"a lot of screaming" is accurate.
The bigger the scandal the more they circle the wagons. I'm still seeing headlines criticizing Jagoff for Signalgate.MAGA lies, ALWAYS. Now, in the words of Desi Lydic both the WH and Jagoff are throwing Admiral Mitch Bradley "under the boat."Republican Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday accused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of either lying in his public response to news reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike on a suspected drug boat in September or being incompetent.
“Secretary Hegseth said he had no knowledge of this, and it did not happen. It was fake news. It didn’t happen. And then the next day, from the podium at the White House are saying it did happen,” Paul told reporters in the US Capitol. “So, either he was lying to us … or he’s incompetent and didn’t know it had happened.”
“Do we think there’s any chance that … the secretary of the defense did not know there had been a second strike? So as a country, we’re just going to let people lie to us, to our face?” he added.
Asked by CNN which comments from Hegseth he was specifically referring to, Paul described a Friday X post from the defense secretary. While Hegseth did not explicitly deny in the post that a follow-up strike had occurred, he dismissed the news reports as “fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting” from the “fake news.”
... “I don’t like to see political figures pointing their finger at military figures. Military people take orders. And there’s a question about, you know, when they don’t take orders, whether things are legal or not legal, but in this sense, it looks to me like they’re trying to pin the blame on somebody else and not them,” Paul said.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal agreed. “Ultimately, Hegseth trying to shift the blame and make Admiral Bradley the fall guy ought to be reason to ask for his resignation or fire him. He should be gone,” he said.
... GOP Sen. Thom Tillis (NC, retiring) told CNN that whoever was responsible for ordering the second boat strike needs to be held accountable.
“You don’t have to have served in the military to understand that that was a violation of ethical, moral and legal code. And so, if the facts play out the way they’re currently being reported, then somebody needs to get the hell out of Washington,” he said. “Whoever that is, is the person who made the decision and we can be connived that it was isolated to that one person. Anybody in the chain of command that was responsible for it, that had vision of it, needs to be held accountable.”
... On Tuesday, Paul and a group of Democratic senators said in a joint statement that if the US military strikes Venezuela, they will call up a War Powers resolution to block the use of US forces in hostilities against the country.
The Kentucky Republican added that he thinks more Republicans are “coming around to being concerned,” with the Pentagon’s actions in the Caribbean, adding that the follow up strike is “what unifies people.”
“When you have Lindsey Graham, the Wall Street Journal and other Republicans saying that the second strike, bombing people who are shipwrecked or clinging to wreckage, that that would be illegal, in the words of people who are very supportive of what the president is doing, that’s a whole new scenario,” he said. “So, I think we’ve entered into uncharted territory here. I think there’s a broad consensus that it’s illegal to kill people who are clinging to wreckage.”
... Paul also said that he received a letter back from the Coast Guard on Tuesday saying that 21% of boarded boats don’t have drugs on them, and he argued that it undercuts the motivation for striking the boats at all. Paul later posted the full letter from the Coast Guard on X....
... Also, this is beside the point, but military veterans are pointing out that the way Franklin is using his weapon would be incredibly dangerous. Kinda seems like something the Secretary of War should have picked up on, too.
So, do you think Hegseth's Franklin post was a good idea, or are you normal? Let me know in the comments!
I thought DonOLD purged and/or replaced all the IGs. What's up with this one? GoCubsGo wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 3:23 pmWhat is "Not Mutually Exclusive" Ken?Vrede too wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 1:41 pm
GOP senator: Hegseth is either lying about second boat strike or incompetent
What is both, Ken?
:
Senate GOP grows uneasy as Pentagon’s Kelly investigation escalates
Senate Republicans are growing increasingly uneasy with the Pentagon’s investigation into Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced his office is escalating its probe into him.
The Defense Department announced Monday the review of Kelly has risen to an “official Command Investigation,” intensifying the feud between the two sides over Kelly’s role in a video he and other congressional Democrats made to remind service members of their duty to disobey illegal orders.
The news has also given a number of Republicans pause as they question whether this is a prudent decision by the Pentagon against one of their colleagues.
“I think it’s a terrible idea,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said.
Paul was one of five Senate GOP members who expressed reservations about the Hegseth-led investigation into Kelly, a retired Navy captain.
Kelly has been under fire by the administration for nearly a month after he, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Democratic Reps. Jason Crow (Colo.), Chris Deluzio (Pa.), Maggie Goodlander (N.H.) and Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.) appeared in the video that set off the series of comments.
Trump also called for the execution of the half-dozen lawmakers — a remark he walked back.
Days after the Democrats released the joint video, the Defense Department said it received “serious allegations of misconduct” against Kelly and that it kicked off a “thorough review” of the allegations. Hegseth ordered the Navy to finish the review and submit it to the Defense Department by Dec. 10.
... “I’m not,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said when asked whether she is comfortable with the expansion of the probe. “He is protected by the speech and debate clause.”
... Kelly told reporters following the briefing the Pentagon still has not reached out to him about the investigation and argued the department is targeting him “for something I said that was lawful.”
“This is all a bunch of bulls‑‑‑, and the reason why, I think, is because this is just about sending a message to retired service members, active duty service members, government employees: Do not speak out against this president, or there will be consequences,” he said.
Paul Fishman, Kelly’s lawyer, warned that action by the Pentagon against the Democrat “would be unconstitutional and an extraordinary abuse of power.”
“If the executive branch were to move forward in any forum — criminal, disciplinary, or administrative — we will take all appropriate legal action on Senator Kelly’s behalf to halt the Administration’s unprecedented and dangerous overreach,” Fishman wrote....
“These members are going to be here after this administration’s gone. We’re creating a precedent that everybody should expect could be used against them,” one GOP senator told The Hill.
“Yeah — he made a video,” they continued. “But I don’t think it rises to the level that they’re trying to make it. It really seems to me like vindictive prosecutions, and that’s a bad message to send to the American people.” ...
If you don't want to be called out, crybaby MAGAts, stop breaking the law.
FAA Closes Airspace Near El Paso After U.S. Military Laser Attack On Border Patrol Drone
Just over two weeks ago, the FAA shut down the El Paso airport and the surrounding area after another use of an anti-drone laser.
The U.S. military used a laser to shoot down a Customs and Border Protection drone, members of Congress said Thursday, and the Federal Aviation Administration responded by closing more airspace near El Paso, Texas.
I approve of the target.
CBP has its own laser weapons? Will it retaliate against the military?It’s not clear why the laser was deployed, but it’s the second time in two weeks that one has been fired in the area. The military is required to formally notify the FAA anytime it takes any counter-drone action inside U.S. airspace.
The earlier laser firing did not hit a target. It was done by the CBP near Fort Bliss, about 50 miles northwest, and prompted the FAA to shut down air traffic at El Paso airport and the surrounding area. This time, the closure was smaller and commercial flights not affected.
U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen and two other top Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure and Homeland Security committees said they were stunned when they were officially notified.
“Our heads are exploding over the news,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement. They criticized the Trump administration for “sidestepping” a bipartisan bill to train drone operators and improve communication among the Pentagon, FAA and Department of Homeland Security.
“Now, we’re seeing the result of its incompetence,” they said.
... Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the ranking member on the Senate’s Aviation Subcommittee, said this alarming situation demands independent investigations.
“The Trump administration’s incompetence continues to cause chaos in our skies,” Duckworth said.
... Another $250 million in grants will be awarded later this year to strengthen the nation’s drone defenses.
Drones already cause problems along the border. Cartels routinely use drones to deliver drugs across the Mexican border and surveil Border Patrol officers. Officials told Congress last summer that more than 27,000 drones were detected within 1,600 feet (500 meters) of the southern border in the last six months of 2024.
The threat to planes from drones continues to increase along with the number of near misses around airports. Homeland Security estimates there are more than 1.7 million registered drones flying in the United States, and that number has been growing.
LEGAL domestic and governmental aircraft are vulnerable to each of these weapons.Anti-drone systems can use radio signals to jam drones, or high-powered microwaves or laser beams like the ones that have been used in Texas that are capable of disabling the machines. Some others station small drones to take flight quickly and ram into threatening drones. And there are systems that use bullets, but those are more common on battlefields than in domestic use.
True, but we are fast approaching the time where only AI will understand AI.GoCubsGo wrote: ↑Fri Feb 27, 2026 7:15 pmI honestly don't think that anyone in the Dolt 47 administration actually understands AI.
Fervsure DonOld does not.
https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2027517581637165551
As first reported by independent journalist Jonathan Larsen, a US combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers that the war on Iran is part of “God’s divine plan,” allegedly claiming President Donald Trump was “anointed by Jesus” to ignite Armageddon. The complaint, filed with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, is one of more than 110 logged within 48 hours from over 40 units across at least 30 installations. Complainants, including Christians, a Muslim, and a Jew, have requested anonymity to avoid retaliation. The Pentagon has yet to respond.
According to MRFF President Mikey Weinstein, service members report “unrestricted euphoria” among segments of the chain of command portraying the assault on Iran as biblically sanctioned and tied to end-times prophecy in the Book of Revelation. One NCO wrote that such rhetoric is eroding morale and violating constitutional oaths, particularly for troops in Ready-Support status who could be deployed at any moment.
The controversy unfolds as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth expands overt evangelical programming within the Pentagon, including prayer sessions and Bible studies aligned with staunch pro-Israel theology. Weinstein reports that many US commanders appear particularly enthused by the prospect of an intensely violent confrontation, emphasizing how much bloodshed they believe is necessary to align events with a fundamentalist Christian end-times narrative.
