Austin’s failure to inform his most senior advisers, congressional leaders and even President Joe Biden of his hospitalization last week due to complications from a medical procedure has erupted into a controversy that’s left senior White House and Pentagon officials infuriated and befuddled. Some Republicans quickly called for investigations or even for Austin to be disciplined or fired....Even for Austin...
Some... Republicans....
We're talking about the defense of the United States!
Austin’s job appears safe — at least for the moment, but pressure is growing within the administration and on Capitol Hill for someone to lose their job.....
Why protect Austin?
The White House, and Biden in particular, likes that Austin keeps his opinions to private meetings and doesn’t knife-fight in the media like some previous defense chiefs. Biden still seethes at past Pentagon bosses and military leaders who openly complained that then-President Barack Obama would not send enough troops to defeat al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Biden still feels Obama’s surge of thousands of troops to the war on terrorism is partly due to the Pentagon leaking assessments and limiting the White House’s decision-making space.
Austin’s loyalty and close-lipped nature ensures that when a secret needs to be kept, “you’ve pretty much got it locked down,” said the senior DOD official....
So much for transparency.
Posts
82 comments:
A clusterf**k in real time.
PJ media: "Come on, the Secretary of Defense can't just go AWOL."
AWOL? I hadn't thought of that, but it sure fits.
@Althouse, I think your post is right on the mark except for one little thing. DEI.
Old, hip and cool: Rules are for the little people.
New Hotness: Rules are for Republicans.
Austin doesn't care enough about his job to defend himself. The whole of DC is being run by not very bright 6th graders
Go to the wayback machine and track Obama forcing out all the flag officers and Generals that were conservative and competent. ALL of this is by careful design.
It would be quite a blow for the DEI community to lose the first black President of Harvard and the first black Secretary of Defense for cause in the same week.
Not that Austin shouldn’t already have been fired over the Afghanistan pullout.
If I was hospitalized and off work for a few days, I'd be sure to let my boss know.
Something does not add up.
They all need to go not just Austin. Every last one of them.
FundaMENTAL Transformation baby! Isn't it exciting!
Rod Serling is calling the shots for this administration from his grave.
Lloyd got his stars from a Cracker Jack box.
Scott Adams notes that Austin can't be fired because he's black, and the number two person is a women, who was on vacation in Puerto Rico, so she can't be fired either.
Only in government work could you take time off and not tell anyone.
“Why protect Austin?“
Isn’t it obvious?
Tags: The Uniparty is in control; The Modern Praetorian Guard; Oligarchs governing from the shadows; Out, out damned Trump
"Austin’s loyalty and close-lipped nature"
I wish Trump could've found people like that. It's my biggest reservation with him, the fact that he couldn't find or keep anyone worthwhile in his administration.
“ Why protect Austin?”
He’s Black.
Look how long it took Harvard to remove Gay.
Word has not leaked about what the procedure was for. Any number of secrets have leaked to the press, but not that one. Is that heartening or dispiriting? I'd like to know what kind of routine procedure leads you to end up in the ICU? Prostate biopsy?
You can't spill the beans when you don't know them.
Don't be distracted by your lying eyes, America. We're in the very best of hands.
After all, what could possibly go wrong? Asking for any further specifics is impolite, and probably racist. If you're safe in the bubble, it won't go well for you should you insist on more. Find a safe space.
"time for someone to lose their job"
AA hires are never to be fired. Skin color trumps all. At least until the Muzzies get a firmer foothold here.
Negro
I don’t expect the SecDef to be transparent with us. Argue your positions in private and execute the plan your boss decided on, and don’t let anyone know if you disagree. But to just disappear without informing your Commander and peers is completely unacceptable and a firing offense. If Biden doesn’t fire him it shows that there is no accountability in this administration.
Maybe the administration is preparing the ground for Biden to disappear for weeks at a time. Cringe Jean-Pierre: "The president is working from home".
So Lloyd Austin withheld his hospitalization from the public and the White House, but this not the first time for Austin's secrecy. When did he first have elective surgery? Presumably that required hospitalization also.
My guess is that someone in the press DOES know what put Austin in the ICU but that person is keeping silent to protect their team.
"Why protect Austin?"
Why protect Sam Brinton?
Why protect Claudine Gay?
first black Secretary of Defense
Colin Powell is unavailable for comment.
Reports coming out this morning that Austin entered the hospital before Christmas, not January 1.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/08/lloyd-austin-first-went-into-hospital-on-22-december-pentagon
Ah wait, Powell was SecState and head of Joint Chiefs, my bad.
If a war started and the US had to react, we'd be better off with Lloyd Austin incapacitated in the ICU. He's an idiot.
His job is safe because he is insignificant. Austin is just there to plug a hole.
"Why protect Austin?"
That's funny.
He was hired because of his skin color.
He's protected because of his skin color.
In other breaking news water is wet.
Biden still seethes at past Pentagon bosses and military leaders who openly complained that then-President Barack Obama would not send enough troops to defeat al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Biden “seethes”? Sounds like the guy holds angry grudges and, when in power, gets his vengeance. And what’s this, Biden didn’t want to support Afghanistan back when he was Vice-President? So much for the notion that the bungled Afghanistan withdrawal was Biden carrying out Trump’s plan. What’s the result? A SecDef loyal only to Biden and not the American people.
So was it gastric bypass surgery? Doesn’t that often lead to complications?
I just figured it out!
Austin will be fired because his deputy would automatically succeed him. She would be the historic first female SecDef.
Just watch. Mark this comment.
As far as protecting Austin I can think of 2 reasons. The first is that is bad to publicly admit a mistake or problem. People keeping score mark it as an L. Biden was probably hoping this would just blow over, which it likely would have if left wing news outlets hadn't started talking about it. The second is that seeing another prominent black office holder lose their job so soon will upset the left wing black voters that Biden is trying to energize right now. Biden recently gave a speech at the Christ Emmanuel Church in South Carolina, where a young white mass shooter murdered 9 black church-goers almost a decade ago. He wants those black folks to feel both under threat and that Biden can protect them. If Biden fires his black Secretary of Defense that will undercut the perception that he is or can protect them.
I think the more interesting thing though is why didn't the Secretary inform anyone. If it was something that was embarrassing, that is all the more reason to trust the White House to keep it under wraps heading into an election. And I find it hard to believe Mr. Austin could climb so high in any organization without understanding the basic practice of informing people if he has an unexpected leave of absence. I won't say this means something bad happened but it sure doesn't add up.
The White House, and Biden in particular, likes that Austin keeps his opinions to private meetings and doesn’t knife-fight in the media like some previous defense chiefs.
That is in no way the same thing as going under anesthesia without notifying "the White House, and Biden in particular"... or your #2, or apparently anybody but the medical personal involved in your procedure.
Austin will be fired because his deputy would automatically succeed him. She would be the historic first female SecDef.
Considering they kept her out of the loop too, I doubt it. JCS knew, but not the deputy that actually, but apparently not effectively, assumed his duties when he was in the ICU. They didn’t tell her, so she could do her and his job.
this is NOT equivalent to providing fake note from doctor since leave was not requested
Every time I think it can’t get any worse I am proved wrong.
I find it very peculiar that they never specify what the medical procedure he went in for was. Sure, medical privacy and all that... But this is not some Joe Schmoe. With public people in government, this sort of thing is not treated like a secret unless there is a reason to be embarrassed.
Can’t get rid of a black man In America having just dumped a black woman in America.
I love the smell of bile in the morning...
Austin was selected for the position because of what he is, not who he is. All decision making about his future revolves around that fact.
It is one of the many drawbacks of the DEI inspired manufactured "firsts."
If they start firing bureaucrats for not doing their jobs, who knows what might happen, professor. Accountability is a forbidden principle nowadays.
Does it bother anyone else but me that this story consists almost entirely of lurid speculation about unknown facts? I've been very disappointed with the reaction, especially here on Althouse. Yesterday, most of the comments seemed to be directed at ad hominem criticism, i.e., protected racial class, sex-change operation, scatological humor, so forth. It's only in the already-linked Guardian article that any facts are mentioned about Lloyd's leave of absence, and even these are mostly unconfirmed.
It sounds like he had a procedure before Christmas and this went through channels. It sounds like he had a complication and ended up in the Emergency Room, and notifications fell through the cracks because his own Chief of Staff was ill, too. Why is it so hard to get to the bottom of it? Why aren't the responses geared toward doing this, and informing the issue? Why is the press coverage content to be outraged instead of doggedly curious? Don't they know this gives the subjects license to not take them seriously? What about the readers?
Who was punished in Emperor wwith New Clothes? There is the lesson plan!
He’s been horrible at his job like Jean-Pierre and Harris but cannot be fired because he is like those two in some very specific ways.
The adults are back in charge!
Austin is the new Gay. It’s going to take a lot to fire him.
"someone to lose their job....."
It's not common for the hospitalization for a gender fluid change to require an ICU stay.
I smell a cover-up!
Aggie touched on this already, but I'll put my two cents in as well.
Is it true that the White House was not informed that Austin had gone into the hospital at all, or only that they weren't informed that there had been complications and he was put in ICU?
If it's the latter, then I don't see how you blame Austin himself. That seems like a textbook example of "incapacitated," and it'd be someone else's responsibility to tell people about it.
At least he wasn't "Hiking the Appalachian Trail"
And good to know he's so important he can disappear for a week and no one cares. I guess someone else is really running the show.
Could Austin's forgetfullness to tell his boss, be another probing test of weakness and opportunity by a foreign power, similar to the balloon test, do I sense a pattern?
I'm guessing this was a routine procedure with a longer-than-expected recovery timeline. Surgeries for hernias, gall bladders, gastric bypass (as speculated above), etc. can require just a day in the hospital, or end up taking much longer if the body responds poorly.
I don't think there's much here regarding Austin's actions or lack of communication -- he likely thought it'd be over quick during the holidays and he'd be back before anyone noticed.
The big issue is how the vultures and predators in DC responded to this situation.
Lol. Austin apologists.
When I got hit by a truck as a pedestrian my spouse knew who to call since I wouldn't be available for my routine obligations. And I'm a SAHM not the freaking Secretary of Defense.
No one noticed because either the Biden administration is that incompetent or he's really not in charge but just a figurehead.
Lol. Austin apologists.
When I got hit by a truck as a pedestrian my spouse knew who to call since I wouldn't be available for my routine obligations. And I'm a SAHM not the freaking Secretary of Defense.
No one noticed because either the Biden administration is that incompetent or he's really not in charge but just a figurehead.
At the level of Sec Def, press release about "elective surgery procedure" smells obfuscatory - bad optics. {If you don't like my mixed metaphors, I have others.)
"Elective surgery" aside, what was the cause of ICU admission. That is a separate medical event - the concealment of which is IMO a more serious offense against transparency in Government.
So... he went in for removal of a chest lipoma and the surgeon nicked the aorta? Just guessing here.
As to the Afghan Skedaddle, yes that happened on Austin's watch but the guy most responsible was the President. Arguably an impeachable offense.
good to know he's so important he can disappear for a week and no one cares..
he's "so important" that he disappeared for a week, before Any One Even KNEW
I'm going to speculate this is about a power struggle among little cabals within the administration. Sounds like Austin felt his job was vulnerable even going into the hospital in the first place. Austin didn't want his enemies within the administration to slide somebody into his chair who would wind up staying in it or having access to some information that would give them leverage over him.
That's what happens when the boss isn't firmly in control. And how could Biden be firmly in control? Look at the guy.
Austin's need for privacy
LOL. He's in charge of the frigging military!
Soldier: "Yeah, hey...sorry I left my post, Sarge. No, I couldn't really tell you. Well, everyone knows I have an unusually strong need for privacy, so..."
"We're talking about the defense of the United States!"
Are we? How so?
What has Austin done recently to defend the United States? What has the administration done? What actual actions by Biden et al. have actually contributed to our "defense"? What did this "defense" consist of in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and the Red Sea, in dealing with Hamas taking American hostages, in the secret Iran deal, in letting the Chinese spy balloon pass, and for that matter, on the southern border? In what sense do progs care at all about "defending" the United States?
David Strom from Hotair makes a good point. It appears Austin was out of commission for several days if not a week during a period when there are multiple wars going on. No one apparently noticed. That would indicate that no one actually talks to him. He is the Secretary of Defense, right?
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2024/01/08/newsflash-america-actually-doesnt-need-a-defense-secretary-n603466
Howard said: "I love the smell of bile in the morning..."
I think Howard has identified Austin's malady.
I think people are a little confused about the role of the SOD. It's not like he is deeply involved in day-to-day operations. Anyway, the guy is a fucking AA hire. No one would let him do anything important.
Mr. Majestyk:
My guess is that someone in the press DOES know what put Austin in the ICU but that person is keeping silent to protect their team.
Almost. Life.
Of course it's "some Republicans."
Democrats and leftmediaswine never put the welfare of the country above partisan politics.
This is what happens when you hire minorities, qualified or not.
You can't fire them without jumping through hoops.
They have the PoC get-out-of-jail-free card and they always play it.
But recently they don't even go to jail in the first place.
I welcome our Chinese overlords...
I'm reminded of the Politburo back in the days of Andropov and Chernenko.
Enigma:
... etc. can require just a day in the hospital, or end up taking much longer if the body responds poorly.
I know, right? And hospitals don't allow phone calls out, do they?
I don't think there's much here regarding Austin's actions or lack of communication -- he likely thought it'd be over quick during the holidays and he'd be back before anyone noticed.
"Eh, fuck 'em. It'll be quick." is indeed a problematic action AND lack of communication from a friggin' high ranking official.
Imagine Ike disappearing on June 5, 1944. Can't can you? Austin is no where near the talent Ike was but he is in a similar position where the T/O says he is the guy to make certain decisions and if you can't find him maybe critical decisions don't get made - like "go"at Normandy 6 June.
Imagining that scenario, perhaps you can understand why Austin abandoning his command is a big deal.
Remember when Austin was in South Korea or something inspecting troops during COVID and wore both a mask and the plastic face shield?
If he's not important, why does the Senate confirm him? Why have one at all?
The SecDef is important if he decides to be important. Because it's possible to be a nonentity does not mean it is required or desirable.
I find it very peculiar that they never specify what the medical procedure he went in for was. Sure, medical privacy and all that... But this is not some Joe Schmoe. With public people in government, this sort of thing is not treated like a secret unless there is a reason to be embarrassed.
If the treatment is embarrassing, then it is something that can be used as blackmail. The SecDef shouldn't have such poor mental health that they are embarrassed about their physical health. At least I wouldn't want such a person easily embarrassed in this important role.
I hear Aggie and SeanF. I don't see them as apologists rather than pointing out what appear to be incompetence at multiple levels below SecDef. In a previous thread, my first thought was I didn't care if SecDef was in a hospital. The issue was once he became incapacitated and how that was handled. If the JCS knew, then the fact nobody else seemed informed is FUBAR. People should be asking why the JCS didn't make sure their civilian leadership was kept in the know. That said, Austin had to at least know he wasn't feeling well and notified someone besides just the JCS or asked his family to do so, and if he didn't notify anyone, then he is not to be trusted in his role.
Why protect Austin?
Are they protecting Austin or are they protecting themselves from Austin?
Austin’s loyalty and close-lipped nature ensures that when a secret needs to be kept, “you’ve pretty much got it locked down
Until you fire him. Then maybe he starts talking about the Afghan withdrawal or the Ukraine quagmire or something.
If there's incompetence below SecDef... it's SecDef's fault. It's his job to make sure that DoD is competent!
Why is it so hard to get to the bottom of it? Why aren't the responses geared toward doing this, and informing the issue? Why is the press coverage content to be outraged instead of doggedly curious? Don't they know this gives the subjects license to not take them seriously? What about the readers?
Where's the pumpkin pie?
Well just who did Austin tell? He's the head dude in charge at the Department of Defense. He's going into the hospital for some indeterminate period of time. I know that his senior Assistant Secretary of Defense doesn't know more than two popcorn poots in a Texas windstorm about her job--but she is the Number Two. And the Chief is going into the hospital, and he lets his Number Two go off on vacation?
In any functioning organization in the world, Number One would tell Number Two to defer her vacation and "hold down the fort' whilst he's in hospital.
And to compound the clusterfark, Number One doesn't tell his boss that he'll be under the weather for a while but Number Two will be in charge while he's gone?
I wonder if the fact that he was not missed for four days means that his views are not regularly solicited and his approval, when required, can be assumed.
Leland said:
"If the treatment is embarrassing, then it is something that can be used as blackmail."
****************
Not if it is public knowledge.
Can't a guy have his sex change operation in some privacy ?
Not if it is public knowledge.
That's my point. If SecDef is so embarrassed that he wants to hide his condition, then he is signaling it as potential blackmail. You avoid the blackmail by setting aside your personal feelings and making it public knowledge. I could write "setting aside your pride", but there is plenty of people that retain their dignity even when having to report their mortal condition as being dire. Apparently, Austin is not one of them.
Today I read that the coalition the US was trying to put together to counter the Houthis fell apart almost immediately, with France, Spain, and Italy dropping out completely. Was the fact that Secretary Austin was not only absent, but no one was even aware of his absence, part of why the negotiations fell apart?
From a medical perspective: I think that he will probably not be fired because it was not his fault -- i.e., most likely, he could not inform anyone, because it was an unexpected complication of what was a routine visit that led to his quick demise -- ICU-level demise, intubated or similar. The really big issue is that no one even noticed, so, with this "he did not inform anyone" he is actually covering for his incompetent team. I know, I know, he is likely a Claudine Gay of Pentagon, but... perhaps, it is actually largely not his fault, this specific incident.
"Colored people's time (also abbreviated to CP time or CPT) is an American expression referring to African Americans as frequently being late. It states that African Americans can have a relaxed or indifferent view of work ethic, which leads to them being labeled as lazy or unreliable."
Interesting take from the Slate national defense guy. He both thinks Austin has to go, and will go by the end of the week, and also thinks his deputy can step up easily, with sufficient support from the Senate:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/01/secretary-of-defense-lloyd-austin-disappeared-hospitalized-biden-cabinet.html
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