SNAFU
Only 1,391 days to go...
"The American citizen soldiers knew the difference between right and wrong, and they didn't want to live in a world in which wrong prevailed. So they fought, and won, and all of us, living and yet to be born, must be profoundly grateful." ~Stephen Ambrose
I was born during the Korean War. The timing was such that my dad ended up with two tours of duty: WWII and the Korean War. He wasn’t around when I was born — he had already been called up and was bunking at the BOQ at Chanute Air Force Base in central Illinois.
Dad was lucky. By twist of fate, he was never in combat. That said, at one point he told us some of his stories of basic training. I could tell that even that experience was a bit traumatic.
When WWII ended, there were celebrations and ticker-tape parades and Congress passed the GI Bill to honor the men who had served. But our dads simply didn’t want to talk about their war experiences. They just wanted to get on with their lives, marry their sweethearts and settle down. To me, they were truly The Greatest Generation.
Almost all of my classmates’ dads had been citizen-soldiers and veterans from either WWII or the Korean War or both. We didn’t really understand exactly what that meant, but they would pull out their uniforms and march in the Memorial Day parade. We would see, who had been enlisted personnel and who had served as officers. One of my classmates had an uncle who died in the war. We saw his name engraved on the town’s memorial plaque.
Though they never talked about their war experiences, when I look back at my childhood, there were a lot chain smokers and maybe a few too many drinks at parties. I can only wonder, what our dads had been through and how many of them had been silently suffering from PSTD. I have a friend whose dad was at Normandy. She never even knew about his military service until after she graduated from college. She acknowledged later, that he had had a pretty serious drinking problem.
My generation’s war was Viet Nam. The sentiment in the country was quite different with anti-war protests. I had work colleagues, who had served and they refused to even acknowledge their military service. I think they had had such negative experiences when they returned from Nam. There were no parades — even worse… these veterans were criticized and insulted instead. Talk about suffer in silence — these vets really suffered.
Our most recent veterans from the “war on terrorism” are a special group. They have been called up multiple times to serve and they represent such a small number of the population — less than ½% of the US population. Unlike WWII when “we were all in it together,” this group has been isolated and bearing the brunt of a somewhat invisible series of wars. Among all U.S. adults in 2022, there were, on average, 131.2 suicides per day, with 17.6 Veteran suicides per day. The need for professional mental health help is critical.
Trump and his team have shown themselves to be pretty careless, when it comes to the health and safety of the military.
As we have been reading daily about the co-called, “Signalgate” scandal:
Top national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his defense secretary, texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, the magazine reported in a story posted online Monday. The National Security Council said the text chain “appears to be authentic.”
Top Trump officials accidentally included reporter in Yemen strike chat on commercial app. Trump initially told reporters he was not aware that the highly sensitive information had been shared, 2½ hours after it was reported. He later appeared to joke about the breach. (source: PBS - Trump officials texted war plans against Houthis to group chat that included a journalist)
#FOTUS’s disrespect and distain for the military is also well-documented and has been for years.
Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’
When President Donald Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, near Paris, in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision, saying that “the helicopter couldn’t fly” and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true.
Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.
Belleau Wood is a consequential battle in American history, and the ground on which it was fought is venerated by the Marine Corps. America and its allies stopped the German advance toward Paris there in the spring of 1918. But Trump, on that same trip, asked aides, “Who were the good guys in this war?” He also said that he didn’t understand why the United States would intervene on the side of the Allies…
But his cynicism about service and heroism extends even to the World War I dead buried outside Paris—people who were killed more than a quarter century before he was born. Trump finds the notion of military service difficult to understand, and the idea of volunteering to serve especially incomprehensible. (The president did not serve in the military; he received a medical deferment from the draft during the Vietnam War because of the alleged presence of bone spurs in his feet. In the 1990s, Trump said his efforts to avoid contracting sexually transmitted diseases constituted his “personal Vietnam.”)
For all these reasons, I find it really hard to understand why Military veterans remain a Republican group, backing Trump.
Two of my cousins are veterans. Both served in the Gulf War. They are full-on MAGA. Go figure? I haven’t spoken to them, but I am wondering, if they are having any second thoughts about Trump, as they see the utter disrespect this administration is showing for our veterans.
About one in three Federal workers are veterans, so they are disproportionately being targeted for the DOGE layoffs.
Further is the damage they are doing to the VA Health system. Trump and DOGE Propel V.A. Mental Health System Into Turmoil. A chaotic restructuring order threatens to degrade services for veterans of wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among the most consequential orders is the requirement that thousands of mental health providers, including many who were hired for fully remote positions, now work full time from federal office space. This is a jarring policy reversal for the V.A., which pioneered the practice of virtual health care two decades ago as a way to reach isolated veterans, long before the pandemic made telehealth the preferred mode of treatment for many Americans.
As the first wave of providers reports to offices where there is simply not enough room to accommodate them, many found no way to ensure patient privacy, health workers said. Some have filed complaints, warning that the arrangement violates ethics regulations and medical privacy laws. At the same time, layoffs of at least 1,900 probationary employees are thinning out already stressed services that assist veterans who are homeless or suicidal…
The DOGE cuts have already sparked chaos and confusion within the sprawling agency, which provides care to more than nine million veterans. The Trump administration has said it plans to eliminate 80,000 V.A. jobs, and a first round of terminations has halted some research studies and slashed support staff.
“I don’t want to minimize the cruelty or pain being inflicted by Trump and his cronies, but this last week has also revealed a foolishness — a mindless obtuseness — in Trump and this regime that defies belief. These people know zilch about governing, which is both laughable and terrifying.” ~Robert Reich
I grew up in home where the military was highly respected. One of my cousins hadn’t even been born yet, when his dad was killed in WWII. My mother had been the child of an Army reserve officer - my grandfather was a retired general and veteran of both WWI and WWII. I can only wonder what Granddaddy would be thinking, if he were alive today. Having a Commander-in-Chief, who is best known as President Bone Spurs and seeing our military being run by an alcoholic TV personality, who clearly doesn’t know what he’s doing, is just disgraceful and utterly irresponsible.
Thought for the day in honor of his birthday…
“We now face the prospect of a kind of global civil war between those who refuse to consider the consequences of civilization's relentless advance and those who refuse to be silent partners in the destruction. More and more people of conscience are joining the effort to resist, but the time has come to make this struggle the central organizing principle of world civilizations.”
~ Al Gore
Must Read Articles:
It’s not the hypocrisy that bothers me; it’s the stupidity. We’re all shocked — shocked! — that President Trump and his team don’t actually care about protecting classified information or federal record retention laws. But we knew that already. What’s much worse is that top Trump administration officials put our troops in jeopardy by sharing military plans on a commercial messaging app and unwittingly invited a journalist into the chat. That’s dangerous. And it’s just dumb.
This is the latest in a string of self-inflicted wounds by the new administration that are squandering America’s strength and threatening our national security. Firing hundreds of federal workers charged with protecting our nation’s nuclear weapons is also dumb. So is shutting down efforts to fight pandemics just as a deadly Ebola outbreak is spreading in Africa. It makes no sense to purge talented generals, diplomats and spies at a time when rivals like China and Russia are trying to expand their global reach.
In a dangerous and complex world, it’s not enough to be strong. You must also be smart.
Trump’s Crackerjack Cabinet Is a Fiasco Foretold
Sure, there were reports of Hegseth’s gross mismanagement of the veterans’ groups that he once led. There were accusations of public drunkenness and a violent temper. But how many of the men who previously held his job could rock a bright blue suit the way he did? Or pose shirtless to such fetching effect? Give that man a big say in military operations and a Signal account. What could possibly go wrong?…
We are witnessing iterations of the same horror story. Trump chose people for senior administration positions not because they had demonstrated the skills and disposition that those jobs required, not because they had paid their dues, not because they had proved their mettle. He wanted provocateurs. He wanted sycophants. He wanted to test his supporters’ compliance and send his detractors into a tizzy.
Competence didn’t enter the equation, so competence isn’t among the results. He got exactly what he paid for, and now a nation is paying the price.
Quotes of the day:
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk are utterly betraying our veterans–indiscriminately firing men and women who have served our nation in uniform and endangering the care and benefits they deserve and have earned.”
~Senator Patty Murray
“I’ve been crying a lot lately as I’ve been seeing them fired in rows, slowly not answering phone calls or emails. I worry about them and I worry about the 117 homeless veterans in Milwaukee County (current as of today) who I don’t know how I will help without them.“
~ Someone working for the State of Wisconsin, helping to keep Milwaukee’s homeless veterans alive. They’re struggling with how they can continue to do this without the federal VA workers Trump/Musk fired.
What I’m reading today…
Trump’s firings of military leaders pose a crucial question to service members of all ranks
Trump’s actions could raise concerns about whether he is trying to change those centuries of precedent.
If so, military personnel at all levels would face a crucial question: Would they stand up for the military’s independent role in maintaining the integrity and stability of American democracy or follow the president’s orders – even if those orders crossed a line that made them illegal or unconstitutional?
Trump and Musk Endanger Veterans’ Care, Heartlessly Fire Thousands Who’ve Served in Uniform
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has long suffered severe staffing shortages, including in clinical positions, which have negatively impacted veterans’ ability to get the support, benefits, and care they need.
To address these shortages, VA has sought–and Congress has provided–expanded hiring authorities and increased pay and bonus schedules for certain VA employees, underscoring how serious staffing challenges have been. VA’s Office of Inspector General reported, for instance, 2,959 severe occupational staffing shortages at Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities in fiscal year 2024.
Nonetheless, President Trump has not only initiated a federal hiring freeze but has indiscriminately fired thousands of VA staff–without providing information about who has been laid off or why.
The Trump Team’s Denials Are Laughable
The full context of one of the most stunning security breaches in modern military affairs became even clearer when Jeff and Shane released the texts. The messages show that the entire conversation should have been classified and held either in a secure location or over secure communications. (I held a security clearance for most of my career, and I saw information far less specific than this marked as classified.) Hegseth, in particular, was a volcano of military details that are always considered highly classified, spewing red-hot information about the strikes, the equipment to be used, the intelligence collected in deciding on targets, and the sequencing of events.
For Veterans Fired by Trump, the Sense of Betrayal Runs Deep
The impact of the Trump Administration's job cuts has reverberated across the federal workforce, where veterans make up nearly 30 percent of civilian employees. The Department of Veterans Affairs has not been spared, with over 1,000 employees—including staff at the Veterans Crisis Line—dismissed. While some have since been rehired, many remain in administrative limbo, left wondering whether they will ever be reinstated.
Trump's legacy of loose lips hangs over Signal scandal
No president has expressed such open disdain for the U.S. intelligence community or the security protocols designed to protect it. But even after facing criminal charges in 2023, Trump has never suffered enduring political consequences. That's given his allies confidence that The Atlantic bombshell will blow over — and that the White House "can easily handle what would kill any other administration…National security experts were appalled by Trump's alleged conduct in the Mar-a-Lago case, but the president has been consistent across his two terms in his disregard for intelligence protocols…In virtually every case, Trump has responded to criticism of his handling of classified information by lashing out at critics and arguing that no damage was done.
DOGE cuts are testing some conservative voters’ faith in special election for Matt Gaetz’s old seat
Florida’s 1st Congressional District stretches across the state’s western Panhandle region and is known for its sugar-sand beaches and sprawling military installations — including the country’s largest Air Force base. The district is home to more veterans than any other congressional district in the country and reelected Gaetz to a fifth term in 2024 by a more than 30-point margin….But as Trump’s executive orders and the slash-and-burn tactics of billionaire Elon Musk ’s DOGE take aim at federal agencies that serve the region’s veterans, the faith of some of the district’s conservative voters is being tested.
‘A Gross Dishonor’: Cuts to Veterans’ Mental Health Care
About 6 percent of the nation’s population are veterans, and surveys have found that more than half of Americans have a close relative who has served in the military. Yet I do not hear or see my senators nor, with some exceptions, my representatives, objecting publicly and loudly to what President Trump and his appointees are doing to our veterans’ services. If they want to be re-elected, they should get some backbone and speak out for the V.A. and all veterans.
This is not a political issue but one affecting the health of the nation. Their deafening silence is a gross dishonor. Let’s put some substance behind “thank you for your service.”
Veterans Fear Trump Administration Plans to Privatize VA Health Care
A seismic shift is potentially underway in the way the VA provides medical care and support, accelerated during the first administration of President Donald Trump and potentially ready to expand over the next four years…The contrast between VA capacity and private care could get much starker if Trump administration plans for VA cuts come to pass. A surge in demand after the passage of the PACT Act made more veterans eligible for VA health care was already stressing the system.
Military veterans are becoming the face of Trump's government cuts and Democrats' resistance
From layoffs at the Department of Veterans Affairs to a Pentagon purge of archives that documented diversity in the military, veterans have been acutely affected by Trump’s actions. And with the Republican president determined to continue slashing the federal government, the burden will only grow on veterans, who make up roughly 30% of the federal workforce and often tap government benefits they earned with their military service.
“At a moment of crisis for all of our veterans, the VA’s system of health care and benefits has been disastrously and disgracefully put on the chopping block by the Trump administration,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
Team Trump's Security Failures Just Keep Piling Up
On Wednesday, as the White House scrambled to explain how Waltz added the editor of The Atlantic to a Signal group chat about confidential plans to bomb Yemen, Wired discovered yet another digital security fail potentially implicating Waltz: The national security advisor appears to have left his entire 328-person friend list on Venmo exposed to the public. Mike Waltz Left His Venmo Friends List Public
A WIRED review of public data exposed on Venmo accounts associated with senior administration officials suggests that the Signal group chat was not an isolated mistake, but part of a broader pattern of what national security experts describe as reckless behavior by some of the most powerful people in the US government.
The Worst Thing a MAGA Warrior Can Do
The response to the scandal reveals a disjuncture between the seriousness with which MAGA treats foreign enemies and perceived domestic ones. The prospect of being compromised by the likes of Iran or China is distant in comparison to the visceral horror of giving a victory to the dread mainstream media. Marxists have a slogan: “No war but class war.” The MAGA version might be “No war but culture war.”
Stefanik’s withdrawal suggests Republicans are sweating their thin margins
President Donald Trump’s decision to keep Rep. Elise Stefanik in Congress is the clearest sign yet that the political environment has become so challenging for Republicans that they don’t want to risk a special election even in safe, red seats. A pair of April elections in deep-red swaths of Florida was supposed to improve the GOP’s cushion in the House and clear the path for Stefanik’s departure, until Trump said he didn’t “want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat.”
A book I highly recommend…
Once An Eagle, originally published in 1968, is a classic story of soldiers and soldiering. I read it years ago, and I encourage you to read it. It’s such a compelling novel about the people who choose to serve our country in the military.
Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer
“Simply the best work of fiction on leadership in print.” —General Martin E. Dempsey, 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
What I am listening to…
Trump is a vessel for frustration over the status quo, but he is not a vehicle for a solution—since he has no idea about how to make things better for anyone besides himself. He's made clear that his personal interests come before the country's, and he's willing to trade away the superpowers that made America the globe's Dream Team. The Maryland governor shares his disgust over DOGE's disrespect of veterans and discusses his commitment to elevating boys and men.
What I am watching…
“We have had two months or 50 days, wherever we are, of a comprehensive weakening of our security apparatus. They're diverting FBI agents away from terrorism. They're firing people who are now being recruited, I have read, by Chinese and Russian agents to see if — the former U.S. employees.
They're gutting the national — the nuclear security agency. They're gutting the security clearances. So this is a comprehensive assault that will make America less safe.”
What I read every day…
Trump, and anyone else who casually and cruelly dismisses American soliders, should be forced to spend a day in the American Cemetery overlooking the D Day beaches. It is heartbreaking. I visited about 10 years ago and was overwhelmed by the rows and rows of headstones, and then I turned the corner and there were just as many again. I was struck that for many of these men, only a dwindling few had remaining friends and family who knew them personally. I bought some flowers and set them on a random grave.
And that everyone was in the call center