Trump Fires His Defense Secretary! Uh-Oh!

[Hotspring 44]

He has a not so much paranoid view as I do. It is rational, but I distrust the Republican 'enablers' extremely. I hope he is correct with his assessment of what the outcome will be.

Note: the audio on the YouTube video is mute until about 2:45. If you watch it here directly here on waccobb, the way it has been embedded, it starts @ 2:45. However, I am not sure if it will start @ 2:45 using the directed to YouTube link.

Trump Fires His Defense Secretary! Uh-Oh!

[socoexpat]

I don’t see this as an issue at all. It was well known they did not get along. By all accounts he composed his resignation letter a couple minths ago. Updated it a few weeks ago.
This is just normal Trump world... the highest turnover of any admin.

[Valley Oak]

Agreed. But the insinuation is a disturbing one, nonetheless. If you were a dictator and your defense minister refused to use the military domestically to crush civilians, the logical action of a tyrant is to remove that minister and replace them with someone who will do exactly what you say, regardless of the Constitution.

[socoexpat]

^^ indeed. But if I’m not mistaken, their dispute goes back to the Syria withdrawl (and likely farther).

I don’t this was specific... just “normal” trump... lashing out at those deemed disloyal...

[Valley Oak]

Trump firing Mark Esper is far more nuanced. Here is a fascinating article by Politico reporting on the chain resignations that followed Esper's firing, which took place immediately afterwards in the DoD, intelligence, and other branches of the US government:

‘Devastating’: Top Pentagon leadership gutted as fears rise over national security
By LARA SELIGMAN and DANIEL LIPPMAN
11/10/2020

The firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper kicked off a rapid-fire series of high-level departures at the Pentagon on Tuesday, setting off alarms on Capitol Hill that the White House was installing loyalists to carry out President Donald Trump’s wishes during an already tense transition.

In quick succession, top officials overseeing policy, intelligence and the defense secretary’s staff all had resigned by the end of the day Tuesday, replaced by political operatives who are fiercely loyal to Trump and have trafficked in “deep state” conspiracy theories.

Fears continue to swirl over what these newly installed leaders will do as Trump fights the results of last week’s election, and after he has shown he is willing to use troops to solve political problems.

This article continues in title link above.

[Valley Oak]

Here are a couple more articles to she more light on the current crisis with Trump refusing to leave office:

Accept that Donald Trump is not a fluke of American politics, & let it set this country free

• Former Vice President Joe Biden won, but President Donald Trump still will not concede.
• Trump is attempting an authoritarian breakthrough in the United States. By claiming that he won reelection, and trying to delegitimize the voting process, he is attempting to disenfranchise Americans so that he can retain power.
• What he's doing is extremely anti-democratic and contrary to our stated values, but Trump is not a fluke of American politics.
• Almost 70 million Americans voted for him. That's what is making this attempt at an authoritarian breakthrough possible.
• If we want to make sure this never happens again, we have to acknowledge the antidemocratic American traits that made an authoritarian like Trump so successful. We have to understand why his message works in this democrtic country.
• It's an ugly exercise of introspection, but if we do this and let go of our mythology of a perfect democracy, we can actually build a stronger democracy.
• This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.

------------------------------

Here is the 2nd article:

Fabiola Santiago: Adiós, Donald Trump. I won't forgive or forget what you did to my Miami

You came to Miami and used our love of homelands lost, our wounds as exiles to manipulate our people into thinking you’d be a messiah for the Americas when you were only thinking about your interests all along. You and only you, first and foremost.

You divided family, neighbors, friends, colleagues.

I’ll never forget that the last time I saw a coworker with whom I shared good times and good work. His look of disgust, then avoidance of me. He didn’t like my columns exposing your racism and anti-immigrant agenda.

He died, and that’s how you left things between us...

This article continues in the title link, above.