This is an amazing opinion - wow! Thank you so much for summarizing and quoting from it so masterfully and (another wow!) so quickly. I so appreciate your insights, writing, and energy.
After the very public performance by the Secretary of Defense, self-styled "of War", insulting the senior Generals and Admirals summoned to Virginia for that purpose, after his insult to the intelligence of those assembled and that of all citizens of the United States, came the Presidential address, accorded the silent respect due to the President of the United States.
Citizens will, together with the whole world, now be able to appreciate the severe deterioration of that high official's mind. Even the most gutless Congressmen will be not only able but obliged to act with due responsibility as witnesses to the fact that they are obeying orders from a man who is, alas, no longer compos mentis.
Unfortunately, the poor so-and-sos are to be pitied. They've gotten themselves trapped in a place where anything they do or don't do will go against them.
Actually, I don't pity them. I despise them for their lack of courage, spine, and morals, as well as their inability to understand that doing the job they were elected to do is more important than a toddler bully They've clearly never learned the lesson on how to deal with bullies.
I agree, but I fear the damage they are capable of causing because of the unwillingness of so many of them to admit they are in a corner. Their influence is scary. Our hope is to reach out to those who might be capable of insight, and work with them as colleagues to bring our country back to the people.
All that was missing from the "Quagmire at Quantico" was the "Führereid" or "Hitler Oath" and Leni Riefenstahl filming the proceedings. Perhaps the only good things to come out of the fiasco is that the assembled brass and senior NCOs saw just how bat shit crazy their Commander-in Chief and his SecDef puppet are first hand.
What they saw was a waddling, Adderal-addicted, THC-using, incoherent, incontinent, demented old creep slurring his words, gripping a lectern for support, simultaneously threatening and hoping to impress them — so contemptuous of their time and professionalism he arrived 26 minutes late to his own presentation, giving ample space for some preening sock puppet flunky to make a complete jackass out of himself first.
To call these 900 commanding officers unimpressed with two snarling dipwads phonier than proverbial $3 bills forcing them to sit in stony silence while watching a tired Las Vegas lounge performance doesn’t begin to capture it.
And ICTT, let's not forget that the warm-up act -- a Foxhead who was disrespectful to the assembled military leaders by calling them out for their physical appearance is someone who had to promise that he would quit drinking so that he could become Secretary of Defense. And, to be clear, he was/is in no way qualified for that appointment, even sober.
Appalling and embarrassing. Peter Hegsmegma has the exact same level of authority to speak to the lifelong military commanders of America’s military as the brain-rot and worm eaten heroin addict loser RFKJ has to address this country’s lifelong medical doctors and research community. These idiots are the butt end of a joke that just isn’t goddamn funny. And it’s affecting real lives and real communities. Our military personnel aren’t a f..king joke. And neither are our frontline medical folks. Nor our teachers, nor our press… those who are still legitimate contributors of the fourth estate.
I’m so god damn tired of the narcissists, the invalids, and the nincompoops trying to pressure the responsible adults who have been caring for this country to “get inline” while they destroy everything that actually made us great.
Amen to that! Bat shit crazy DJT and Bat shit stupid crazy Hogbreath. The idea of doing away with the "Rules of Engagement" is most dangerous! Doing so would or could allow a single military person, unhinged or not, to commit an act that could start a war! Thankfully we have Generals, Admirals, and senior NCOs who follow lawful orders and KNOW when to disobey an unlawful order from anyone! I am concerned about the rules of engagement being followed in the sinking of the so called drug boats. I support the military not the Trump administration! Correction: Intentional unlawful Trump misadministration!
I think the word was being applied to the judge because of some of the words he used. Nobody would ever think to apply such a word to Trump, who does not even read, much less think.
Louise, I love the word put anywhere in a room where Trump is. Just thinking of it is hilarious! I don't believe there is an erudite molecule in his body.
but he loses the MAGAts with a word like that, and 'indelible' before it. 'lasting shame' would have been just as meaningful and maybe accessible to some who need to know just what the judge meant.
Dismissing people you think won't know what the words mean doesn't make points, John. We can lose the word MAGAts, too, because we have begun to understand that they are not necessarily uneducated or lack erudition. The worst Magas wear suits and ties and meet in private clubs. And the people you think you are referring to are not necessarily poorly educated or lack insight. Many have already begun the process of looking beyond their circumstances, and are perfectly receptive to the message that Judge Young is giving all of us. Including a few pompous blue hats, I hope.
one loses more than MAGAts, and I concede that not all MAGAts- or whatever one calls them - MAGA supporters? Trumpies? - are illiterate (however hard that is to believe.)
I am a firm believer in using well understood words for just about any expository writing, and 'indelible obloquy' are not such words. The number of people here who have not known 'obloquy' is notable - and the other day, smart people on Substack said that 'vituperation' was new to them.
So when the judge was at a point of summing up with a dramatic expression of the results of Trump's actions, he should in my view have used a more accessible (but just as pointed) expression.
Please don't characterize all Americans as ignorant of our language. Neither my wife nor I had any trouble with the judge's language, nor would ANY of our various friends, including a good friend born in France.
I live in California but I called Senator Tammy Duckworth's office. I am incensed by what hegseth said about women in that speech. How dare he make comments like that when this country has a female warrior that was cut to pieces when she served the country. Hegseth should be made to make those comments directly to the Senator's face. I asked the young woman working in the office to please let her know how angry I am about what the SecDef said about women in the military. It's wrong & shameful but it's on point for this crew. I'm disgusted & ashamed about what happened at that meeting. It figures Cadet Bonespurs would have the nerve to make the kinds of comments he made.
Daniel, thanks for sharing the names of these worior women. Hegseth's racism and misogyny were evident yesterday in the chunks of his speech I heard. I was embarrassed for the generals and admirals having to listen to such ignorance and from someone who hardly served and another who skipped out of serving. Shameful!
This was inspiring to read. Judge William G. Young seems to be a man with a sense of duty and responsibility and a deep understanding of this moment in American history, which means a lot when so many powerful people and institutions in our country are weak and collapsing and folding. Thanks for highlighting all of this.
Glad that the judge said this and it needs to be continually repeated. Trump has violated his oath so many times it's unbelievable. And his Republican enablers are right there with him violating their oaths also. "Such conduct, of course, violates his sacred oath to ‘faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and . . . to the best of [his] Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,’ U.S. Const. art. II, § 1, cl. 8, by ignoring the Constitution’s command that the President ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"
It would only take a handful of GOP Reps and Senators to bring this to a halt. Are their jobs (which they are not even doing) so important to them that they can watch the country be destroyed?
That's a very good question. I think there are many that are power hungry and will do whatever it takes to stay in power. Including betraying their oath of office. I don't know how they sleep at night. And then I think there are some that are truly frightened of him and know if they defy him or try to do the right thing he will shred them online and their career will be over.
not just online. Republican Congress members who appear likely to show independent thought get death threats to themselves and their families from the heavily-armed loonies who it is apparently disrespectful to call 'deplorables'.
Not disrespectable. Pointless. So why demean ourselves by using such terminology- which accomplishes nothing and also unintentionally extends to people who are not making threats. That is the same kind of thinking used by ICE.
The responses I receive from my letters to my senators are disheartening at best. They both refer to DJT's rights under the Constitution to sign executive orders and create policy. They informed me that he is charged with upholding the rule of law and ensuring citizens are safe and protected. Hence, they justify his deployment of the National Guard as doing his duty. The hypocrisy of describing his duty to ensure our laws are enforced is laughable. He has broken so any laws and failed to uphold so many others. The only reason I can see for their behavior is a combination of fear and desire for power. They are both elderly and entrenched in this bluest of states.
No wonder Dump didn’t place his hand on the Bible this time. He probably believes his oath “didn’t count” and he can do whatever he wants. (Not true; there is no hand-on-Bible requirement. Only the oath itself is mandatory, and he took it.)
Dumpty has no concern about the Bible. He's no Christian and doesn't think swearing on a Bible makes a damn bit of difference.
Neither do I, except it is curious that he has the maggots fooled into believing he is devout. Yet disrespected them and their silly faith by not swearing on their magic book.
Yes, and I was surprised that he wasn't called out at the time. It's not that the law requires that the Bible be touched. Members of groups like Jehovah's Witness don't take oaths. It's that he was sneakily disdaining to do it, sorta like crossing his fingers or something. But what about those sanctimonious justices? Are they going to let him off the hook again? You can believe their hands were firmly on the book.
David, my guess is yes. Roberts and the 5 don't care about our Constitution except as a rag they can wipe their hands on. That is sad, but they were all put on the court to do damage to the American people by presidents who wanted to make some kind of point that white maleness is superior to everyone else, even to Trump finding a Federalist Society woman who could mouth the same BS, claiming she is somehow fair or something. I don't know how to deal with this except to keep standing up to this insanity and anti-American behavior.
Indeed, Supreme Court justices’s jobs are vouchsafed. I believe that they can be impeached … but by this House? Never. And, as we’ve seen with Trump, impeachment is difficult to process … especially in a House (bill of impeachment) and Senate (the jury) so filled with Republicans.
David, yes, we are swarming with sycophantic Republicans in office around the country, all ready to kiss Trump's nether regions when he presents them for the smooch. That really is disgusting, but just what we ahve t work with along with the appalling cabinet and agency heads, voted in mostly by Republicans. The Roberts 6 on our Supreme Court top off the mess that the Republican party has become with their appalling, ignorant, anti-American, insurrectionist Toddler-Trump
At least we have Pete Hegseth around to instruct generals and admirals how to be a man … and then he takes them to tour the spanking new Pentagon makeup room. Blush, mascara, manliness.
All must read Judge William Young's full opinion, particularly the first dozen pages then everything after pg94. He is the hero we have been seeking. Bless this brilliant courageous man...and his insightful wife!
It’s about time an adult with authority put it on record. God bless this judge. The Supreme Corrupt may have sold its soul for 13 pieces of Leo but this judge speaks truth on behalf of all of us in this land that’s still bound by our Constitution. Good on ye, Judge!
Thanks for the link. Taking my time reading so I can parse out the implications as I go. But this is so well-written that it is not a huge task- just the length will take persistence. It's going to be my evening reading today.
I bet that by the time certain principals got to the bottom of page 4, they were sweating, though. Judge is very clear in his writing that he is not impressed with their argument. Going to be interesting to watch them wiggle.
Let's be clear about the bullshit around qualifications for combat that Pistol Pete and others of his ilk play fast and loose with. A woman's ability to qualify for any specific combat role depends on her meeting the same physical and mental standards as her male counterparts. And since the policy change in 2016, women have become eligible for a wide range of combat roles and have served with distinction.
Infantry and Ground Combat: Leading rifle platoons, serving in Marine Corps front line units, and in Army combat arms.
Armor and Vehicles: Operating tanks and other armored vehicles.
Air Defense: Operating surface-to-air missile systems.
Special Forces: Serving in elite units such as Army Rangers, Green Berets, and eligible for the Navy SEALs.
Aviation: Serving as combat pilots in both fixed and rotary wing aircraft.*
*Studies on high-stress flight situations suggest women may have a unique strength in maintaining control and decision-making, challenging traditional views.
Thank you for this list, Dale! Let’s hear it for our badass women warriors. So brave and fierce and capable! As a former military spouse and DoD civilian employee, I salute you all. 🫡 🇺🇸
For sure, sister! 🤜🏼🤛🏽 Women in uniform have fought long and hard for equal opportunity. It’s 75 years since women were permanently integrated into the U.S. armed forces, after serving admirably during World War II. NO WAY will a misogynistic drunken creep like Hogsbreath take their rights away!
Here’s a fascinating article:
How Female Service Members Paved the Way for the Modern Women’s Rights Movement
Thank you, Joyce, for taking the time to cover this so completely. I hope that the judge will be safe!
Silly of me, I know, but I hope that we will have the equivalent of the Nuremberg trials, and each Republican who has been complicit with the actions of this mad man will be put on trial.
I doubt T will live long enough (or be judged competent enough) for something like that, but the rest will be, and I hope I live long enough to see them be held accountable for what they've done, not only to our country but to the many individuals whose lives they've damaged.
Thank you. We must keep up the fight. It is hard to have faith that when all is said and done and any case like this ends up at the Supreme Court they will stop Trump’s retribution and fascist authoritarian take over and the ultimate shredding of our Constitution. I will join fellow patriots on the streets of our United States on Oct 18th!
For those who used to read satirist Alexandra Petri in the newspaper formerly known as The Washington Post who now resides at The Atlantic, here's her take on the "Quagmire at Quantico" via a freebie link from archive today.
"If the Urgent Trump-Hegseth Address to the Military Had Been an Email
With all the evil nazi stuff going on, today's events were akin to watching a superhero fly in just as everything is about to be lost.
A Republican-appointed judge ripped a new one for this administration, and 800 generals and their assistants glared stonily as the weakest, most depraved man ever to hold office and his idiot sidekick babbled nonsense at them.
Hegseth called out Fat Generals with tubby Commander In Chief Trump standing right there. It was truly a wonderful moment that I will cherish forever.
The fight is very far from over, but these give me such hope.
This is an amazing opinion - wow! Thank you so much for summarizing and quoting from it so masterfully and (another wow!) so quickly. I so appreciate your insights, writing, and energy.
Time for we the people to make our voices heard.
JOIN THE ROAR!!!
There will be a No Kings demonstration on October 18. Spread the word! 👑👑👑👑👑
To find a location, follow this link--
https://www.nokings.org/
No Kings, no would-be King of Kings.
After the very public performance by the Secretary of Defense, self-styled "of War", insulting the senior Generals and Admirals summoned to Virginia for that purpose, after his insult to the intelligence of those assembled and that of all citizens of the United States, came the Presidential address, accorded the silent respect due to the President of the United States.
Citizens will, together with the whole world, now be able to appreciate the severe deterioration of that high official's mind. Even the most gutless Congressmen will be not only able but obliged to act with due responsibility as witnesses to the fact that they are obeying orders from a man who is, alas, no longer compos mentis.
Can you imagine what went through those generals' veins while listening to this gibberish from this date rapist frat boy?
Bless those generals for their restraint as they were subjected to the rants of a mad would-be king.
Let us contemplate the strength required to maintain that restraint.
They must be and should be thinking of the contingencies required to keep our country safe from the madness of our current president.
Peter, you should be right, but my comment about Republican members of Congress, Wanna bet!
You have to be right. Dolls tied to a scarecrow.
Judge Young deserves a standing ovation....
Yes! All the WOW! Beautifully done on all points. Sharing far and wide for its heartening effect. All is not lost.
All is not lost, except on the stoppered ears and wall eyes of mindless Magazombie Congresscritters.
Your description of congressional republicans is perfect.
Unfortunately, the poor so-and-sos are to be pitied. They've gotten themselves trapped in a place where anything they do or don't do will go against them.
Actually, I don't pity them. I despise them for their lack of courage, spine, and morals, as well as their inability to understand that doing the job they were elected to do is more important than a toddler bully They've clearly never learned the lesson on how to deal with bullies.
I agree, but I fear the damage they are capable of causing because of the unwillingness of so many of them to admit they are in a corner. Their influence is scary. Our hope is to reach out to those who might be capable of insight, and work with them as colleagues to bring our country back to the people.
All that was missing from the "Quagmire at Quantico" was the "Führereid" or "Hitler Oath" and Leni Riefenstahl filming the proceedings. Perhaps the only good things to come out of the fiasco is that the assembled brass and senior NCOs saw just how bat shit crazy their Commander-in Chief and his SecDef puppet are first hand.
What they saw was a waddling, Adderal-addicted, THC-using, incoherent, incontinent, demented old creep slurring his words, gripping a lectern for support, simultaneously threatening and hoping to impress them — so contemptuous of their time and professionalism he arrived 26 minutes late to his own presentation, giving ample space for some preening sock puppet flunky to make a complete jackass out of himself first.
To call these 900 commanding officers unimpressed with two snarling dipwads phonier than proverbial $3 bills forcing them to sit in stony silence while watching a tired Las Vegas lounge performance doesn’t begin to capture it.
And ICTT, let's not forget that the warm-up act -- a Foxhead who was disrespectful to the assembled military leaders by calling them out for their physical appearance is someone who had to promise that he would quit drinking so that he could become Secretary of Defense. And, to be clear, he was/is in no way qualified for that appointment, even sober.
Appalling and embarrassing. Peter Hegsmegma has the exact same level of authority to speak to the lifelong military commanders of America’s military as the brain-rot and worm eaten heroin addict loser RFKJ has to address this country’s lifelong medical doctors and research community. These idiots are the butt end of a joke that just isn’t goddamn funny. And it’s affecting real lives and real communities. Our military personnel aren’t a f..king joke. And neither are our frontline medical folks. Nor our teachers, nor our press… those who are still legitimate contributors of the fourth estate.
I’m so god damn tired of the narcissists, the invalids, and the nincompoops trying to pressure the responsible adults who have been caring for this country to “get inline” while they destroy everything that actually made us great.
I do not imagine they were impressed in the least degree.
Oh, think they were extremely impressed—but certainly not favorably.
Exactly where my mind went.
Amen to that! Bat shit crazy DJT and Bat shit stupid crazy Hogbreath. The idea of doing away with the "Rules of Engagement" is most dangerous! Doing so would or could allow a single military person, unhinged or not, to commit an act that could start a war! Thankfully we have Generals, Admirals, and senior NCOs who follow lawful orders and KNOW when to disobey an unlawful order from anyone! I am concerned about the rules of engagement being followed in the sinking of the so called drug boats. I support the military not the Trump administration! Correction: Intentional unlawful Trump misadministration!
Wow!! You have to love this judge! Thank you for the excellent reporting, Joyce! It helps to keep us going!!
... had to look up "obloquy"
Great word!!
Me too! Abusively detractive language or utterance; calumny. Yes, obloquy fits Trump to a tee. He is full of it!
While “oleaginous” fits Rubio, Hegseth, Noem and the rest of the hyenas feeding off his kill.
Me, too! Someone said the judge was eloquent, but erudite may be a better word! My less eloquent response: kaboom! 😄
"Erudite"? Trompe? Erudite means "having or showing great knowledge or learning".
I think the word was being applied to the judge because of some of the words he used. Nobody would ever think to apply such a word to Trump, who does not even read, much less think.
Louise, I love the word put anywhere in a room where Trump is. Just thinking of it is hilarious! I don't believe there is an erudite molecule in his body.
The judge, obviously.
That would be a great Scrabble word!
Seven letters and a “q”. Wow.
Me too! I love learning new words. Doesn't happen too often, and it's perfect here!
but he loses the MAGAts with a word like that, and 'indelible' before it. 'lasting shame' would have been just as meaningful and maybe accessible to some who need to know just what the judge meant.
Dismissing people you think won't know what the words mean doesn't make points, John. We can lose the word MAGAts, too, because we have begun to understand that they are not necessarily uneducated or lack erudition. The worst Magas wear suits and ties and meet in private clubs. And the people you think you are referring to are not necessarily poorly educated or lack insight. Many have already begun the process of looking beyond their circumstances, and are perfectly receptive to the message that Judge Young is giving all of us. Including a few pompous blue hats, I hope.
one loses more than MAGAts, and I concede that not all MAGAts- or whatever one calls them - MAGA supporters? Trumpies? - are illiterate (however hard that is to believe.)
I am a firm believer in using well understood words for just about any expository writing, and 'indelible obloquy' are not such words. The number of people here who have not known 'obloquy' is notable - and the other day, smart people on Substack said that 'vituperation' was new to them.
So when the judge was at a point of summing up with a dramatic expression of the results of Trump's actions, he should in my view have used a more accessible (but just as pointed) expression.
3 things required to be a MAGGAT : stupid, racist,or greedy. only 1 is required but you can be all 3
americans don't understand words not in common use.....even quid pro quo
Please don't characterize all Americans as ignorant of our language. Neither my wife nor I had any trouble with the judge's language, nor would ANY of our various friends, including a good friend born in France.
beg to differ (sadly) most americans read at a 6th grade level
Me too!! 😜
Me too. Never really had occasion to use it before.
May judge Young make it as popular as Joe Biden's mild "hyperbole". Which I never knew how to pronounce, as I'd only read it.
oh me too!!! Great word!
I live in California but I called Senator Tammy Duckworth's office. I am incensed by what hegseth said about women in that speech. How dare he make comments like that when this country has a female warrior that was cut to pieces when she served the country. Hegseth should be made to make those comments directly to the Senator's face. I asked the young woman working in the office to please let her know how angry I am about what the SecDef said about women in the military. It's wrong & shameful but it's on point for this crew. I'm disgusted & ashamed about what happened at that meeting. It figures Cadet Bonespurs would have the nerve to make the kinds of comments he made.
It's disgusting all of it!
You should call out all the Repuplican female officeholders -- especially his toady Joni Ernst. https://www.ernst.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ernst-statement-after-hegseth-hearing
Ernst (R-IA): retired Iowa Army National Guard lieutenant colonel who commanded a company during the Iraq War.
Representatives
Sheri Biggs (R-SC): A retired lieutenant colonel from the Mississippi Air National Guard.
Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA): A former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot.
Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL): An Air Force veteran who served in the Air National Guard.
Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA): A 24-year Army veteran.
Daniel, thanks for sharing the names of these worior women. Hegseth's racism and misogyny were evident yesterday in the chunks of his speech I heard. I was embarrassed for the generals and admirals having to listen to such ignorance and from someone who hardly served and another who skipped out of serving. Shameful!
Ernst isn’t running for reelection. Seems every political life is going to die. Save your effort for someone who’ll still be around
Still a member of the senate.
Good. She's been a disgrace her entire terms.
Thank you. These women do injustice to the military and all women.
thank you for this list -- I will make the calls today
I had a driveway moment when NPR started their interview with Senator Duckworth https://www.npr.org/2025/09/30/nx-s1-5558122/sen-duckworth-on-hegseths-quantico-speech
This was inspiring to read. Judge William G. Young seems to be a man with a sense of duty and responsibility and a deep understanding of this moment in American history, which means a lot when so many powerful people and institutions in our country are weak and collapsing and folding. Thanks for highlighting all of this.
Glad that the judge said this and it needs to be continually repeated. Trump has violated his oath so many times it's unbelievable. And his Republican enablers are right there with him violating their oaths also. "Such conduct, of course, violates his sacred oath to ‘faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and . . . to the best of [his] Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,’ U.S. Const. art. II, § 1, cl. 8, by ignoring the Constitution’s command that the President ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"
Do republicans in Congress agree with Trump or are they too frightened of him to defy him? He violates his oath of office almost every day.
It would only take a handful of GOP Reps and Senators to bring this to a halt. Are their jobs (which they are not even doing) so important to them that they can watch the country be destroyed?
Fewer than the fingers on one hand.....
yes
That's a very good question. I think there are many that are power hungry and will do whatever it takes to stay in power. Including betraying their oath of office. I don't know how they sleep at night. And then I think there are some that are truly frightened of him and know if they defy him or try to do the right thing he will shred them online and their career will be over.
And the third group thinks he walks on water and supports him 100%.
We only need a few.
not just online. Republican Congress members who appear likely to show independent thought get death threats to themselves and their families from the heavily-armed loonies who it is apparently disrespectful to call 'deplorables'.
Not disrespectable. Pointless. So why demean ourselves by using such terminology- which accomplishes nothing and also unintentionally extends to people who are not making threats. That is the same kind of thinking used by ICE.
The responses I receive from my letters to my senators are disheartening at best. They both refer to DJT's rights under the Constitution to sign executive orders and create policy. They informed me that he is charged with upholding the rule of law and ensuring citizens are safe and protected. Hence, they justify his deployment of the National Guard as doing his duty. The hypocrisy of describing his duty to ensure our laws are enforced is laughable. He has broken so any laws and failed to uphold so many others. The only reason I can see for their behavior is a combination of fear and desire for power. They are both elderly and entrenched in this bluest of states.
They think we'll lose. When we don't, they will lose what little "power" they think they have.
They should certainly also lose their government pensions and healthcare.
No wonder Dump didn’t place his hand on the Bible this time. He probably believes his oath “didn’t count” and he can do whatever he wants. (Not true; there is no hand-on-Bible requirement. Only the oath itself is mandatory, and he took it.)
Dumpty has no concern about the Bible. He's no Christian and doesn't think swearing on a Bible makes a damn bit of difference.
Neither do I, except it is curious that he has the maggots fooled into believing he is devout. Yet disrespected them and their silly faith by not swearing on their magic book.
Yes, and I was surprised that he wasn't called out at the time. It's not that the law requires that the Bible be touched. Members of groups like Jehovah's Witness don't take oaths. It's that he was sneakily disdaining to do it, sorta like crossing his fingers or something. But what about those sanctimonious justices? Are they going to let him off the hook again? You can believe their hands were firmly on the book.
Hehe! Spot on, progwoman! I bet Dumpty did cross his fingers behind his back. 😆
The judge called for impeachment. Just a other bombshell in his opinion.
Not to mention that he is the First Felon to stink up our White House.
Poignant - and on point - but will these findings of fact and law be ignored by SCOTUS (as is its wont) should it reach that court?
David, my guess is yes. Roberts and the 5 don't care about our Constitution except as a rag they can wipe their hands on. That is sad, but they were all put on the court to do damage to the American people by presidents who wanted to make some kind of point that white maleness is superior to everyone else, even to Trump finding a Federalist Society woman who could mouth the same BS, claiming she is somehow fair or something. I don't know how to deal with this except to keep standing up to this insanity and anti-American behavior.
Indeed, Supreme Court justices’s jobs are vouchsafed. I believe that they can be impeached … but by this House? Never. And, as we’ve seen with Trump, impeachment is difficult to process … especially in a House (bill of impeachment) and Senate (the jury) so filled with Republicans.
David, yes, we are swarming with sycophantic Republicans in office around the country, all ready to kiss Trump's nether regions when he presents them for the smooch. That really is disgusting, but just what we ahve t work with along with the appalling cabinet and agency heads, voted in mostly by Republicans. The Roberts 6 on our Supreme Court top off the mess that the Republican party has become with their appalling, ignorant, anti-American, insurrectionist Toddler-Trump
At least we have Pete Hegseth around to instruct generals and admirals how to be a man … and then he takes them to tour the spanking new Pentagon makeup room. Blush, mascara, manliness.
All must read Judge William Young's full opinion, particularly the first dozen pages then everything after pg94. He is the hero we have been seeking. Bless this brilliant courageous man...and his insightful wife!
It’s about time an adult with authority put it on record. God bless this judge. The Supreme Corrupt may have sold its soul for 13 pieces of Leo but this judge speaks truth on behalf of all of us in this land that’s still bound by our Constitution. Good on ye, Judge!
Yet he can still respond only to what is lawfully before him. We need many more just like him, and I believe they are out there.
Here is the link to the opinion:
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.282460/gov.uscourts.mad.282460.261.0.pdf
Thanks for the link. Taking my time reading so I can parse out the implications as I go. But this is so well-written that it is not a huge task- just the length will take persistence. It's going to be my evening reading today.
I bet that by the time certain principals got to the bottom of page 4, they were sweating, though. Judge is very clear in his writing that he is not impressed with their argument. Going to be interesting to watch them wiggle.
Let's be clear about the bullshit around qualifications for combat that Pistol Pete and others of his ilk play fast and loose with. A woman's ability to qualify for any specific combat role depends on her meeting the same physical and mental standards as her male counterparts. And since the policy change in 2016, women have become eligible for a wide range of combat roles and have served with distinction.
Infantry and Ground Combat: Leading rifle platoons, serving in Marine Corps front line units, and in Army combat arms.
Armor and Vehicles: Operating tanks and other armored vehicles.
Air Defense: Operating surface-to-air missile systems.
Special Forces: Serving in elite units such as Army Rangers, Green Berets, and eligible for the Navy SEALs.
Aviation: Serving as combat pilots in both fixed and rotary wing aircraft.*
*Studies on high-stress flight situations suggest women may have a unique strength in maintaining control and decision-making, challenging traditional views.
Thank you for this list, Dale! Let’s hear it for our badass women warriors. So brave and fierce and capable! As a former military spouse and DoD civilian employee, I salute you all. 🫡 🇺🇸
they need to be very careful about how mad they make women....they are well on their way to a big problem
For sure, sister! 🤜🏼🤛🏽 Women in uniform have fought long and hard for equal opportunity. It’s 75 years since women were permanently integrated into the U.S. armed forces, after serving admirably during World War II. NO WAY will a misogynistic drunken creep like Hogsbreath take their rights away!
Here’s a fascinating article:
How Female Service Members Paved the Way for the Modern Women’s Rights Movement
https://www.military.com/history/how-female-service-members-paved-way-modern-womens-rights-movement.html
good article !
Thank You Dale!
thank you Joyce Vance White for this poignant letter. I am so proud of the Democrats for standing up for our democracy and the Constitution.
Thank you, Joyce, for taking the time to cover this so completely. I hope that the judge will be safe!
Silly of me, I know, but I hope that we will have the equivalent of the Nuremberg trials, and each Republican who has been complicit with the actions of this mad man will be put on trial.
I doubt T will live long enough (or be judged competent enough) for something like that, but the rest will be, and I hope I live long enough to see them be held accountable for what they've done, not only to our country but to the many individuals whose lives they've damaged.
Thank you. We must keep up the fight. It is hard to have faith that when all is said and done and any case like this ends up at the Supreme Court they will stop Trump’s retribution and fascist authoritarian take over and the ultimate shredding of our Constitution. I will join fellow patriots on the streets of our United States on Oct 18th!
Me too, Laurie. Hasta Oct. 18th! Cannot wait! 💪🏼💙
Thank You for your service.
Thank You for your service.
For those who used to read satirist Alexandra Petri in the newspaper formerly known as The Washington Post who now resides at The Atlantic, here's her take on the "Quagmire at Quantico" via a freebie link from archive today.
"If the Urgent Trump-Hegseth Address to the Military Had Been an Email
THIS IS NOT SPAM".
http://archive.today/gqsW6
Thanks
With all the evil nazi stuff going on, today's events were akin to watching a superhero fly in just as everything is about to be lost.
A Republican-appointed judge ripped a new one for this administration, and 800 generals and their assistants glared stonily as the weakest, most depraved man ever to hold office and his idiot sidekick babbled nonsense at them.
Hegseth called out Fat Generals with tubby Commander In Chief Trump standing right there. It was truly a wonderful moment that I will cherish forever.
The fight is very far from over, but these give me such hope.
The battle lines are forming. May God save the United States of America.
I read the opinion...a tour de force.
This country has always struggled to live up to its ideals, but we've now gone from Frank Capra to Franz Kafka in an amazingly short time.
Thank you for all you do for us.