१५ सप्टेंबर, २०२१

"If the story of 'Dumbass' General Mark Milley... is true, then I assume he would be tried for TREASON..."

"... in that he would have been dealing with his Chinese counterpart behind the President’s back and telling China that he would be giving them notification 'of an attack.'... The good news is that the story is Fake News.... Remember, I was the one who took out 100% of the ISIS Caliphate. Milley said it couldn’t be done! For the record, I never even thought of attacking China—and China knows that...."

Wrote Donald Trump (on his website). 

९१ टिप्पण्या:

gilbar म्हणाले...

So, THIS was The Real January insurrection; right? The FBI will be looking into Milley;
Won't They? i mean, Won't They?
Or, did Milley and his insurectionists, win?

madAsHell म्हणाले...

This isn’t truth. This is battle prep.

wendybar म्हणाले...

He'll get away with it, whilst Pelosi's political prisoners rot away in a DC prison. We have Traitors in our midst...and we don't have anybody who will do anything about it. America is over.

mezzrow म्हणाले...

This just keeps getting better. It's time for history to consult its dramaturge.

West TX Intermediate Crude म्हणाले...

Not treason- per the Constitution.
Treasonous? Yes.
Seditious? Absolutely.
Inching closer to the third box.

rehajm म्हणाले...

If we're going to have these conversations now and in the future it would help if we agreed on some definitions. What's treason? What is insurrection? What's a protest?

What is a vote?

gilbar म्हणाले...

from the WSJ
Alexander Vindman, one of the country’s foremost experts in the field of undermining presidential authority, responds on Twitter to the Post claims about communications with China:

If this is true GEN Milley must resign. He usurped civilian authority, broke Chain of Command, and violated the sacrosanct principle of civilian control over the military. It’s an extremely dangerous precedent. You can’t simply walk away from that.
When you’ve lost Alexander Vindman . . .

tim maguire म्हणाले...

The accusation--that Milley was so worried that Trump would launch an unprovoked attack on China that he contemplated treason as a response--is insane. Which is probably why the accusation was lobbed at Milley. He's the only one stupid and useless enough that people might think it was true. Fake but accurate.

iowan2 म्हणाले...

An honorable military man would have resigned before he made a call.

If not, after he got caught, would resign in shame.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

West TX Intermediate Crude said...Not treason- per the Constitution.

Telling his Chinese counterpart he'd do it is not technically treasonous since at this time China is not an enemy. If he actually did it, that would be treason because at that point China would be.

Balfegor म्हणाले...

Seems a bit like Milley promised a bit of aid and comfort to America's enemies, but before we even get to treason he ought to be subjected to a court martial and stripped of all honours for insubordination. If this is true, he crossed a line that mustn't be crossed.

White House is allegedly leaking against Milley now, (although I'm not sure who in this White House would be leaking to a right wing commentator like Posobiec, so take that for what you will). I think we're not far off a realisation at Defense and the White House that Milley has blundered into so many dumb political fights that he's damaging the reputation of the military itself. Maybe they let him save face by resigning rather than cashiering him as he deserves, but I can't imagine him staying on long term.

Tom T. म्हणाले...

Even Lt. Col. Vindman, the great underminer, agreed with Trump and tweeted that Milley's conduct was treason if true.

Witness म्हणाले...

Remember when the VP had to write a public letter explaining that he didn't have the unilateral authority to decide which electoral votes to count?

Good times.

Skeptical Voter म्हणाले...

When even Lt. Colonel Star Puft Vindaman jumps on Milley, you know that the "dumbass" Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has put his foot in some stinky stuff.

Left Bank of the Charles म्हणाले...

How would it be treason if Donald Trump had never even thought of attacking China and China already knew that?

Mike Sylwester म्हणाले...

The context of this situation was the election fraud that was committed and tolerated during the preceding weeks.

If the citizenry does not feel that elections are honest, then intrigue and tumult will happen after many future elections too.

Leland म्हणाले...

The part about Pelosi is true. She boasted about it at the time. I’m glad Trump left room for disbelief. An investigation is required and if Milley did what Woodward claimed, several people will need to face a military court martial.

Chuck म्हणाले...

Trump’s blunders his way into the problem as usual.

Is the story of Milley’s China contacts true? (I happen to think Woodward and Costa are great reporters so I am guessing that it’s true.). But if you reject the reporters and their reporting, then why should it lead to any charge against General Milley.

But if the reporting really is true, we should consider the rest of the story along with Milley’s part of the story. And what they reported about the leadup to Milley’s China contacts was that Trump was careening wildly from one reckless action to another.

Are we going to take the entire book seriously? Or are we going to pretend that Milley did something wrong per the reporting but that Trump did nothing wrong, contrary to the reporting.

As always, we could get some clarity if all of the book’s principals did detailed interviews on the record.

John henry म्हणाले...

West tx

Is sedition a crime?

Can you point me to the federal statute?

Not the statute against "seditious conspiracy" I know that one and that's not what you said.

"sedition" is not currently illegal nor should it be. All this talk as if it is I find really annoying.

John Henry

Achilles म्हणाले...

Why is the Biden Administration leaking this stuff?

It is clear that everyone, including the people who said they were with Milley when he said it, are uniparty hacks.

Milley probably said it.

Milley is a traitor even if he didn't say it.

Joe Biden has taken Billions from China.

There is way more going on here than is publicly available. This is the backstabbing you see in a collapsing regime.

Maynard म्हणाले...

If the Milley story is based on the new Bob Woodward book, then I have every reason to doubt it. He is a serial fabulist.

Wince म्हणाले...

I’m the only President in decades who didn’t get the U.S. into a war — a well known fact that is seldom reported.

I'm reminded of that Trump t-shirt Meade wore.

John henry म्हणाले...

Is this just another phase in the ongoing battle between the Cia and the military?

Bob Woodward has always been closely tied to the Cia as a former and current employee.

Using employee loosely here, not necessarily an "employee" in the strict legal sense. Just in the sense of doing their bidding.

Ss sensor Schumer told pdjt "don't fight the Cia. They can screw you 6 ways from Sunday" (quoting from memory)

That explains a lot about Schumer, btw.

John Henry

Howard म्हणाले...

Hahahahaha. This is the only part of Woodwards book that's actually true!

It's a joy seeing you snowflakes whine and cry after having a gynormous scab ripped open.

Be sure to send more money to Dear Leader.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

Remember when Trump supposedly called out the military bigwigs for being a 'bunch of dopes and babies'?

Turns out he was right. Good times...

M Jordan म्हणाले...

Trump’s response is curious. What’s the “fake news” part? The Milley calling China bit or the content of that call, that Trump is a threat? Also, Trump’s tone is almost jovial. Why?

My guess is Trump likes the story percolating, he likes seeing Milley dangle, he likes being the victim rather than cause of a coup, he likes tweaking Woodward for coming up with fake quotes, and most of all he likes seeing the different parts of the deep state begin attacking one another.

Gahrie म्हणाले...

What is a vote?

Well there is no federal right to vote. Really. Go look I'll wait.

Mike of Snoqualmie म्हणाले...

Milley mutinied against lawful civilian authority. The penalty for mutiny includes execution and being busted back to the rank of private. Both should be applied to "encouragez les autres".

If Nancy Pelosi was involved in any of this, she should be busted back to prison inmate, stripped of her pension and forced to eat prison food instead of her gourmet ice cream.

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

Yes IF any of Woodward’s fantasy conversations can be confirmed he is treasonous but neither Trump nor I believe this fake news from a fake news expert. Bob’s a cockroach not a reporter.

R C Belaire म्हणाले...

The term Banana Republic comes to mind. One gets the feeling the US is sitting on a knife edge and a push one way or the other will bring it all crashing down. I try to remain optimistic, but if Biden and his "team" make it through ~ 3-1/2 more years unscathed, what the hell will our country look like?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Bob Woodward is a joke.

Chris Lopes म्हणाले...

"Are we going to take the entire book seriously? Or are we going to pretend that Milley did something wrong per the reporting but that Trump did nothing wrong, contrary to the reporting."

I really am the last person on the planet to defend Orange the Clown, but I have to ask what "wrong" did Trump actually do? Maybe I missed all the wars he got us into. Maybe we were on the brink of WWIII on a weekly basis and a Trump friendly press just refused to acknowledge it. I don't know, but given how badly he botched Afghanistan, I'd say Milley's judgement on anything is suspect.

In any case, it wasn't his call to make. The VPOTUS and the cabinet are the ones who decide if the POTUS can no longer function in that role. Generals making secret deals with a potential enemy power sounds a lot like a coup to me.

Mark म्हणाले...

Divulging military secrets to a foreign power, or otherwise being in communications with foreign powers with designs to potentially do so, is more accurately called espionage.

Milley is essentially a Chinese spy.

So what if he has LOTS of company in the U.S. government and society? It's criminal.

Mark म्हणाले...

As for anything coming of this --

Come on, man! We had the then-Vice President of the United States Joseph Biden bragging on video of how he extorted actions from a foreign government for his own family's benefit. And everyone just yawned.

NCWilliam म्हणाले...

A Marine Colonel (Scheller?) lost his career because he felt it necessary to call out the chain of command for their disastrous handling of Afghanistan. But Vindeman can call Milley a traitor without such consequences because why? Celebrity status? Certified Member of the Deep State?

Drago म्हणाले...

Howard: "Hahahahaha. This is the only part of Woodwards book that's actually true!
It's a joy seeing you snowflakes whine and cry after having a gynormous scab ripped open.
Be sure to send more money to Dear Leader."

Hmmm.

This "comment" by Howard is clearly supposed to mean something, or so I assume. I wonder what it is that Howard thought he was saying?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Do we actually think any corrupt democrat will ever face consequences?

Chuck म्हणाले...

For some reason, this comment attracted and fascinated me.

M Jordan said...
Trump’s response is curious. What’s the “fake news” part? The Milley calling China bit or the content of that call, that Trump is a threat? Also, Trump’s tone is almost jovial. Why?

My guess is Trump likes the story percolating, he likes seeing Milley dangle, he likes being the victim rather than cause of a coup, he likes tweaking Woodward for coming up with fake quotes, and most of all he likes seeing the different parts of the deep state begin attacking one another.

Let's analyze. M Jordan begins with this: M Jordan said...
Trump’s response is curious. What’s the “fake news” part? The Milley calling China bit or the content of that call, that Trump is a threat? Also, Trump’s tone is almost jovial. Why?

I agree with all of that. That's the basic question. Which parts of the book do you want to believe? All of it? Just parts? Just the parts that you want? Why are there parts of the story that some people want to believe but others that they don't? And what is the basis of claiming truth for some but not all of the book?
M Jordan goes on:

My guess is Trump likes the story percolating, he likes seeing Milley dangle...

I think I agree with this too. Let's observe the extent to which the Trump-loyalist media seems to be responding to Trump's personally pushing and cheerleading all "Milley treason" stories. It's evident right on these pages, as Althouse has blogged it replete with Trump's own website press release.k

... he likes being the victim rather than cause of a coup...

I definitely agree with that. Trump is nothing if not a professional victim.

...he likes tweaking Woodward for coming up with fake quotes...

That is certainly what Trump does, day after day. Any story that is harmful to him is "fake news." But when has Trump ever been right about Woodward "coming up with fake quotes"? How many times has Trump claimed that true news stories were "fake"? More than I could ever count. As I stated earlier on this page, Trump could do much to clear it all up bu doing a detailed interview on the Woodward book with someone like Jonathan Swan, or Bret Baier, or Jon Karl, or Chris Wallace, or... Bob Woodward.

...and most of all he likes seeing the different parts of the deep state begin attacking one another.

And this is where your agreeable post fell apart for me. Are you a "deep state" theorist? If there was a "deep state," I'm not so sure which parts of it would like to defend Donald Trump on the charges made by Woodward and Costa in the new book. It looks to me like the story pitted professional career public servants in the military and national defense leadership against some of the late-appointed lower-level Trump fanatics in the lame duck Administration. I see the story as Woodward and Costa seem to have seen it; a remarkable story about how utterly warped, broken, and dangerously twisted Trump appeared to our national security professionals after his 2020 election loss.

Drago म्हणाले...

Left Bank of the Charles: "How would it be treason if Donald Trump had never even thought of attacking China and China already knew that?"

Basic logic eludes many on the left and LLR-left.

Drago म्हणाले...

If this occurred in the way it is described, it is clearly a court-martial offense. Not even in question.

But it's Thoroughly Modern Milley and he performed his deep state duties against Trump so unless there is a faction within the establishment/deep state that wants Milley gone for their own reasons Milley will always be safe within the warm womb-like cocoon.

Of course, according to pro-marxist LLR Chuck, we won't really know what to think about any of this "military stuff" until our supposed modern day Clauswitz/Rommel, George "The Walrus" Conway, checks in with his thoughts.

Bruce Hayden म्हणाले...

“ White House is allegedly leaking against Milley now, (although I'm not sure who in this White House would be leaking to a right wing commentator like Posobiec, so take that for what you will). I think we're not far off a realisation at Defense and the White House that Milley has blundered into so many dumb political fights that he's damaging the reputation of the military itself. Maybe they let him save face by resigning rather than cashiering him as he deserves, but I can't imagine him staying on long term.”

They need a fall guy for their debacle in Afghanistan, and Miley offered himself up with his idiocy.

Owen म्हणाले...

As an object approaches the singularity inside a black hole, it experiences tidal forces that grow exponentially and eventually tear it apart. We hear its dying shriek as a burst of hard X-rays.

The end stage of a rotten regime is analogous.

John henry म्हणाले...

Gahrie said...

Well there is no federal right to vote. Really. Go look I'll wait

Well said. Glad to see that at least 2 of us get this.

I've been saying it here for 10 years or more.

John Henry

Bruce Hayden म्हणाले...

“ If Nancy Pelosi was involved in any of this, she should be busted back to prison inmate, stripped of her pension and forced to eat prison food instead of her gourmet ice cream.”

Wonder why Pelosi has a) announced that she won’t run for re-election as Speaker in the next Congress, and b) is pushing as hard as she can to nationalize Congressional elections, permanently installing fraudulent elections nation wide? I think very likely because she knows that writhing her fake 1/6 investigation, the Republicans will immediately retaliate when they retake the House, which is increasingly certain, after the 2022 elections. She doesn’t care one whit about losing her pension - her husband made far more this year in insider trading based on information fed him through her power as Speaker. But I think that she does worry about losing her access to gourmet ice cream and her subzero freezer.

Narayanan म्हणाले...

Blogger Tom T. said...
Even Lt. Col. Vindman, the great underminer, agreed with Trump and tweeted that Milley's conduct was treason if true.
---------
before praising let us ask : what would Vindman have done had he been Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ?

leaked? / blow whistle?

Peter Spieker म्हणाले...

I’m guessing the story is fake news, or partly fake news. I think Milley either never made the phone call to China, or made it but the actual content of the call was tamer than reported. I imagine what happened was that Pelosi was hysterical after January 6th, and Milley lied to her, giving her a version of events that would get her off his back. The General’s story was then leaked, maybe by people who thought it made Trump look bad, maybe by people who think Milley is past his expiration date, or maybe both.

Peter Spieker म्हणाले...

I’m guessing the story is fake news, or partly fake news. I think Milley either never made the phone call to China, or made it but the actual content of the call was tamer than reported. I imagine what happened was that Pelosi was hysterical after January 6th, and Milley lied to her, giving her a version of events that would get her off his back. The General’s story was then leaked, maybe by people who thought it made Trump look bad, maybe by people who think Milley is past his expiration date, or maybe both.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

I tend to think this isn't true, but no comments from Milley yet that I have found. This is the kind thing that, if it is libel, requires a response in the form of a denial and a lawsuit against WaPoo.

Mary Beth म्हणाले...

Some of it sounds like Milley being an attention-seeking primadonna who was trying to smear Trump. Why call a meeting to say that in case of a call for nuclear weapons, they would follow procedure? That meeting shouldn't be necessary. They should be reminded what the procedure is with regularity while they are at that post.

They should not, be called into a meeting to be told that the Commander in Chief is on the verge of going to war just because one general (and the Speaker of the House) don't like him. A lot of people were saying the same thing when Trump was elected. I guess Milley had to get in one more before time ran out.

Jamie म्हणाले...

Hey! Democrats and DemSocs! Are you really this monarchical?! Our system is built on the assumption that power corrupts; you're cheering for an obvious abuse of power even if the entire story of Trump's being "crazy" and about to launch a nuclear attack were true.

Let's accept for the sake of argument the defense I've heard of Milley's not resigning - that if he did, Trump would just have appointed a Trumpist general and we'd all soon be piles of ash. In that case, the principled action of a principled general would have been to wait until the unlawful order is given, hopefully for your sake in front of witnesses or in incontrovertible writing, and then disobey. (But be prepared to disobey even if only you witnessed it, and then bear the consequences.) It's not like there's an actual Big Red Button that a maniacal Trump could rush over to and push, launching the nukes.

Dems and DemSocs, how in the name of whatever you hold holy do you defend the top miliary authority's deciding that, because his CiC might at some point give an improper or unlawful order, it was his right, nay, his solemn duty to disobey and actively seek to undermine his CiC preemptively?!

But it's all about your political crush, whoever s/x/he is, and not at all about the safeguards our nation has in place against freaking cults of personality and blind reliance on any one individual's ethics.

Oh, and projection. It's also all about projection.

I had no idea how bad a state we're in as a nation until I woke up today to read the full-throated cheers of Democrats for the alleged architect of a potential military coup.

hstad म्हणाले...

Well this is just another inside DC politics kerfulle. The source is Woodward's book - therefore, I question the truthfulness of such information. Woodward is known for his lies to push the sales of his book.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

Milley may or may not be a 'Dumbass,' but he's certainly a 'Fatass.'

Could he even have a prayer at passing the military's physical fitness standards?

Is he morbidly obese as defined by the military's BMI standards?

He is no stranger to Krispy Kreme...

Michelle Dulak Thomson म्हणाले...

Chuck,

You don't need to be a "deep state theorist" to know that the Federal bureaucracy is (1) large, and (2) very protective of its own backside. Trump threatened them because he did many unpredictable things, and the deep-staters hate unpredictability above all.

It looks to me like the story pitted professional career public servants in the military and national defense leadership against some of the late-appointed lower-level Trump fanatics in the lame duck Administration.

Not to me it doesn't; it looks (from the story Woodward and Costa told, which I trust as little as anyone else commenting here) as though Milley pitted himself -- "professional career public servant in the military" and all -- against the civilian leadership. Which means Trump, not any "late-appointed lower-level Trump fanatics."

The story -- again, if you credit it -- is that Milley pledged to Li that Li would get advance warning of any US attack. Now that, were it to happen, would certainly be treason; and even promising it is likely treason. There are few things more central to the US system of governance than that the government is always under civilian control. What Milley is said to have done is tantamount to a coup -- the real kind, not the kind where some booby puts his feet up on Speaker Pelosi's desk.

Skippy Tisdale म्हणाले...

"Oh, and projection. It's also all about projection."

Just yesterday I was thinking, I wonder what the exact opposite of empathy is? And then it dawned on me. It's projection.

Michelle Dulak Thomson म्हणाले...

Left Bank of the Charles,

How would it be treason if Donald Trump had never even thought of attacking China and China already knew that?

Trump says that China knew he wouldn't attack. Most likely they were, in fact, pretty sure that Trump wouldn't attack; he has made something of a point of not getting us into any more wars. But Trump resists being predictable; he likes leaving uncertainty everywhere. And his hostility to China (despite buttering up Xi on occasion) is fairly well known.

So we aren't in a situation where Milley calls, say, his equivalent in Canada to say, hey, if Trump decides to nuke Canada, I'll let you know first. We know that Trump genuinely had no thought of nuking Canada. But he'd be nuts if he never thought about military action of some kind against China. Not nukes, but some gesture to protect Taiwan, or disrupt Chinese activity in the South China Sea, or even claw back a modicum of freedom for Hong Kong.

Pookie Number 2 म्हणाले...

But if the reporting really is true, we should consider the rest of the story along with Milley’s part of the story. And what they reported about the leadup to Milley’s China contacts was that Trump was careening wildly from one reckless action to another.

Well, no. It means that we should consider that it’s likely that Milley believed that Trump was careening. But your presence and commentary demonstrate with painful regularity that stupid people will believe obvious falsities about Trump, with no regard for truth.

gilbar म्हणाले...

NCWilliam said...
But Vindeman can call Milley a traitor without such consequences because why?

I assume it's got something to do, with being retired

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed म्हणाले...

I'm old enough to remember Al Haig and the kerfuffle he caused the day Reagan was shot. Clearly our mainstream Dem propaganda outfits have a completely different take on this particular breach of the norms of our Republic because the sides are changed and OMB.

BUMBLE BEE म्हणाले...

Trump AND Pence for Modern Milley? Two for one. Sounds like Pelosi.

Drago म्हणाले...

Bruce Hayden: "They need a fall guy for their debacle in Afghanistan, and Miley offered himself up with his idiocy."

Indeed.

Of course this throws ANOTHER monkey wrench into pro-marxist LLR Chuck's continuing series of monstrous lies vomited up to defend the democraticals. According to pro-marxist LLR Chuck, there is NO Afghanistan debacle....unless its all Trump's fault.

In which case its because Biden had to carry out Trump's plan....but the entire Biden team is claiming Trump left them no plan...so Chuck's beloved democraticals had to devise their own plan...which was universally and publicly praised by democraticals everywhere...whom LLR Chuck adores and respects.....but then that "plan" went up in flames....

You see where this is going.

It has been previously noted that not only is pro-marxist LLR Chuck a strong democratical, he is actually on the far far left of the democratical/lefty spectrum, often to the left of Pelosi and even AOC.

This case is no exception to that. Our pro-marxist LLR Chuck is now far to the left of even LCOL "Porkchop and Croissants" Vindman!

LOL

And remember, we are only 9 months into the Installed *"president's" term and LLR Chuck has already put himself off on the far left ledge....where many of us always knew he has always been.

Drago म्हणाले...

hstad: "Well this is just another inside DC politics kerfulle. The source is Woodward's book - therefore, I question the truthfulness of such information. Woodward is known for his lies to push the sales of his book."

That's where I was yesterday on this story....until today.

Because Milley just offered up the classic non-denial "denial" which addressed none of the pertinent points raised in the book.

Further, even democraticals are going after Milley (causing pro-marxist LLR Chuck all kinds of heartburn) because they know our hopelessly politicized and Woke Thoroughly Modern Milley has moronically lumbered into "patsy" territory" with what appears now to be completely indefensible actions which provides an opportunity for other swampies to cast off responsibility and blame onto someone with a bigger target on their back.

I have to say, I'm enjoying pro-marxist LLR Chuck's hilarious twisting of clear truths to push more pro-democratical monstrous lies even more than his over the top, astonishing really, twisting of reality to defend his newest beloved democratical "hero" Kamala yesterday.

Truly, that's another "LLR Chuck"-ism for the ages!

Vance म्हणाले...

Woodward's story... is it true? Well, I wasn't there, so clearly I don't know first hand.

What has anyone who was alleged to be there said? Anything at all? We know that Pelosi's call happened; it was reported January 8th or so in the New York Times. But just that she called the Pentagon, and the Pentagon refused something from her. That story sounded lots better for the Pentagon. I assume that now we can say Milley was "The Pentagon" in that story.

So we have Woodward now, and the NYT then. Clearly, a phone call from Pelosi was made.

Woodward is a serial hack so the default is to assume it's not true. But if so, why wouldn't the people who allegedly were there speak up? If it didn't happen, but they let Woodward's account go by unchallenged, then for all intents and purposes it did happen.

As the hours and days go by without pushback, it lends more credence to the story.

And that story is absolutely disastrous for Pelosi and Milley both. Coup and Treason, Sedition, etc. are not good words, but they are appropriate if these facts are true as alleged. That's not a place you want to be. And for rank and file Democrats like Chuck, Howard, etc.: Having your party leaders involved in military espionage, coups, treason is not a good look.

The next big question: If this is true and they did this to Trump... have they stopped doing this to Biden, who is pretty clearly not in charge? Who is running the US military? Civilians, or did Milley just keep on with his "Everything must be passed through me first--I can countermand any order by the SecDef or the President!"? And shouldn't someone be asking that question?

John henry म्हणाले...

Why would anyone believe anything in any Woodward book?

Yeah, the Milley story is juicy but it comes from Woodward. The Pence story? Well he's always seemed like a conscientious person so he probably did look into the certification process. With Dan Quayle? Possible I suppose but doesn't seem real likely.

So without corroboration, I wouldn't believe anything in any Woodward book.

It will be interesting to see if Milley denied the story and how. Our who comes out to defend him and how. So far just crickets, I think.

John Henry

rehajm म्हणाले...

"Well there is no federal right to vote. Really. Go look I'll wait

Well said. Glad to see that at least 2 of us get this.

I've been saying it here for 10 years or more."

Ah good. I'll go tell Congress HR1 is a waste of time then...

...and now we know what a vote isn't. Hooray! ...buy we still don't have an agreed upon definition of what a vote is...

gilbar म्हणाले...

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-acting-defense-sec-miller-says-he-did-not-authorize-milley-china-calls-says-he-should-resign

"The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the highest-ranking military officer whose sole role is providing military-specific advice to the president, and by law is prohibited from exercising executive authority to command forces," Miller said. "The chain of command runs from the President to the Secretary of Defense, not through the Chairman."

Achilles म्हणाले...

Milley just essentially confirmed the story with a non-denial.

He is a traitor.

He deserves to be treated like one.

Mark म्हणाले...

I see now that Milley's defense is that he didn't commit espionage. Rather, he was part of a larger conspiracy involving a lot of other Defense officials.

So the criminal conspiracy to commit espionage makes it all OK.

Drago म्हणाले...

MDT: "The story -- again, if you credit it -- is that Milley pledged to Li that Li would get advance warning of any US attack. Now that, were it to happen, would certainly be treason; and even promising it is likely treason. There are few things more central to the US system of governance than that the government is always under civilian control. What Milley is said to have done is tantamount to a coup -- the real kind, not the kind where some booby puts his feet up on Speaker Pelosi's desk."

Everything you've written is undeniably true.

Which is why pro-marxist LLR Chuck is busy throwing up as much dust as he can to obscure the ramifications of Thoroughly Modern Milley's actions....which I now assume he did take based on his (Milley's) transparently butt-covering non-denial denial.

wendybar म्हणाले...

@shipwreckedcrew

Given that the current President has cognitive deficiencies expressly and implicitly acknowledged by our allies and the media, who has Gen. Milley been in contact with around the world to tell that the US military will not act on the addled thinking of the current POTUS?

Butkus51 म्हणाले...

Woodward is not a reporter. Far from it. I could be wrong but has he ever once found a problem with any democratic politician? Yeah, sometimes I crack myself up.

Chuck, you just keep being you.

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed म्हणाले...

And now the news is that the phone call to China happened. And the Dems are defending it.

Gentlemen and ladies and others, it is with great displeasure that I present to you a nation of men and not of laws. The Dems have come out in the open about it with this latest contretemps: They want a hot civil war. By defending mutiny and treason by their people they have clearly signaled their desire that our constitutional republic should no longer exist.

Welcome to the regency of King Joe the First. May he suffer the fate of King Charles the First.

M Jordan म्हणाले...

@Chuck: “ And this is where your agreeable post fell apart for me. Are you a "deep state" theorist?”

Of course there’s a deep state. It’s nothing more than the existing, long-term human infrastructure of any large institution. In Europe it’s called the Eau and it’s headquartered in Brussels and it’s why Brexit passed. The deep state in our US government is the unelected, lifetime occupants of the entire DC world. It’s huge and growing. And as I alluded, it sometimes fights itself. Right now the intel world and defense world appear to be at odds. Biden the Non-Trump papered over this rift but it won’t last forever.

Chuck म्हणाले...

SecDef Esper, and how Milley had not gone rogue:

https://mobile.twitter.com/joshrogin/status/1438144110305611777?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Acting SecDef Miller, and how Milley had not gone rogue:

https://mobile.twitter.com/gtconway3d?lang=en

Greg The Class Traitor म्हणाले...

Maynard said...
If the Milley story is based on the new Bob Woodward book, then I have every reason to doubt it. He is a serial fabulist.

That was my starting point.

However, Milley came out with a "non-denial denial", so now I believe it's pretty much true,

R C Belaire म्हणाले...

This is a late addition to this comment thread, but I was wondering: What if the roles of Milley and Gen. Li Zuocheng of the Chinese military were reversed? That is, imagine the outcome if Li called Milley without telling Xi Jinping, and then Xi found out? Li would never be heard from again because the Chinese take these security issues seriously.

Readering म्हणाले...

I assume there will be Congressional oversight, with review of all the memos and other writings, plus recordings, of these events; and then the kerfuffle will go away and we still won't have a serious reexamination of how "easy" it is for the US to get into a war with another nuclear power.

Drago म्हणाले...

Pro-marxist LLR Chuck: "Acting SecDef Miller, and how Milley had not gone rogue:

https://mobile.twitter.com/gtconway3d?lang=en"

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Yes Ladies and Gentlemen! To determine what Acting SecDef Miller had to say about Milley's actions, our pro-marxist LLR Chuck actually, and I'm not kidding here, not even in the slightest, used a link to George "The Walrus" Conway for anonymous source twittering saying Miller was A-OK with Milley's actions!!

Meanwhile, in non-pro-marxist world (which does not include LLR Chuck who has embraced and strongly endorsed marxist candidates for office at all levels), former Acting SecDef Miller had this to say about Milley's actions (and this is Miller talking, not a made up "source" from George Conway's twitter feed:

Former acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, who led the Pentagon from the period after the 2020 election through Inauguration Day, said that he “did not and would not ever authorize” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley to have “secret” calls with his Chinese counterpart, describing the allegations as a “disgraceful and unprecedented act of insubordination,” and calling on him to resign “immediately.”

In a statement to Fox News, Miller said that the United States Armed Forces, from its inception, has “operated under the inviolable principle of civilian control of the military.”

“The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the highest-ranking military officer whose sole role is providing military-specific advice to the president, and by law is prohibited from exercising executive authority to command forces,” Miller said. “The chain of command runs from the President to the Secretary of Defense, not through the Chairman.”

“If the reporting in Woodward’s book is accurate, it represents a disgraceful and unprecedented act of insubordination by the Nation’s top military officer,” Miller said, adding that if the story of Milley’s “histrionic outbursts and unsanctioned, anti-Constitutional involvement in foreign policy prove true, he must resign immediately or be fired by the Secretary of Defense to guarantee the sanctity of the officer corps.”

“Pursuit of partisan politics and individual self-interests are a violation of an officer’s sacred duty and have no place in the United States military,” Miller said, adding that “a lesser ranking officer accused of such behavior would immediately be relieved of duty pending a thorough and independent investigation.”

“As secretary of defense, I did not and would not ever authorize such conduct,” Miller said.


Yes, pro-marxist LLR Chuck really did try to sneak that one thru thinking everyone else on Althouse is as dumb and lefty as he is.

Hard to believe, but LLR Chuck actually out-gadfy-ed gadfly with that one.

Stephen St. Onge म्हणाले...

Blogger rehajm said...
"If we're going to have these conversations now and in the future it would help if we agreed on some definitions. What's treason?" And Balfegor, Tom T., Mike (MJB Wolf), Drago, Narayanan, Michelle Dulak Thomson, and Vance all used the t-word.

        Constitution of the United States, Article III, Section 3, first paragraph: "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."  (My bold italics).

        Concerning "Enemies," the Supremes have consistently ruled that if we are not actively involved in armed hostilities, the group is not an "Enemy."

        So unless we were at war with China recently and no one noticed,or Milley personally took part in a military campaign against the U.S., he did not commit treason.  Probably, if Trump HAD ordered an attack, a warning would constitute treason.  But promises to commit a (possible) crime are not a crime in themselves, when no action is taken to carry out the promise.

        It always amazes me that people want to talk about what the law is or isn't without making the least effort to look it up.  Please do us all a favor.  Before you decide to dispute me by looking at a dictionary, citing some case where you haven't read the indictment, or otherwise insist on making up your own Constitution and U.S. Code, do a web search on "Supreme Court Decisions Treason Against United States", or the equivalent.

Drago म्हणाले...

Readering: "I assume there will be Congressional oversight, with review of all the memos and other writings, plus recordings, of these events;....."

LOL

Yes. Readering actually wrote that. Just now. As if it were 1976 or something.

Hilarious.

Meanwhile, there are clearly thousands (some estimates put the number at 5,000 or so) Americans sitting in Afghanistan and were told early on by the State dept (another revelation out in the last 48 hours) that they were on their own for getting out of Afghanistan.

Which puts the complete lie to ANOTHER of the lefty claims about the Afghanistan surrender/retreat/Give-Away program of the democraticals/LLR-democraticals.

Balfegor म्हणाले...

Re: Vance:

Woodward is a serial hack so the default is to assume it's not true. But if so, why wouldn't the people who allegedly were there speak up? If it didn't happen, but they let Woodward's account go by unchallenged, then for all intents and purposes it did happen.

Helpfully, unnamed attendees are now coming out to say that Woodward's a liar. Different anonymous sources seem to be saying different things, but it sounds like civilian leadership was looped into the conversation. Milley still strikes me as a bit of a Comey, but I'm now inclined to believe he wasn't attempting 下剋上.

Drago म्हणाले...

As with the Babylon Bee attempting to create satire on what the left/LLR_left is doing and then finding out that no matter how absurd the attempted satire, the left/LLR-left exceed that absurdity in reality, so it is with our pro-marxist LLR Chuck and my observations that LLR Chuck routinely defers to the military/geo-political strategy "stylings" of the most aggressive buffet attacker ever known to man, George "The Walrus" Conway.

LOL

What a joy it has been watching LLR Chuck completely melt down over the last 30 days and knowing that his explicitly expressed far left/pro-democratical objectives at Althouse blog will never be realized:
1) Effectively smear and lie about Trump and republicans to help achieve a permanent democratical majority at all levels of government for 50 years
2) Drive a permanent wedge between Althouse and her readers and drive them away from Althouse blog

Remember, those are the objectives that LLR Chuck himself declared here on multiple occasions.....with each of those moments of clarity being driven by heavy gin and tonic consumption.

In gin and tonic veritas, so they say.

Drago म्हणाले...

Sorry to have to clue you in on this Stephen St. Onge, but your pretty and polite Marquess of Queensbury rules are no longer operative in 2021.

Over the last 6 years in particular, and even for decades before that, new operating rules have been foisted on us by the left/LLR-left. So, one set of rules and definitions for everyone. Not different rules and definitions depending upon who is under the microscope.

Welcome to......today's world.

Michelle Dulak Thomson म्हणाले...

Stephen St. Onge,

So, say, we had no "enemy" in the Cuban Missile Crisis, b/c there were no active hostilities, only a blockade? A US General who promised Khrushchev advance notice of any forthcoming attack from the US wouldn't be committing treason, b/c there wouldn't be war until the attack was launched, while his notice would precede the attack, and up until it did launch the US and the USSR were -- officially -- BFF?

This formulation, in which there definitionally can't be any treason until an attack commences, so forewarning of an attack is never treasonous, is almost literally "Constitution as suicide pact." If there are Supreme Court cases actually on point, could you perhaps cite one or more? Nothing comes to mind.

Narayanan म्हणाले...

Achilles said...
Milley just essentially confirmed the story with a non-denial.

He is a traitor.

He deserves to be treated like one.
-----------
if he was traitor to TRUMP >>> then of course he was patriot and concerned for humanity

now do Biden and drone attacks!

Chuck म्हणाले...

Jennifer Griffin of Fox News reports that there were as many as 15 people from multiple departments on calls between General Milley and General Li. The calls were certainly classified. They were not “secret.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnews.com/politics/milley-calls-with-chinese-counterpart-were-not-secret-us-officials.amp

Jamie म्हणाले...

I'm now inclined to believe he wasn't attempting 下剋上

... by himself.

Narr म्हणाले...

Thanks for the Japanese lesson! Very useful term.

Drago म्हणाले...

pro-marxist LLR Chuck: "Jennifer Griffin of Fox News reports that there were as many as 15 people from multiple departments on calls between General Milley and General Li. The calls were certainly classified. They were not “secret.”'

And that explains why Thoroughly Modern Milley could not deny the charges. He's simply hoping that "orange man bad" will be enough to excuse his unconstitutional behavior and violation of his oath of office which should have already resulted in his immediate court martial.

Greg The Class Traitor म्हणाले...

Howard said...
Hahahahaha. This is the only part of Woodwards book that's actually true!

It's a joy seeing you snowflakes whine and cry after having a gynormous scab ripped open.


I am so glad I'm not you, Howard.

I would hate to have to be so morally wretched as to have to cheer the crimes of the Left and their "allies"

Greg The Class Traitor म्हणाले...

Chuck said...
Jennifer Griffin of Fox News reports that there were as many as 15 people from multiple departments on calls between General Milley and General Li. The calls were certainly classified. They were not “secret.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnews.com/politics/milley-calls-with-chinese-counterpart-were-not-secret-us-officials.amp


So, Chuck, what I see you saying is that "the Deep State is real, and they are in a conspiracy agains the people and government of the US"

And you're happy about this?

Greg The Class Traitor म्हणाले...

Narayanan said...
if he was traitor to TRUMP >>> then of course he was patriot and concerned for humanity

Milley swore an oath to follow the chain of command, and resign if he couldn't do that.

He violated the oath.

You don't have a problem with that? Because he violated his oath in order to do something you like?

And what are you going to do when he violates his oath to do something you don't like? Or when his replacement does?

When you're in your re-education camp, will it lighten your heart that the path to getting you there started with "getting Trump"?