This video popped up on CNN this afternoon, and I was immediately repulsed. It sounds like it’s narrated by Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth. And while AI sound-alike voiceovers are everywhere now, I’ll bet these two couldn’t wait to narrate this spot.
It aired immediately after lengthy reporting on today’s opening of the Barack Obama Presidential Center and the words of both Barack and Michelle Obama. Words of peace, mutual respect, and hope.
Given the timing, it struck me as Trump’s direct, personal reply to today’s events in Chicago. A celebration to which — rather pointedly — he was not invited. All the living former presidents were there — Bush, Clinton, Biden, and Obama.
Note “Department of War” in the header, and the close, “WAR.GOV.” The video was released during the equally repulsive UFC event at the White House five days ago, but today was the first time I’d seen it.
A reminder: It’s not the Department of War; it’s the United States Department of Defense. Or was before Trump and Hegseth took over.
Repulsed, yes, and now, alarmed.
Is this what we’ve come to? Is this America? Yours and mine?
Donald Trump is a megalomaniac. And he’s getting worse by the day. Can the nation survive another two and a half years of a Trump presidency?
…both Hegseth and Trump are very very very exhausting in their incompetence and complete ignorance of that incompetence. Every time I watch them speak, no matter the topic, I feel drained both emotionally and physically. The reflecting pool, the East Wing, the UFC, the speeches, the Iran War, the Doge Cuts, the USAID cuts, the extreme bravado, the continuous lying, the nonstop barrage of idiocy, the constant insults, the billion dollar grifting, then there’s the sexual assaults, the felonies, the grossness of it all… it’s all just monstrous and, honestly, Election Day next fall cannot come soon enough because, unfettered, I do not believe the America you want will survive another 2.5-years of Trump, This absolute nonsense has to end.
You expressed my feelings very well. Their grotesque incompetence leaves me slack-jawed, as do the months of complete inaction on the part of Congress to put a stop to it. Our vaunted
system of checks and balances no longer has either.
they are both horrible and should not be in any position of power
That’s the really scary part — that anyone thought it a good idea to elect or appoint them to office in the first place.
Right!!
(Adding to what you just posted): Especially considering what the nation experienced from 2017-2020 during his term in office. He’s a menace to not only the US, but the whole world.
I think his first term was all about what he and his supporters could get out of it. Money, power, prestige. They supported each other to enrich themselves. Their responsibility to the country, to their constituents, was ignored. “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” — Lord Acton, 1887
January 6 should have been sufficient warning.
During Trump’s second term, the rotting from within continues, made infinitely worse by his obvious mental decline. Excision is the only cure for cancer.
The U.S. military is the best in the world for what it’s designed to do and I am proud of its capability and its people. But, an old adage says the military usually errs by preparing for the technology of the last war instead of the future one. This is happening now with asymmetric warfare. Consider this AI response to my inquiry for a cost comparison: “An Iranian one-way attack drone, such as the Shahed-136, costs approximately $20,000 to $50,000 to manufacture. In contrast, the U.S. and its allies frequently utilize advanced interceptor missiles that cost between $4 million and $12 million each to shoot them down.This massive financial disparity creates a significant strategic challenge—often referred to as a “cost ratio of 10-to-1 or even 60-to-1 in favor of Iran”.
I’ve always been extremely proud of our military, and I’d heard some general figures about the cost deferential you mention. I also read that we’re beginning to run short of those very expensive arms, thereby weakening our defensive capabilities. A lot of misuse and misallocation directed by a couple of megalomaniacs who actually know nothing about conducting a war — a war they started without Congressional approval. Since Trump has zero military experience, I’ve wondered who, if anyone, has been advising him on how to proceed. And now we’ve sent the Iranians a ton of cash to build even more of those drones.
Just a note: Have you seen what Ukraine is doing to Russia, Moscow in particular, with only cheap drones (and without the promised US aid)?
Yes, I’ve seen info on Ukraine’s attacks on Russia. Good for them. As for Trump’s advisors, he has in his second term consciously surrounded himself with loyalists and yes men. The military advisors are different. Tradition governs that presidents and Congress are offered military options sans politics.
It seems safe to assume he either didn’t consult or didn’t listen to those military advisors before attacking Iran.
Even the music is sickening. God help us all.
Yes, we’re going to need all the help we can get, because at this point I doubt many of our former allies will step in to save us from the quagmire of our (Trump’s) own making.