I can't help but try to imagine who/what...maybe serve as his replacement. Sort of along the lines of ' how low can Trump go'. That is not to say that I will be sorry to see him go. It's interesting to watch Trump's desperation as he does all of these panicked pending amputations as it were..as tho' he can somehow prevent the sepsis of accountability from reaching the true source of systemic infection... Himself.
These headlines brought an immediate smile to my face…haven’t even read the article yet! It’s well past time for this unqualified, ignorant poser to be removed!!! Thank you Jack for brightening my morning…now to the article!
Christie...thank you. I'm glad it brightened the morning!
One thing I'd ask you to hold in mind:. The piece isn't a victory lap. It's a pattern analysis... and the conclusion is deliberately uncomfortable: Hegseth being removed is not the story.
The precedent he set is the story. A Secretary of Defense fired a four-star general during a shooting war with no public explanation...and the institution absorbed it.
Whoever replaces him inherits that power. Whether we like the replacement..or not.
That's the part I want readers thinking about long after Hegseth is gone. Because the man leaves. The machinery he built...doesn't.
Enjoy the piece...and let me know what you think after you've read it through.
Jack loved this as always! Will you write something about the Kash Patel fiasco or is that most likely determined as well (I think it is). It’s astonishing to me how psychiatric issues and neurocognitive issues have now been normalized or “sanewashed” by reporters who refuse to question what many of us are seeing.
Kash Patel is on the list. The PATTERN there is actually the SAME pattern as Hegseth...one layer down: the people being installed aren't being selected for competence...they're being selected for the ABSENCE of a no.
That story writes itself...and...I'll get to it soon.
On the sanewashing...you've named something real.
The media's larger failure...isn't that they refuse to diagnose. It's that they refuse to describe. The words "erratic," "incoherent," "disoriented" used to appear in political coverage.
They've been replaced by "unconventional" and "off-script." That's not neutrality. That's ABDICATION.
In our home, we frequently talk about why Hegseth needs to go. So many reasons. The lack of regard for OPSEC, the Christo-fascism being brought into the Pentagon, the failure to act as a leader, the racist/misogynist actions, the sheer incompetence. But, wondering if a Vance buddy gets the nod from the top. I agree with you that the Fox news person should be saving up packing boxes, only a matter of time. Good reason to be #HoldingFast
Roberta...the Vance question is the one I keep coming back to.
If Driscoll gets the nod..it won't be a Trump pick...it'll be a pick Trump couldn't say no to.
That's a different administration than the one that started in January 2025...whether anyone acknowledges it...or not. Glad the household conversations are running. That's where the real thinking happens!
Trump does have an edge with a “Vance” pick. If the person picked doesn’t fall in line with Trump’s ever changing moods and vibes of the day, Trump can easily throw Vance under the bus (again) by playing the blame game.
I'm expecting Kash Patel to go first. Minorities and women are always the first to be sacrificed. Noem and Bondi are gone and Patel is getting terrible press. Of course they deserve it!
When Trump fires Hegseth, that's a real message. If even white guys are going, wow.
Margaret...the PATTERN you're pointing at...is REAL...and...Noem–Bondi–Patel in that order would confirm it.
Here's the sharper read: it's not JUST that marginalized figures get sacrificed first.
It's that Trump's instinct...when he needs to fire someone...is to fire the person whose firing costs him LEAST politically.
That math has historically lined up with who gets protected...and...who doesn't...in American institutions.
The reason a Hegseth firing lands differently...is the SAME reason you named; when the optics NO LONGER provide cover...the underlying dysfunction...becomes impossible to deflect. That's the moment the story changes.
“The question is not whether Pete Hegseth survives.
The question is whether the institution he leaves behind does.”
This sentiment shadows my mind like a haunting cloud lingers over the mountains in the northern part of my state after a rain storm. What will be left of this country for my grandkids weighs heavily on my heart and mind.
Hogsbreath, like his boss, were mistakes waiting to create carnage and chaos in utero. Your last sentences, Jack, are prophetic in a way that is uniquely your style! I look for these writing “tells” - they set the “tone” for rereading your articles. The devil is in the detail of your articles but your wisdom is in the “tells” I look for.
Another day, another article, another set of clues and arrows guiding my thoughts and musings. You so remind me of a professor I had in grad school. I took his Neuro Linguistics Processing course. Fascinating “stuff!” Too bad he’s passed - I would love to have a Socratic conversation with him after we read your articles. I miss the friendship we developed after I graduated.
I read it twice before I started writing back...and... I want to take a minute to respond to it properly...rather than quickly.
First...the weight you're carrying about what your grandchildren will inherit...is the weight I try to write INTO...rather than around.
I don't think anyone who's paying attention right now...escapes that weight...and...I don't think pretending otherwise serves anyone. What I can tell you...is that the fact you're still watching... still reading carefully...still tracking the PATTERNS...that matters more than it feels like it matters...in any individual week.
Records are being built...quietly...by readers like you. That record...will have weight later... even when it FEELS like it has none now.
The "tells" observation is the part of your message I want to engage with seriously...because you've named something I rarely talk about openly.
The closing sentences...the shifts in register...the moments where the rhythm changes on purpose...those are the parts of writing I rework the most.
Not because I'm trying to be literary...but...because I was trained in a tradition where the pattern UNDERNEATH the words...is doing as much work as the words themselves.
A mentor of mine used to say...the reader doesn't remember the sentences...they remember the shape.
Your professor, if he taught NLP the way it was originally developed...would have recognized the same principle...the pattern BENEATH THE CONTENT... is the thing the mind actually encodes.
You're tracking that pattern consciously...which most people don't do...and have never been taught to do.
It's a gift your professor left you. And...that's the last thing I'll say.
The professor you're describing...didn't pass entirely. He passed INTO you...into the way you READ...into the conversations you're still HAVING... with him...in your head...when something clicks...on the page.
The Socratic conversation you miss...is one you're STILL having... just one-sided now.
That's not a small thing. That's how the best teachers live on...and... it's why reading closely...is itself...a form of keeping someone present.
Your messages to me...are part of that conversation...whether you meant them to be...or not.
I'm honored to be occasionally on the receiving end of it.
Absolutely 💯. It was a great semester if my students left with new knowledge or awareness. It was a FANTASTIC semester if my students left knowing I cared about them.
Jack, based on my very limited knowledge of you, personally or professionally, I do know your writing INTO rather than AROUND the topic is what appealed to me from the first article of yours that I read! My sense is that you are a person who rarely goes AROUND much, but proceeds INTO, not serendipitously, but intentionally with great focus. This is a trait I admire and try to practice myself. For me, INTO denotes transparency, accountability, and integrity. Going AROUND is a gray area that makes me uncomfortable.
I’m not naive and I realize that going AROUND doesn’t mean one is opposed to compromise or mitigation of issues. Going INTO, for me, is to be honest with yourself so you can be honest with the world. Honesty is not bluntness - I’ve found so many people meld the two into one. But then I often say, “I might be elected once to public office; however, being reelected might be challenging!” 😂. It seems being willing to go INTO vs AROUND makes too many people uncomfortable.
My late professor was old school NLP. He was introduced to the concept in the early ‘70’s. He was an Army officer, fresh from his second tour of Vietnam and was sent by the Army to grad school. He had been in military intelligence and had become interested in psych-ops. I believe he became extremely effective in his ability to use NLP. He opened my eyes to the importance of the VAK (visual , auditory, kinesthetic) model of information processing.
This awareness was foundational to my teaching and management of my department staff. It also was monumental in helping me to better understand and guide my neuro-divergent son. Another way to observe and track patterns.
My former professor retired, as a bird Colonel, around 1985 and I met him in 1990. Besides the NLP course, I also took his Personal Communication course.
His grading system was self-directed, challenging each student to define the “pinnacle” of their learning goals. I chose “positional authority.” Wrote a 45 page research paper and went for the gusto and said that I would identify to him and the class the moment in class that I experienced “positional authority” during class discussions.
I did experience my goal and it was a rush to identify what I wanted to learn and define how I would demonstrate that learning! Maslow’s tier of self-actualization was achieved that moment, as well.
At that moment, the “so what” of learning and assessment became part of “who” I worked hard, each day, to go INTO as an educator. Going AROUND robbed my students of the opportunity to have a “light bulb ah-ha” moment in my classroom.
Thanks for reminding me about the quietness of record building. I forget that and it is important! I’ve been considering writing a memoir to leave my grandchildren. Your reminder of record building is exactly what I needed to hear. Much like your gentle nudge several months ago to develop and work action plans as a method of focus and coping with these uncertain times, the intentional record building nudge is going on my action plan! I think one of the gifts I can leave behind are lessons about the importance of going INTO life, rather settling for going AROUND.
All the best for a peaceful rest of your week….thank you for your supportive and thoughtful response to my original comment. 😊
Holy fucking shit.. they sideline the people who actually know what they’re doing and Kegseth is out there looking like the misogynistic Nazi loving fucktard that he is.. I just want our country back. I want normalcy and people in place who actually know what the fuck they’re doing. Not some posers who just want to look good and do absolutely fucking nothing except dig us deeper into a giant pile of shit. Dumbt just wants to blow shit up so he can look like a real man.. that Orange Dumpster Fire is a weasel dick.. he’s the first person who will hide while our country burns to the ground.
The exhaustion of watching competent people...get pushed out in favor of PERFORMERS... is a real thing...and...you're right to feel it.
That's the PATTERN...competence has been reframed inside this administration as DISLOYALTY...and the price is being paid by the institutions underneath.
Patel first, Hegseth on deck. The distraction point... is the one most people miss.
When a president's attention is fully absorbed by foreign crises...Cabinet dysfunction doesn't get fixed...it gets discovered LATER...usually in the form of a scandal... that finally forces the firing the White House SHOULD have made...months earlier. That's how this likely plays out.
Can’t argue that point, Jim! When he is gone but still alive, I think he should be made to watch Americans RIP all the signage, gold and TACKY crap off of OUR buildings and monuments!!!
You know, I’ve observed, either personally or via photos, that many super wealthy people mistake gaudiness for class!!!! Yrump is top of his “class” for his “trash” 😉🫣
Although I will cheer Hegseth’s departure, I want to get a sense of how Driscoll will be. He appears to have way more cred, professionalism and bona fides. That said, will he have the cajones to bring back the folks that shouldn’t have been fired in the first place? Attempt to fix the damage wrought by his immediate predecessor? Stand up and say no when appropriate?
I also find it very intriguing that t is likely acquiescing to jd. Almost as if he knows he’s cooked, maybe not long for this world. Interesting dynamic.
In my opinion, most institutions can survive a bad person… but only if that bad person has not totally weakened the supports underneath (see djt & his previous admin). It looks like we need to wait on that verdict. Only a fool (probably a drunken one), pulls the crap that Hegseth and even Patel have pulled and that accountability leads straight to the top. What kind of a mess will we find once there are truly decent, democracy loving ppl in charge? I’m pretty sure what the public sees is only the tip of the iceberg. Buckle up for some rough seas ahead.
Thanks Jack. Am loving seeing the patterns more clearly!
Deb...three sharp questions...and they're the right three.
On Driscoll...the honest answer is...we won't know until we see whether he fights the first test case of a reversal.
Reversing a firing...requires political capital most new Cabinet officials spend protecting their OWN position.
On the Trump–Vance dynamic...acquiescence from a president who never acquiesces...is itself...a data point. It tells you the internal leverage math has shifted...and the man running the math knows it.
On institutional damage...your instinct is exactly right. The question isn't whether the bad person leaves. It's whether the supports they REMOVED... can be REBUILT.
That answer takes years...and the rebuilding ALWAYS happens more slowly than the damage.
Glad the PATTERNS are becoming legible. That's the whole point!
Gerry...$250 million, against The Atlantic...filed as a private citizen from Nevada.
The actual-malice bar is a wall, not a hurdle...every First Amendment lawyer who's weighed in publicly...has said the complaint doesn't clear it.
And...the lawsuit reminded everyone of the worst detail in the piece: that on April 10...Patel was locked out of FBI computers and believed he'd been fired.
You don't file a suit that re-publicizes the most damaging paragraph in the article...unless you've already lost control of the narrative.
This is panic with a complaint number attached to it.
Absolutely no doubt that you are correct. As you were yesterday... when you contemplated a sane, coherent (non)response.... but this fuck is even crazier and more of a loose cannon than any rational person may have surmised.... Keep it coming... and, thank you.
It would be hard to imagine that Driscoll would be worse than kegsbreath. The fact he was working with the general to improve the military would indicate he has some decency. It would be gratifying if the fired leaders could be brought back but my guess is that none would be willing to come back as long as drumpf is still the prez. Will belong for the signs...
SB...the pattern you're naming is legit...and it's one of the stranger phenomena in modern politics...a coalition that has...for decades...continued to expect loyalty...from a figure whose ENTIRE public record...demonstrates he doesn't extend it.
That isn't a character flaw on the coalition's part.
It's a structural feature...of how personal-loyalty politics works.
The followers keep BELIEVING ...they'll be the exception.
Almost NONE of them are. And...the ones who survive longest...are usually the ones who never stopped looking for the exit.
Yes,it will be interesting to see how the ushering out of Pete H. goes down. Trump doesn't measure by competence but by loyalty and optics. It speaks volumes to me that the second term is filled with such incompetence and grift. These are the loyalists to Trump. I didn't love his first term but there was a modicum of integrity. No signs of that kind of lifeform this time around. I will be watching. #Holdfast
Kristine..the first-term versus second-term comparison...is the observation most coverage is afraid to make cleanly...and YOU..have made it cleanly.
The first term had people inside the building who were willing to tell him no.
That was the integrity counterweight.
The second term...was specifically designed to ELIMINATE it. What we're watching isn't an administration getting worse over time...it's the planned result of a selection process that...screened for ONE trait...and one trait ONLY.
Watch closely. You're ALREADY seeing what most observers...will need another year to name!
From your mouth to God's ears, Jack! I've been calling my red hats since Pete was made Secretary of Defense. There is no War, the congress never approved such. It was a name created to assauge his fragile male ego. So that, his makeup stand in the Pentagon, his nationalist tattoos, ridiculous pressers is beyond whatI can handle. Then his sheer ignorance boggled my mind. How on earth could congress ever approve this? I was flaming mad at his firing of General George and the others. Who does multiple firings on the same day, while in the middle of a war of choice? However, the replacement!?!?!!
As Jojo recently wrote on a different topic, the bar is so low it is below sea level. Yep, we are there. How low can we go? It's a horrifying game of limbo.
Jo...you've put your finger on the part of this almost nobody in the coverage is naming out loud.
Congress never authorized this war. There is no AUMF. There is no declaration.
What we have...is executive action absorbed into a news cycle that treats it as a fait accompli...and the constitutional question nobody is asking... is the one that matters most...for the precedent this creates.
The firings during a "war" that Congress never APPROVED... compound the problem... because they normalize executive consolidation of powers...that were NEVER supposed to travel together.
That's the STRUCTURAL story...underneath the personnel story.
Believing ‘he’ would have been fired long ago it surprises me of the paranoia this WH team has. Diaper Don says he doesn’t drink alcohol yet many of his loyalists apparently do, and to excess. Something is so off here. Typically paranoia is accompanied by illegal drug use not alcohol or in several of these cases alcohol abuse. Theory: because these appointees absolutely do not know what their job descriptions are, like kids in a candy store, they cannot decide which sugary substance to take (not buy but take), thus they do not know what to do unless a ‘puppet master’ either gives them free reign or tells them what to do. The illogical diversions of this WH clown cluster along with complete incompetence is so obviously diversionary it’s mind boggling. Thank you for the breakdown Jack. Steady as we go, and the sooner the better.
I can't help but try to imagine who/what...maybe serve as his replacement. Sort of along the lines of ' how low can Trump go'. That is not to say that I will be sorry to see him go. It's interesting to watch Trump's desperation as he does all of these panicked pending amputations as it were..as tho' he can somehow prevent the sepsis of accountability from reaching the true source of systemic infection... Himself.
Sher'..the "how low can Trump go" question is the right one...and I'd reframe it slightly.
Trump doesn't replace people with worse versions because he wants worse. He replaces them with people LESS likely to resist the NEXT request.
That's a different calculus... and it produces the same result.
Your sepsis metaphor is sharp! The amputations don't save the patient. They just delay the diagnosis.
-Jack
And those less likely to oppose him or outshine him.
The only shine on trump is his face varnish.
👍💙
These headlines brought an immediate smile to my face…haven’t even read the article yet! It’s well past time for this unqualified, ignorant poser to be removed!!! Thank you Jack for brightening my morning…now to the article!
Christie...thank you. I'm glad it brightened the morning!
One thing I'd ask you to hold in mind:. The piece isn't a victory lap. It's a pattern analysis... and the conclusion is deliberately uncomfortable: Hegseth being removed is not the story.
The precedent he set is the story. A Secretary of Defense fired a four-star general during a shooting war with no public explanation...and the institution absorbed it.
Whoever replaces him inherits that power. Whether we like the replacement..or not.
That's the part I want readers thinking about long after Hegseth is gone. Because the man leaves. The machinery he built...doesn't.
Enjoy the piece...and let me know what you think after you've read it through.
#HoldFast
-Jack
Jack loved this as always! Will you write something about the Kash Patel fiasco or is that most likely determined as well (I think it is). It’s astonishing to me how psychiatric issues and neurocognitive issues have now been normalized or “sanewashed” by reporters who refuse to question what many of us are seeing.
Dr. Andrew...thank you! Glad it landed.
Kash Patel is on the list. The PATTERN there is actually the SAME pattern as Hegseth...one layer down: the people being installed aren't being selected for competence...they're being selected for the ABSENCE of a no.
That story writes itself...and...I'll get to it soon.
On the sanewashing...you've named something real.
The media's larger failure...isn't that they refuse to diagnose. It's that they refuse to describe. The words "erratic," "incoherent," "disoriented" used to appear in political coverage.
They've been replaced by "unconventional" and "off-script." That's not neutrality. That's ABDICATION.
#HoldFast
-Jack
In our home, we frequently talk about why Hegseth needs to go. So many reasons. The lack of regard for OPSEC, the Christo-fascism being brought into the Pentagon, the failure to act as a leader, the racist/misogynist actions, the sheer incompetence. But, wondering if a Vance buddy gets the nod from the top. I agree with you that the Fox news person should be saving up packing boxes, only a matter of time. Good reason to be #HoldingFast
Roberta...the Vance question is the one I keep coming back to.
If Driscoll gets the nod..it won't be a Trump pick...it'll be a pick Trump couldn't say no to.
That's a different administration than the one that started in January 2025...whether anyone acknowledges it...or not. Glad the household conversations are running. That's where the real thinking happens!
#KeepHoldingFast
-Jack
Married to a 26 year AF veteran, you KNOW there are a lot of conversations about the DoD.
Trump does have an edge with a “Vance” pick. If the person picked doesn’t fall in line with Trump’s ever changing moods and vibes of the day, Trump can easily throw Vance under the bus (again) by playing the blame game.
I'm expecting Kash Patel to go first. Minorities and women are always the first to be sacrificed. Noem and Bondi are gone and Patel is getting terrible press. Of course they deserve it!
When Trump fires Hegseth, that's a real message. If even white guys are going, wow.
Margaret...the PATTERN you're pointing at...is REAL...and...Noem–Bondi–Patel in that order would confirm it.
Here's the sharper read: it's not JUST that marginalized figures get sacrificed first.
It's that Trump's instinct...when he needs to fire someone...is to fire the person whose firing costs him LEAST politically.
That math has historically lined up with who gets protected...and...who doesn't...in American institutions.
The reason a Hegseth firing lands differently...is the SAME reason you named; when the optics NO LONGER provide cover...the underlying dysfunction...becomes impossible to deflect. That's the moment the story changes.
#HoldFast
-Jack
“The question is not whether Pete Hegseth survives.
The question is whether the institution he leaves behind does.”
This sentiment shadows my mind like a haunting cloud lingers over the mountains in the northern part of my state after a rain storm. What will be left of this country for my grandkids weighs heavily on my heart and mind.
Hogsbreath, like his boss, were mistakes waiting to create carnage and chaos in utero. Your last sentences, Jack, are prophetic in a way that is uniquely your style! I look for these writing “tells” - they set the “tone” for rereading your articles. The devil is in the detail of your articles but your wisdom is in the “tells” I look for.
Another day, another article, another set of clues and arrows guiding my thoughts and musings. You so remind me of a professor I had in grad school. I took his Neuro Linguistics Processing course. Fascinating “stuff!” Too bad he’s passed - I would love to have a Socratic conversation with him after we read your articles. I miss the friendship we developed after I graduated.
Diana...this message stopped me.
I read it twice before I started writing back...and... I want to take a minute to respond to it properly...rather than quickly.
First...the weight you're carrying about what your grandchildren will inherit...is the weight I try to write INTO...rather than around.
I don't think anyone who's paying attention right now...escapes that weight...and...I don't think pretending otherwise serves anyone. What I can tell you...is that the fact you're still watching... still reading carefully...still tracking the PATTERNS...that matters more than it feels like it matters...in any individual week.
Records are being built...quietly...by readers like you. That record...will have weight later... even when it FEELS like it has none now.
The "tells" observation is the part of your message I want to engage with seriously...because you've named something I rarely talk about openly.
The closing sentences...the shifts in register...the moments where the rhythm changes on purpose...those are the parts of writing I rework the most.
Not because I'm trying to be literary...but...because I was trained in a tradition where the pattern UNDERNEATH the words...is doing as much work as the words themselves.
A mentor of mine used to say...the reader doesn't remember the sentences...they remember the shape.
Your professor, if he taught NLP the way it was originally developed...would have recognized the same principle...the pattern BENEATH THE CONTENT... is the thing the mind actually encodes.
You're tracking that pattern consciously...which most people don't do...and have never been taught to do.
It's a gift your professor left you. And...that's the last thing I'll say.
The professor you're describing...didn't pass entirely. He passed INTO you...into the way you READ...into the conversations you're still HAVING... with him...in your head...when something clicks...on the page.
The Socratic conversation you miss...is one you're STILL having... just one-sided now.
That's not a small thing. That's how the best teachers live on...and... it's why reading closely...is itself...a form of keeping someone present.
Your messages to me...are part of that conversation...whether you meant them to be...or not.
I'm honored to be occasionally on the receiving end of it.
Keep writing. I read every one.
#HoldFast
-Jack
"The reader doesn't remember the sentences... they remember the shape".
SO VERY TRUE!
Just like "people don't remember what you said .. they remember how you made them feel".
BOTH very good analogies!
Absolutely 💯. It was a great semester if my students left with new knowledge or awareness. It was a FANTASTIC semester if my students left knowing I cared about them.
Jack, based on my very limited knowledge of you, personally or professionally, I do know your writing INTO rather than AROUND the topic is what appealed to me from the first article of yours that I read! My sense is that you are a person who rarely goes AROUND much, but proceeds INTO, not serendipitously, but intentionally with great focus. This is a trait I admire and try to practice myself. For me, INTO denotes transparency, accountability, and integrity. Going AROUND is a gray area that makes me uncomfortable.
I’m not naive and I realize that going AROUND doesn’t mean one is opposed to compromise or mitigation of issues. Going INTO, for me, is to be honest with yourself so you can be honest with the world. Honesty is not bluntness - I’ve found so many people meld the two into one. But then I often say, “I might be elected once to public office; however, being reelected might be challenging!” 😂. It seems being willing to go INTO vs AROUND makes too many people uncomfortable.
My late professor was old school NLP. He was introduced to the concept in the early ‘70’s. He was an Army officer, fresh from his second tour of Vietnam and was sent by the Army to grad school. He had been in military intelligence and had become interested in psych-ops. I believe he became extremely effective in his ability to use NLP. He opened my eyes to the importance of the VAK (visual , auditory, kinesthetic) model of information processing.
This awareness was foundational to my teaching and management of my department staff. It also was monumental in helping me to better understand and guide my neuro-divergent son. Another way to observe and track patterns.
My former professor retired, as a bird Colonel, around 1985 and I met him in 1990. Besides the NLP course, I also took his Personal Communication course.
His grading system was self-directed, challenging each student to define the “pinnacle” of their learning goals. I chose “positional authority.” Wrote a 45 page research paper and went for the gusto and said that I would identify to him and the class the moment in class that I experienced “positional authority” during class discussions.
I did experience my goal and it was a rush to identify what I wanted to learn and define how I would demonstrate that learning! Maslow’s tier of self-actualization was achieved that moment, as well.
At that moment, the “so what” of learning and assessment became part of “who” I worked hard, each day, to go INTO as an educator. Going AROUND robbed my students of the opportunity to have a “light bulb ah-ha” moment in my classroom.
Thanks for reminding me about the quietness of record building. I forget that and it is important! I’ve been considering writing a memoir to leave my grandchildren. Your reminder of record building is exactly what I needed to hear. Much like your gentle nudge several months ago to develop and work action plans as a method of focus and coping with these uncertain times, the intentional record building nudge is going on my action plan! I think one of the gifts I can leave behind are lessons about the importance of going INTO life, rather settling for going AROUND.
All the best for a peaceful rest of your week….thank you for your supportive and thoughtful response to my original comment. 😊
Diana
Holy fucking shit.. they sideline the people who actually know what they’re doing and Kegseth is out there looking like the misogynistic Nazi loving fucktard that he is.. I just want our country back. I want normalcy and people in place who actually know what the fuck they’re doing. Not some posers who just want to look good and do absolutely fucking nothing except dig us deeper into a giant pile of shit. Dumbt just wants to blow shit up so he can look like a real man.. that Orange Dumpster Fire is a weasel dick.. he’s the first person who will hide while our country burns to the ground.
Morgan...I hear you.
The exhaustion of watching competent people...get pushed out in favor of PERFORMERS... is a real thing...and...you're right to feel it.
That's the PATTERN...competence has been reframed inside this administration as DISLOYALTY...and the price is being paid by the institutions underneath.
#HoldFast
-Jack
Thank you Jack.. competence is gone and now we have performers.. how screwed are we, Jack??
He gets in line behind Kash Patel, but Trump is too involved in trying to destroy the world to notice his cabinet is dysfunctional.
Jim...agreed.
Patel first, Hegseth on deck. The distraction point... is the one most people miss.
When a president's attention is fully absorbed by foreign crises...Cabinet dysfunction doesn't get fixed...it gets discovered LATER...usually in the form of a scandal... that finally forces the firing the White House SHOULD have made...months earlier. That's how this likely plays out.
#HoldFast
-Jack
Jim, I often wonder if the dysfunctional nature of Yrump’s world comforts him like Scrooge McDuck was comforted by his gold coins?
Trump's ego is satiated by anything gold!
Can’t argue that point, Jim! When he is gone but still alive, I think he should be made to watch Americans RIP all the signage, gold and TACKY crap off of OUR buildings and monuments!!!
You know, I’ve observed, either personally or via photos, that many super wealthy people mistake gaudiness for class!!!! Yrump is top of his “class” for his “trash” 😉🫣
Although I will cheer Hegseth’s departure, I want to get a sense of how Driscoll will be. He appears to have way more cred, professionalism and bona fides. That said, will he have the cajones to bring back the folks that shouldn’t have been fired in the first place? Attempt to fix the damage wrought by his immediate predecessor? Stand up and say no when appropriate?
I also find it very intriguing that t is likely acquiescing to jd. Almost as if he knows he’s cooked, maybe not long for this world. Interesting dynamic.
In my opinion, most institutions can survive a bad person… but only if that bad person has not totally weakened the supports underneath (see djt & his previous admin). It looks like we need to wait on that verdict. Only a fool (probably a drunken one), pulls the crap that Hegseth and even Patel have pulled and that accountability leads straight to the top. What kind of a mess will we find once there are truly decent, democracy loving ppl in charge? I’m pretty sure what the public sees is only the tip of the iceberg. Buckle up for some rough seas ahead.
Thanks Jack. Am loving seeing the patterns more clearly!
Deb...three sharp questions...and they're the right three.
On Driscoll...the honest answer is...we won't know until we see whether he fights the first test case of a reversal.
Reversing a firing...requires political capital most new Cabinet officials spend protecting their OWN position.
On the Trump–Vance dynamic...acquiescence from a president who never acquiesces...is itself...a data point. It tells you the internal leverage math has shifted...and the man running the math knows it.
On institutional damage...your instinct is exactly right. The question isn't whether the bad person leaves. It's whether the supports they REMOVED... can be REBUILT.
That answer takes years...and the rebuilding ALWAYS happens more slowly than the damage.
Glad the PATTERNS are becoming legible. That's the whole point!
-Jack
Welp...... Patel filed his "lawsuit"......
Gerry...$250 million, against The Atlantic...filed as a private citizen from Nevada.
The actual-malice bar is a wall, not a hurdle...every First Amendment lawyer who's weighed in publicly...has said the complaint doesn't clear it.
And...the lawsuit reminded everyone of the worst detail in the piece: that on April 10...Patel was locked out of FBI computers and believed he'd been fired.
You don't file a suit that re-publicizes the most damaging paragraph in the article...unless you've already lost control of the narrative.
This is panic with a complaint number attached to it.
-Jack
Depression must run rampant in the White House NOW!!
Watching the IMPLOSION of trump and the maga cult regime....
day after day after day after farking day....
Is not nearly as much fun as I thought it would be.
NOW I just want it to FINALLY end..
and watch them throw each other on the train tracks.
Absolutely no doubt that you are correct. As you were yesterday... when you contemplated a sane, coherent (non)response.... but this fuck is even crazier and more of a loose cannon than any rational person may have surmised.... Keep it coming... and, thank you.
It would be hard to imagine that Driscoll would be worse than kegsbreath. The fact he was working with the general to improve the military would indicate he has some decency. It would be gratifying if the fired leaders could be brought back but my guess is that none would be willing to come back as long as drumpf is still the prez. Will belong for the signs...
#HOLDFAST
Teri
Another one bites the dust...
Just remember what DECADES of HISTORY have shown us ALL...
trump has NO LOYALTY to ANYONE ELSE EVER!!
You would think the GOP maga would have learned this by now!
NEVER EVER TRUST A BULLY because they are SO insecure narcissistic and paranoid that sooner than later EVERYONE becomes one of their TARGETS!!
SB...the pattern you're naming is legit...and it's one of the stranger phenomena in modern politics...a coalition that has...for decades...continued to expect loyalty...from a figure whose ENTIRE public record...demonstrates he doesn't extend it.
That isn't a character flaw on the coalition's part.
It's a structural feature...of how personal-loyalty politics works.
The followers keep BELIEVING ...they'll be the exception.
Almost NONE of them are. And...the ones who survive longest...are usually the ones who never stopped looking for the exit.
-Jack
Oh geez, whatever shall we do?…hahahahahahaha….Jaysus Jack! Ya trying to to break my heart…
LOL!
-Jack
Yes,it will be interesting to see how the ushering out of Pete H. goes down. Trump doesn't measure by competence but by loyalty and optics. It speaks volumes to me that the second term is filled with such incompetence and grift. These are the loyalists to Trump. I didn't love his first term but there was a modicum of integrity. No signs of that kind of lifeform this time around. I will be watching. #Holdfast
Kristine..the first-term versus second-term comparison...is the observation most coverage is afraid to make cleanly...and YOU..have made it cleanly.
The first term had people inside the building who were willing to tell him no.
That was the integrity counterweight.
The second term...was specifically designed to ELIMINATE it. What we're watching isn't an administration getting worse over time...it's the planned result of a selection process that...screened for ONE trait...and one trait ONLY.
Watch closely. You're ALREADY seeing what most observers...will need another year to name!
#Holdfast
-Jack
From your mouth to God's ears, Jack! I've been calling my red hats since Pete was made Secretary of Defense. There is no War, the congress never approved such. It was a name created to assauge his fragile male ego. So that, his makeup stand in the Pentagon, his nationalist tattoos, ridiculous pressers is beyond whatI can handle. Then his sheer ignorance boggled my mind. How on earth could congress ever approve this? I was flaming mad at his firing of General George and the others. Who does multiple firings on the same day, while in the middle of a war of choice? However, the replacement!?!?!!
As Jojo recently wrote on a different topic, the bar is so low it is below sea level. Yep, we are there. How low can we go? It's a horrifying game of limbo.
Jo...you've put your finger on the part of this almost nobody in the coverage is naming out loud.
Congress never authorized this war. There is no AUMF. There is no declaration.
What we have...is executive action absorbed into a news cycle that treats it as a fait accompli...and the constitutional question nobody is asking... is the one that matters most...for the precedent this creates.
The firings during a "war" that Congress never APPROVED... compound the problem... because they normalize executive consolidation of powers...that were NEVER supposed to travel together.
That's the STRUCTURAL story...underneath the personnel story.
-Jack
Seems to me that there is NO structure to hold any of this administration together.
Having NO policies IS trumpism.
Thanksvfor the further details and clarity, Jack!
#HoldFast
Believing ‘he’ would have been fired long ago it surprises me of the paranoia this WH team has. Diaper Don says he doesn’t drink alcohol yet many of his loyalists apparently do, and to excess. Something is so off here. Typically paranoia is accompanied by illegal drug use not alcohol or in several of these cases alcohol abuse. Theory: because these appointees absolutely do not know what their job descriptions are, like kids in a candy store, they cannot decide which sugary substance to take (not buy but take), thus they do not know what to do unless a ‘puppet master’ either gives them free reign or tells them what to do. The illogical diversions of this WH clown cluster along with complete incompetence is so obviously diversionary it’s mind boggling. Thank you for the breakdown Jack. Steady as we go, and the sooner the better.
Great clues to watch for! Really hoping step #5 comes arrives asap. Next- Patel? Please!