to find a way to stop the certification of the vote.

So to me this WH is fascinating for its extreme aberration and dysfunction (in America!), but not disappointing because tRump's collection of moral lowlifes failed to live up great responsibilities some were probably incapable of even comprehending, much less valuing.

Woodward doesn't write social psychology studies, but I'd like to read one of those too. But even more, it's about time for me to search out the studies of the electorate that created them.

[MLAA]

4. Hilarious!

[SleeplessinSoCal]

11. As fun as it is to see them as children...

He truly is a mob boss. Still.

[MLAA]

27. Indeed.

But it sure struck me as funny when lagomorph used enemas instead of enemies…because they (Impotus and his cult/enablers) are all full of shit.

[dewsgirl]

5. I have to admit, Milley scared me before. I had the Pelosi pointing at Trump wallpaper on Twitter

I don't think I ever saw Millie even speak before Trump was out of office, but he was sitting right next to Trump when Pelosi said, all roads to Russia lead to you. I don't even think I remember him ever smiling before that, let alone speaking.

[Hortensis]

6. WaPo: "Top general was so fearful Trump might spark war that he made secret calls

to his Chinese counterpart, new book says."

These were just before election day, when tRump was expected to lose, and January 8 -- about the same time Pelosi was speaking with the Joint Chiefs about preventing tRump from ordering a nuclear attack.

I have Peril on pre-order; it'll download to ebooks on Sept 21.

The first call was prompted by Milley’s review of intelligence suggesting the Chinese believed the United States was preparing to attack. ... deepened by Trump’s belligerent rhetoric toward China. ... In the book’s telling, Milley went so far as to pledge he would alert his counterpart in the event of a U.S. attack, ....

In the second call, placed to address Chinese fears about the events of Jan. 6, Li wasn’t as easily assuaged, ... Li remained rattled, and Milley, who did not relay the conversation to Trump, according to the book, understood why. The chairman, 62 at the time and chosen by Trump in 2018, believed the president had suffered a mental decline after the election, the authors write, a view he communicated to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a phone call on Jan. 8. He agreed with her evaluation that Trump was unstable, according to a call transcript obtained by the authors.

Believing that China could lash out if it felt at risk from an unpredictable and vengeful American president, Milley took action. ... Milley also summoned senior officers to review the procedures for launching nuclear weapons, saying the president alone could give the order — but, crucially, that he, Milley, also had to be involved. Looking each in the eye, Milley asked the officers to affirm that they had understood, the authors write, in what he considered an “oath.” ...

CIA Director Gina Haspel, for instance, reportedly told Milley, “We are on the way to a right-wing coup.” ... In discussions about Iran’s nuclear program, Trump declined to rule out striking the country, at times even displaying curiosity about the prospect, according to the book. Haspel was so alarmed after a meeting in November that she called Milley to say, “This is a highly dangerous situation. We are going to lash out for his ego?” ...

The general saw parallels between Jan. 6 and the 1905 Russian Revolution, which set off unrest throughout the Russian Empire and, though it failed, helped create the conditions for the October Revolution of 1917,... Vladimir Lenin, who led the revolution, called 1905 a “dress rehearsal.” A similar logic could apply with Jan. 6, Milley thought as he wrestled with the meaning of that day, telling senior staff: “What you might have seen was a precursor to something far worse down the road.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/09/14/peril-woodward-costa-trump-milley-china/

[SleeplessinSoCal]

12. Gen Milley has earned another star.

"A similar logic could apply with Jan. 6, Milley thought as he wrestled with the meaning of that day, telling senior staff: “What you might have seen was a precursor to something far worse down the road.”

He is saying what Democtrats only tell each other. That's owing to bifurcation of our news sources.

[Hortensis]

24. Yes. I hope he goes into what he was thinking more in the book.

[Ninga]

7. This book. To what end? Who does it benefit? Who in power cares? The result of my frustration

is the exhaustion I’ve endured as a Democrat constantly on the defensive for the past many years.
The GOP are in power even though they are the so called minority. They manage to be on offense all the time. We have to rely on the 2022 elections before we can be on the offense. Not certain even if we had the majority in the Senate, would we ever flash muscle or assertiveness.

[malaise]

8. Well it sure exposes Pence as a mealy mouth tool

Last edited Tue Sep 14, 2021, 03:44 PM - Edit history (1)

check out the Dan Quayle part.
I don't get your pessimism.

[Ninga]

9. Will check the Quail part out. I'm disheartened because I spend more time than I have

fighting for politicians to honor their oaths. Attended once again a Fair Districts hearing in Ohio as 70 people testified against our gerrymandered district maps, and reminded the committee that 75% of Ohio voted in 2015 for Fair Districts to be drawn. Then, today more work writing and calling in support of voting rights.

[KS Toronado]

10. The voting rights bill kills gerrymandering...

Need to get this passed before midterms.

[malaise]

14. Well you're still fighting

Keep it up

[Skittles]

28. how weird is it that Dan Fucking QUAYLE was the voice of reason?

that's some fucked up shit right there

[malaise]

29. Can you believe it sis?

These scumbags have no interest in democracy - Quayle is the hero here - as we say here 'look wah we come to'!

[jaxexpat]

15. I feel ya.

How different WW2 would have been if Hitler had only waited for Goering's tell-all book, 'Der Tattler'

[wnylib]

16. Don't assume a defensive posture

or mindset. And don't wait until 2022 to go on the offense.

Go on the offense now, before the elections. One thing that I think people miss about Biden is that his programs and policies, plus his calm, rational demeanor and expressions of compassion ARE actions on the offense. They are changing perceptions of government, of leadership, of priorities and values.

We can do the same. Don't just address disinformation, although that is important. Take a strong, unapologetic position on OUR values,
and priorities. Go on the offense in criticizing the opposition for lacking our values.

[Ninga]

17. Thanks for the pep talk.

[wnylib]

19. Easier said than done, but I think it's

important for us to keep our perspective and not let the trash discourage us.

[marble falls]

18. Holy shit is right. Whoa Nellies.

[spanone]

21. Lock the MF'er Up NOW.

[malaise]

30. It is time for the Slobfather to be locked up

He is beyond crazy

[Kid Berwyn]

22. Traitors need to be arrested, ASAFP.

Let’s save time and start with the treacherous leader.



We can get the lower ranks through his phone records.

[malaise]

37. +1,000

Lock him up

[totodeinhere]

26. This is absolutely amazing. It's just like something out of a movie, but it's not a movie.

This really happened. To think that the man who had his finger on the nuclear trigger for four years was a raving lunatic is almost beyond comprehension. And who knows. If he had tried it maybe General Miley would have been able to stop it, but maybe not. We'll never know.

And to top it off, that same lunatic is the leading contender for the Republican nomination in 2024. As as it stands now, there is nothing stopping him from running again.

[malaise]

32. He will never run again

Take that to the bank. It will soon be all down hill for this monster

[totodeinhere]

33. Is that just your opinion or do you know something that I do not?

You state it as if it's a known fact that he will not run again but from what I read several people who know him think he will run again.

People who talk to Trump say he’s running again

Longtime Trump adviser Jason Miller told Cheddar News last Thursday that the chance Trump runs again was “somewhere between 99, 100%.”

“I think he’s definitely running in 2024,” Miller said.

Miller is a sleazebag racist, but he knows Trump pretty well.

https://www.deseret.com/2021/9/8/22661125/will-trump-run-in-2024-heres-what-we-know-republican-party-jim-jordan-iowa-caucus-save-america

[malaise]

34. Those people also said he would win a second term

or would have been reinstated by now.

[totodeinhere]

38. Partisans usually predict that their candidate is going to win.

I saw Larry Elder predicting yesterday that Newsom would be recalled and he, Larry Elder would be the next governor.

But predicting whether someone will run for president or not is a different matter. I am not sure if he will run or not, but I learned a long time ago, when it comes to politics always hedge your bets.

[sarcasmo]

35. Dan Quayle helped save Democracy.

[malaise]

36. Can you believe it