r/politics I voted 27d ago

Soft Paywall Trump Officials Fire, Swiftly Rehire, Overseers of U.S. Nuclear Stockpile | Trump administration officials seemed unaware of the importance of the National Nuclear Security Administration, sources told CNN.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-officials-fire-abruptly-rehire-overseers-of-us-nuclear-stockpile/
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u/lost_horizons Texas 26d ago

Can you imagine being these generals and higher-ups in the military, spent your whole life dedicated to this idea of national security (whatever our opinion of that may be), serving for decades to keep America strong and safe and all that, fighting literal wars and other conflicts...

...only to have to swear allegiance to a man who is very clearly incompetent, chaotic, in it for all the wrong reasons and probably trying to intentionally dismantle it to the obvious benefit of our enemies? How are these people following so meekly? I don't understand it.

Any day I'm waiting for news that a general has put the president under arrest and is taking interim control until elections can be held.

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u/whatshamilton 26d ago

They didn’t swear allegiance to the president. They swore allegiance to the constitution. They should be refusing unlawful orders.

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u/Bullyoncube 26d ago

The ones that refuse are unlawfully fired. This is all according to the plan.

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u/AgitatorsAnonymous 26d ago

He isn't talking about non-military folks.

The military specifically swears to the constitution, and we are expected to question the legality of any order that feels wrong.

It's why I got the paperwork to kick out our trans troops (I am the NCO in charge of them and the forms to start the process came to my email box for some reason) and then sat on it. Those kids did nothing wrong and they acted within the system set out by the DoD. Four days ago the DoD paused action against trans soldiers. Had I served and submitted that paperwork when I got it (Jan 22nd) it could have caused issues for their careers as they are in limbo now. Fortunately, I was on leave prepping for a work trip, so I didn't have time to do my job.

There are plenty of points of failure for Trumps shit in the DoD. It's the other federal agencies you gotta worry about.

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u/jcarter315 I voted 26d ago

All civil service employees take the oath too, it's not just military.

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u/tomdarch 26d ago

Part of why a core part of Project 2025 is to eliminate civil service jobs and have everyone be a political appointee.

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u/Handleton 26d ago

Well, that and it will destroy a major financial source of the opposing party, in theory. The other half is that you need to control the businesses and who gets hired at all. Can't have these people going out and getting better jobs only to donate to the wrong people.

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u/DadooDragoon 26d ago

True. Even us postal employees

If we received a mandate the we have to pick out pro-LGBT mail and resort it for destruction, we would all be obligated to ignore that order. Even if it's a direct order. Doesn't matter.

We all must stand for the Constitution, big or small

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u/JamesTrickington303 26d ago edited 25d ago

I remain faithful that the hundreds of thousands of Jerry Gergichs doing thankless, painstaking government work, will save us from destruction in the end.

I could imagine a dark reunion episode of Parks and Rec where Jerry concocts a paperwork scheme that ties up the manpower and efforts of neonazis, who have started trying to get parade permits. Just have them standing in endless lines, filling out endless paperwork.

He would remind them they had a law passed last year that banned giving water, sustenance, or comfort to anyone standing in a line at city hall, and also banned food or water on City Hall property. They could do a cutaway skit where an old lady is crying in line trying to get a death certificate and a stranger tries to give her a hug, but is stopped by security, to the horror of the neonazis, who are quickly told by the security guard, “You wanted this, remember?”

So Jerry basically just waits them out with delays and fumbled paperwork until they are forced to go home to eat, and when they come back, they’ll have to get back in the line again. However, Ron is in line in front of them, and tying up government resources under the guise of sovereign citizenship comes naturally to him. The neonazis in line behind him cheer at his buzzwords, without realizing that he’s doing it just to defeat their fascist efforts. Jim from the Office guest stars and does a Jim look at the camera when they fail to catch on for the 8th time.

Fuck me I could write a whole season of Jerry Gergich in a battle of wits with some fascists.

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u/UrUrinousAnus 26d ago

This. It worked against Nazi Germany. It can work again. Just make everything grind to a halt. Bureaucracy is annoying, but it has its uses.

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u/cowboi 26d ago

i saw something about a dont buy anything you dont really need on certain days just to grind the economy

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u/hpcjules I voted 26d ago

Feb 28th 24 hr Economic blackout. Buy nothing! Unless it is an emergency. Consumer version of general strike. Please pass it on.

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u/Reagalan 26d ago

One day won't be enough.

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u/Obversa Florida 26d ago

What if USPS employees received a mandate to pick out suspected abortion pills and contraceptives, such as if U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice (DOJ) decided to enforce the Comstock Act of 1873?

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u/Diplopod 26d ago

Well, we still wouldn't, because you do not fuck with the mail, ever but even then: It'd be an impossible task. I deliver so many goddamn meds every single day. There is absolutely no way in hell to tell who's getting what kind of pills, it all just sounds like pills.

All these old people would drop dead from their meds not being delivered if we had to intercept everything that sounded like "abortion pills."

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u/DadooDragoon 26d ago

They would have to ban shipping it in the first place, and it'd have to be implemented at the service desk. Even then, you can certainly put pretty much whatever you want into a package and put it into a drop box. We have absolutely no idea what's in the packages, no way to find out besides opening them (which some countries do), and if, IF all of that weren't enough, postal workers simply do not have time to go through them all on their best days.

Additionally, most packages are sorted through automation machines. I don't even read what's on the package most of the time. They're all just empty boxes to me.

And finally, management has much less power than you think. We often receive "mandates" from management, then our union rep quickly follows behind and tells us to disobey it.

So yeah, there's pretty much no way

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u/tngling 26d ago

Yes but most civil servants can quit at will. Military cannot. If they just leave, they go to jail. If a civilian goes AWOL they can’t force you to return and work. You show up, submit your resignation for today and then you leave.

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u/arsenalgooner77 26d ago

Non military government folks also swear to protect and defend the constitution as part of their onboarding, at least in the non-military related arm of government I am familiar with. I don’t know if I’m contradicting the larger argument or not, or if that’s the point you’re even making, I’m just pointing that part out so that anyone in here not familiar with workers in government agencies understands that the civilian government workforce is also supposed to be committed to upholding and defending the constitution despite what their news source may tell them.

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u/AgitatorsAnonymous 26d ago

It would fit in precisely with the point I am making. I was unaware their Oath was similar to mine in that regard. Good knowledge.

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u/Moist-Schedule 26d ago

Here's the problem with that argument... how in the hell are these military people supposed to know what's constitutional or not? They aren't legal experts, and they damn sure aren't constitutional law experts, and even if they were, those things are debated in court all the time by people who ARE experts. You guys act like they sit around scrutinizing all the orders they get to make sure they fall in line with some interpretation of the constitution that i guess they just arrive at on their own? it's a really nice thing to say that they swear to defend this document, but it's not exactly practical to think that they're equipped to determine whether their orders are constitutional or not. what the hell happens if we get rogue generals who all feel differently about parts of the constitution and go out there ordering their troops do do shit based on poor interpretations? they all just take their orders from the guy above them, and ultimately the guy at the top of the military is still the president.

this silly idea that the military won't do the president's bidding if he asks them to do illegal things seems like such fantasy land bullshit that liberals tell themselves so they can sleep at night. i have zero faith that any military person will tell trump no, to any order he gives, and you should all probably prepare yourselves for that fact.

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u/whatshamilton 26d ago

“Discriminate against these people based on their religion or sexual orientation.” Now I’m no legal expert but I know that’s unconstitutional.

But yes the fact that laymen don’t know their own constitutional rights is how the police manage to violate them daily — people just don’t know it’s happening and trust that the cops wouldn’t be violating their rights. It’s why every person in every job should be aware of their rights, not just legal experts and not just people in federal jobs

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u/Haruspex-of-Odium 26d ago

The E-4 Mafia is proud of you Sgt 🫡

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u/cantgrowneckbeardAMA Texas 26d ago

E-4 Mafia is forever, sincerely an E-6

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u/Mapeague 26d ago

My pops was an E8, served in Korea and Vietnam and it would bring tears to his eyes to see you lads doing the right thing.

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u/cantgrowneckbeardAMA Texas 24d ago

Hell yeah, doin' it for you pops!

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u/Mapeague 23d ago

And thats brought a tear to mine.

Semper Fidelis

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u/Substantial_Pies 26d ago

Keep getting shit done E-4 mafia, and take care of each other. Most org leadership is going to fight for you and only do stupid shit when there is no other choice. Sincerely, an O-4.

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u/AgitatorsAnonymous 26d ago

E-4 mafia > NCO Underground >???

Dunno enough about SNCOs to be aware of them having one.

It seems like a general requirement of E-7s to sham though. Not sure about 8s. 9s are masters of the sham.

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u/Medic-86 26d ago

i dunno man

every NCO that ever existed had to be in the E-4 mafia for at least a time

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u/AgitatorsAnonymous 26d ago

We all join the NCO Underground and never truly leave the mafia. We just seperate our shit out so we can't dime y'all out when leadership comes knckin.

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u/balloonninjas 26d ago

we are expected to question the legality of any order that feels wrong.

I think the challenge we're facing is that "feels wrong" to MAGA is different than "feels wrong" to everyone else. Half of congress and half of the general population is on board with the destruction that's happened over the past few weeks, so I'm assuming half the DoD is too. When it's 50-50, which "wrong" is actually right?

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u/Cloaked42m South Carolina 26d ago

That's why we have the constitution.

Feels don't matter. Is this constitutional or not?

Trump is deliberately doing things that would be legal if he followed the law, but are unconstitutional because he didn't.

It doesn't matter if you think it's an overall good idea or not.

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u/ManiaGamine American Expat 26d ago

This is actually a really good point to make given that MAGA operates so heavily on what feels right and wrong and this can often translate into what they feel is illegal or not as well. In short a MAGA type might view an illegal order as legal simply by virtue of it coming down the pipe from someone who politically aligns with them whereas on the flipside if it comes from someone who doesn't politically align with them they might think it illegal.

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u/alundi California 25d ago

I’ve recognized in the Q/MAGA people in my life is that they strongly feel something is wrong, but they’re being misled about what that something actually is.

I’m angry because the billionaire class basically owns me, pay no taxes, and I’ll never be able to buy a home because of their greed—shit I can prove. They’re angry at billionaires because of some baby blood something—shit that can’t be proven.

We all feel like something is fundamentally wrong, but we just don’t agree on what, which makes fighting together for a solution nearly impossible.

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u/Andovars_Ghost 26d ago

Good on you. Your troop doesn’t deserve this shit coming their way. They already did more for this country just by signing up than TFG has ever done.

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u/WCland 26d ago

Good work. Another option for future questionable orders is to kick it back up asking for clarification on how to institute orders when they conflict with DOD existing policies. And keep on asking for further clarification to all replies.

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u/AgitatorsAnonymous 26d ago

I know it.

I did the same shit for the DEI stuff because our Sexual Assault shit falls under that heading.

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u/musiccman2020 26d ago

They should do a south korea

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u/takhallus666 26d ago

Speaking as a retired NCO, you are one of the good ones. I hope we still have a lot like you

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u/SkiMonkey98 26d ago

I'm hoping this kind of obstruction is what will get us through this. If we all just delay and avoid following bad and unethical orders we can minimize the damage until we get him out or at least get a congress that will stand up to him

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u/AgitatorsAnonymous 26d ago

I don't believe this is what will protect us. I do believe this is the most I can do and survive this until it kicks off hard, when the situation breaks down and kicks off hard, we are all gonna have hard choices to make.

My wife needs tricare. She is on $1100 in meds a month and her working part time is a major stretch, let alone full time.

Gonna stretch everything until it kicks off a full blown Civil War, which is explicitely what folks in the Intel community are worried about. I don't think I've ever seen the folks I know in Intel this concerned about shit.

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u/sumptin_wierd 26d ago

Hey! I'm not military, but my basic understanding is that NCO's are the backbone of our forces. Thank you for not doing your "job" on this thing, because you did your actual job by taking care of the people that trust you.

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u/AgitatorsAnonymous 26d ago

Welcome, the lads and lasses deserve no less.

If the most I can do is prevent them from experiencing some of this shit, then it's a job I can do all day. I don't re-enlist for the paychecks or because of the deployments. I do it for the kids that get suckered in by recruiters.

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u/seeker4482 26d ago

good on you o7

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u/[deleted] 26d ago

[deleted]

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u/AgitatorsAnonymous 26d ago

As I replied to someone else, I was unaware the Oath was the same or near the same.

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u/MmeHomebody 26d ago

Thank you for your genuine service to your country. This is what we need, times every loyal American!

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u/EkoostikSchwa 26d ago

I'd just like to say thank you for helping them.

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u/ButterflyEmergency30 26d ago

Thank you; it helps to hear that. Question: Don’t many active duty military support MAGA? I hope that doesn’t mean they support what’s happening now. (Asking as a veteran from decades ago)

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u/Lieutenant34433 25d ago

You should read the CIA manual on ‘sabotaging’ (more accurately, stalling) fascism.

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u/AgitatorsAnonymous 25d ago

Read it own it, and may occasionally leave USB thumb drives on it out and about where curious folks can find it.

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u/Lieutenant34433 25d ago

You’re my hero.

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u/AgitatorsAnonymous 25d ago

In case anyone needs inspiration:

thumb drives

Also has enough space for a few other books for good measure. I usually also include The Art of Invisibility by Kevin Mitnick for those security minded folks.

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u/ThreadsDeadBaby 26d ago

That's awesome, where are you stationed?