A newly disclosed memo reveals Trump's plot to turn the military into his personal goon squad

[Zorro]

I want to apologize to Mark T. Esper, former president Donald Trump’s fourth and second-to-last defense secretary. I may have been too harsh on the man who became known as “Yesper” for accommodating Trump. As I noted in March: “He did not vocally protest pardons for war criminals, the use of the defense budget to build a border wall or the withdrawal of troops from Germany.” But now that we have seen fresh evidence of how much Trump and his henchmen loathed Esper, he is rising in my estimation.

That evidence comes courtesy of ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl, who has unearthed a memorandum from Johnny McEntee, Trump’s director of presidential personnel, listing 14 reasons for ousting Esper. That document was dated Oct. 19, 2020. Three weeks later Esper was fired by a Trump tweet.

The very premise of McEntee’s memo was both sinister and ludicrous — a 30-year-old of no professional or intellectual distinction, whose path to power was carrying Trump’s bags, was making the case for getting rid of a senior Cabinet officer for insufficient loyalty to the president. This revealing and chilling document deserves to be read not as a historical curiosity but as a terrible portent of what could be in store if Trump wins another term. He appears determined to turn the military into his personal goon squad.

One of McEntee’s first complaints was that Esper had “approved the promotion of Lt. Col. [Alexander] Vindman, the start [sic] witness in the sham impeachment inquiry, who told Congress that the President’s call with Ukraine ‘undermined U.S. national security.’” No one has challenged the veracity of Vindman’s testimony, which was delivered under oath. Yet Trump, acting through McEntee, seemed intent on carrying out what Vindman described in a Post op-ed as “a campaign of bullying, intimidation and retaliation” for daring to tell the truth.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/15/newly-disclosed-memo-reveals-trumps-plot-turn-military-into-his-personal-goon-squad/

[Cracklin Charlie]

1. What was in these "bags" Johnny was carrying?

I can’t wait to see his testimony.

[grumpyduck]

2. Classic textbook

suck-up job.

[TheRealNorth]

3. TFG was trying to install his loyalists into the Military

We were not far from the election being stolen and Sad (Proud) Boys and 3 Inchers (Percenters) shooting us in the streets when some of us chose resistance.

[malthaussen]

4. "Fantasy," not "plot."

The Trump administration was full of wild-ass fantasies about how they would take over the country, much as he and his faithful are now full of fantasies about how he will be re-instated. Glorifying these fever dreams as "plots" makes them sound much more dangerous and sinister than they in fact were. But it keeps the Fear Factor high, which is all the media want.

-- Mal

[Escurumbele]

7. Fantasy or not, the people around him were taking the right steps to destroy Democracy.

I don't give trump much credit for it, I think Putin should get a lot of the credit as well as the republicans around trump.

I am convinced republicans do know and understand that trump is an idiot, but he is a useful idiot whose strength is in lying, dividing, coercing (I think he has a lot of dirt on many republicans), cheating, etc. of all the evil things that can be part of a person.

But the truth is that it is not fantasy, if republicans were able to succeed in destroying Democracy and setting a totalitarian government, the next day they will get rid of trump, he is a liability, but very useful for now. I could even predict that if it happened, they would get rid of trump completely, not just out of the party, I mean making him disappear because that is what dictators do, they use people but then get rid of them only leaving the ashes behind.

If anyone knows about Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, they got rid of him once his usefulness run out. Yes, they say cancer, but he was fine when he went for a first check up to Cuba, then he went back to Venezuela sick, and got sicker very fast. That is what dictatorships do, they use people but they don't keep them, for Fidel Castro Maduro was more useful than Chavez, plus Chavez was starting to make his own decisions, and that was not good for Castro.

[Hekate]

5. Author of this Op-Ed is Max Boot, an important detail

I wanted to know — and got a quick glimpse before the paywall slammed up.

Thanks for posting this, Zorro

[Escurumbele]

6. OK, I will accept that I am naive, I cannot understand why people still think trump CAN run in 2024

What is going on everywhere? With all the proof, witnesses, video, audio, how can people believe that trump will not be behind bars before 2024?

I am really fed up about hearing that trump is going to run in 2024, is the so called "rule of law" and "no one is above the law" has any meaning he will be in jail between 2022 and 2023...if this thug goes unpunished this country will got to crap, the lawless republicans waiting under their respective rocks will come out and this will get very ugly...It CAN Happen Here...

I am referring at this sentence:
"This revealing and chilling document deserves to be read not as a historical curiosity but as a terrible portent of what could be in store if Trump wins another term."

Instead of saying "if trump wins another term" how about if we start saying "trump will not be able to run, he will be imprisoned between 2022 and 2023."

[Hortensis]

8. Well, guess it depends on the evidence of crimes significant enough

to send an extremely popular to president to prison for . You know, an absolutely solid case.

Wishful thinking and self delusion here aren't worth imaginary spit outside this forum.

With the mood on the right the way it is, it's possible that they'd try to elect him if he was found guilty of anything less than severe child molestation, and maybe they'd just decide not to believe or care about that. The exact same way they did after every scandal that surfaced while he was running in 2016.

He's still their leader, no replacement strongman has captured their interest. Yet. And they've come to believe a RW takeover and reckoning are within their reach.

Further, although if he'd been convicted in one of his impeachment trials he would have been barred from holding federal office again, tRump could run for president from prison with a criminal record. Neither would be disqualifying, and he'd probably run ON his political persecution.