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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums'You're a bunch of dopes and babies'
This is what the draft dodger called his Generals.
Addressing the room, the commander in chief barked, Youre a bunch of dopes and babies.
For a president known for verbiage he euphemistically called locker room talk, this was the gravest insult he could have delivered to these people, in this sacred space. The flag officers in the room were shocked. Some staff began looking down at their papers, rearranging folders, almost wishing themselves out of the room. A few considered walking out. They tried not to reveal their revulsion on their faces, but questions raced through their minds. How does the commander in chief say that? one thought. What would our worst adversaries think if they knew he said this?
This was a president who had been labeled a draft dodger for avoiding service in the Vietnam War under questionable circumstances. Trump was a young man born of privilege and in seemingly perfect health: six feet two inches with a muscular build and a flawless medical record. He played several sports, including football. Then, in 1968 at age 22, he obtained a diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels that exempted him from military service just as the United States was drafting men his age to fulfill massive troop deployments to Vietnam.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/youre-a-bunch-of-dopes-and-babies-inside-trumps-stunning-tirade-against-generals/2020/01/16/d6dbb8a6-387e-11ea-bb7b-265f4554af6d_story.html
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Until a few actually do start walking out, nothing will change.
Sid
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)I'd be willing to bet one or two guys even furrowed their brows!
marble falls
(57,343 posts)frowned on in all militaries on the planet.
That said there is no doubt, he was yelling at them because he feels like nobody is doing things he "ordered" done.
Like how long it took and how many times he ordered that Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch be fired. On TRMS Lev Parsa said it took weeks and and may repetitions of "fire here", before it was done.
coti
(4,612 posts)But that might have taken a couple minutes' work to get her phone number.
marble falls
(57,343 posts)NewJeffCT
(56,829 posts)as the RWers like to say, why not just call her and tell her she's fired and/or draft an email saying she's terminated, effective immediately?
Why did they have to spend weeks tailing her and trying to manufacture dirt?
marble falls
(57,343 posts)carries out policy. They also take themselves too seriously and get a lot of what they believe is their superpowers from TV twenty and thirty years ago.
They don't know any better, aren't capable of doing any better and besides, playing cops and robbers/Jason Bourne is fun even when they take it seriously.
kairos12
(12,877 posts)Happyhippychick
(8,379 posts)Rhiannon12866
(206,247 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Does he think he's fooling anybody with that "Tough Guy" talk? He's nothing more than a sniveling, lily-livered, weak little coward. How dare he treat people who are actually brave enough to serve and fight like he is their superior?
He makes me absolutely sick! I can't understand how anyone in the military can support this POS with the way he regularly mocks and disrespects them.
superpatriotman
(6,253 posts)Some more:
...We should make money off of everything.
All these countries need to start paying us for the troops we are sending to their countries. We need to be making a profit, Trump said. We could turn a profit on this.
And the ONE grownup finally speaks up:
Tillerson- No, thats just wrong, the secretary of state said. Mr. President, youre totally wrong. None of that is true.
maxsolomon
(33,419 posts)He's dressing down top military brass; imagine how he treats Melania, or his Trump Org employees, like poor Meredith McIver, or John Miller, or John Barron!
He is the poster child for Toxic Masculinity.
superpatriotman
(6,253 posts)Erectile dysfunction
Male pattern baldness
Know-it-allism
Failing upwards
Floyd R. Turbo
(26,634 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)occurrence. Particularly when you consider the thugs he has surrounded himself with his entire life. Why is everyone so afraid of this pathetic, sniveling coward? I just don't get it.
It astonishes me that nobody can see through the tough guy facade and realize they are dealing with a weak, insecure little cry-baby who would probably wet himself if anyone ever asked him to "step outside".
Newest Reality
(12,712 posts)His method acting is being played well there. While many may just take that as crude and insulting, even a lack of sensitivity and bad judgement, it is yet another perfect example of Trump expertly playing roles that are designed to have a certain impact.
In this case, he is doing the same thing he has been doing to other important institutions and public situations. His acting in this case works in more than one way, (depending on if you are in his base or on the other side). He knows that when a President says things like that, as CIC, it is going to have a negative impact in the public sphere generally, (corrode, erode) but could be seen as "tough" commander talk by the base.
I am wondering when he gets the academy award he deserves for this. I am flabbergasted to see how it works and I don't think Hitler was as good as manipulating both sides as this guy is. With his motivation as a lust for power, he is giving it all he's got. Our country has become a real-time reality TV show and he is "scripting" it and playing a lead role.
I can't unsee how the phony show he is doing, even though it is not commonly realized, yet. It changes everything.
Dukkha
(7,341 posts)Sorry Mr President but you can't just declare bankruptcy on a war and walk away. It's a little more complicated than that.