So what does this mean, Gabe? Just because it’s perhaps more “typical,” that doesn’t make it good policy. I would connect this action back to the administration’s firing of the service chiefs and JAGs early in this administration. Clearly, the current administration intends to force military members into obeying what would, in almost any other admins, be illegal orders. Those of us who’ve served in combat understand, I think, how dangerous this move is.
I WOULD SAY THAT THE 11 DRUG DEALERS KILLED in the boat enroute to the USA saved many American lives. In addition this is a deterrent for other drug dealers to stop this illegal and deadly activity.
I also prefer the DEFENSE Department rather than the WAR department....but not getting all bent out of shape about it!
PS I would also remind readers that the Opium Wars were defensive wars fought by the dying Ching Dynasty against British opium traders who brought that huge nation to ruin and chaos by knowingly using addiction as a weapon of empire. There is no question that this is what brought the Communists to power then. And revenge for that humiliation at least in part motivates China now. It's no accident that drugs are a major part of their arsenal.
I know the bare minimum about the use of opium in China. I know that the addiction rate prevented China from defending itself and destroyed the social fabric. The only method of bringing consumption into manageable limits was severe repression, including execution. Extrajudicial killing to combat drug trafficking has become tolerable in some countries because the effects of drug use has become crippling. These are the countries from which migrants flee and to which we are loathe to make them return.
The last time I was in NYC, the smell of marijuana was everywhere on the streets. As a college student in the 60s, I am familiar with the effects of much weaker forms of marijuana. I don’t recall it enhancing performance of many useful tasks,
We have developed methods to detect fentanyl but as my college age grandson pointed out to me not many people, already high on alcohol or marijuana, are into using testing strips. All the dorms are stocked with narcan.
I saw cigarette boats purportedly ferrying drugs into ports in the Middle East during a cruise excursion. We were told that the drugs were exchanged for mundane commodities that were in short supply and that the governments agreed that the boats could not remain in port after dusk.
We have made due process into a farce in immigration law. It is hard for me to perceive how we can apply it to international drug smugglers.
From the halls of Montezuma ...etc. Now that Trump has alienated our traditional allies and empowered the formerly designated Axis of Evil under Chinese suzerainity (sp. That's a word I haven't needed in a while.) He's thrown back on 19th c. cosplay.(My new word.) To the shores of Tripoli.
Why has no one called his latest crime what it is. When you attack a ship that has not first attacked you in international waters it is called Piracy. In this case for no gain. Long John Silver would have boarded it and made off with the cargo. He for profit, we for evidence. But no. No evidence just murder. Who exactly are the terrorists here?
1/Please don’t call it the War Department. The name change isn’t official until Congress agrees to it.
2/This is just one example of the mainstream press and highly placed Democrats conceding extraordinary legitimacy to Trump by pretending that his executive power doesn’t have to respect the limits that the Constitution and statutes are supposed to place on the executive power. You know, just for him. Because of his money, and because no other Republican can whip the Republican primary like he did over the last three cycles.
3/The polls are already beating Trump’s so-called mandate hollow. The sooner we abandon the pretense of it, the sooner we can get back to making sure that this president and future presidents don’t keep trampling others’ legitimate authorities into powder.
4/Why shouldn’t this ALSO include curbs on the president’s unilateral authority to order military strikes on apparent civilians without a showing probable cause at the very least? If Trump shouldn’y have possessed this power, then no president should.
Gabe called the recissions package the big beautiful bill despite the fact that it wasn’t called that, giving an honestly really lame reason of too many letters for the acronym.
It seems like the appeal of click bait content like “big beautiful bill” or “dept of war” is too alluring even for him.
Just because tRump calls It the War Dept, doesn’t make It so! Congress must approve this change. War Dept name coming from the man who wants a Nobel Peace Prize???
So what does this mean, Gabe? Just because it’s perhaps more “typical,” that doesn’t make it good policy. I would connect this action back to the administration’s firing of the service chiefs and JAGs early in this administration. Clearly, the current administration intends to force military members into obeying what would, in almost any other admins, be illegal orders. Those of us who’ve served in combat understand, I think, how dangerous this move is.
Out of control Commander in Thief and soon to be murdering Chicago Citizens.
Illinois Governor should call out the guard and state police to blockade every highway into Chicago.
Trump has declared war and refuse landing of any planes at all airports.
Take the war back to to the dictator.
Want more? There is an extraordinary deep dive on the Caribbean incident by Claire Berlinski. She even knows why there were 11 people on a drug boat.
https://claireberlinski.substack.com/p/what-is-trump-doing-in-the-caribbean
Thanks for the link. All citizens (especially white house reporters) should read this.
I WOULD SAY THAT THE 11 DRUG DEALERS KILLED in the boat enroute to the USA saved many American lives. In addition this is a deterrent for other drug dealers to stop this illegal and deadly activity.
I also prefer the DEFENSE Department rather than the WAR department....but not getting all bent out of shape about it!
How do you know that they were drug dealers, or that they were on their way to the USA?
So trump wants to stop drug trafficking into the US?
I suspect people will swim to wherever the drugs live to get them.
PS I would also remind readers that the Opium Wars were defensive wars fought by the dying Ching Dynasty against British opium traders who brought that huge nation to ruin and chaos by knowingly using addiction as a weapon of empire. There is no question that this is what brought the Communists to power then. And revenge for that humiliation at least in part motivates China now. It's no accident that drugs are a major part of their arsenal.
I know the bare minimum about the use of opium in China. I know that the addiction rate prevented China from defending itself and destroyed the social fabric. The only method of bringing consumption into manageable limits was severe repression, including execution. Extrajudicial killing to combat drug trafficking has become tolerable in some countries because the effects of drug use has become crippling. These are the countries from which migrants flee and to which we are loathe to make them return.
The last time I was in NYC, the smell of marijuana was everywhere on the streets. As a college student in the 60s, I am familiar with the effects of much weaker forms of marijuana. I don’t recall it enhancing performance of many useful tasks,
We have developed methods to detect fentanyl but as my college age grandson pointed out to me not many people, already high on alcohol or marijuana, are into using testing strips. All the dorms are stocked with narcan.
I saw cigarette boats purportedly ferrying drugs into ports in the Middle East during a cruise excursion. We were told that the drugs were exchanged for mundane commodities that were in short supply and that the governments agreed that the boats could not remain in port after dusk.
We have made due process into a farce in immigration law. It is hard for me to perceive how we can apply it to international drug smugglers.
As Gavin Newsom said, "Trump doesn't just play by a different set of rules; he doesn't believe in rules".
From the halls of Montezuma ...etc. Now that Trump has alienated our traditional allies and empowered the formerly designated Axis of Evil under Chinese suzerainity (sp. That's a word I haven't needed in a while.) He's thrown back on 19th c. cosplay.(My new word.) To the shores of Tripoli.
Why has no one called his latest crime what it is. When you attack a ship that has not first attacked you in international waters it is called Piracy. In this case for no gain. Long John Silver would have boarded it and made off with the cargo. He for profit, we for evidence. But no. No evidence just murder. Who exactly are the terrorists here?
1/Please don’t call it the War Department. The name change isn’t official until Congress agrees to it.
2/This is just one example of the mainstream press and highly placed Democrats conceding extraordinary legitimacy to Trump by pretending that his executive power doesn’t have to respect the limits that the Constitution and statutes are supposed to place on the executive power. You know, just for him. Because of his money, and because no other Republican can whip the Republican primary like he did over the last three cycles.
3/The polls are already beating Trump’s so-called mandate hollow. The sooner we abandon the pretense of it, the sooner we can get back to making sure that this president and future presidents don’t keep trampling others’ legitimate authorities into powder.
4/Why shouldn’t this ALSO include curbs on the president’s unilateral authority to order military strikes on apparent civilians without a showing probable cause at the very least? If Trump shouldn’y have possessed this power, then no president should.
Gabe called the recissions package the big beautiful bill despite the fact that it wasn’t called that, giving an honestly really lame reason of too many letters for the acronym.
It seems like the appeal of click bait content like “big beautiful bill” or “dept of war” is too alluring even for him.
Out of control Commander in Thief and soon to be murdering Chicago Citizens.
Illinois Governor should call out the guard and state police to blockade every highway into Chicago.
Trump has declared and refuse landing of any planes at all airports.
Take the war back to to the dictator.
Just because tRump calls It the War Dept, doesn’t make It so! Congress must approve this change. War Dept name coming from the man who wants a Nobel Peace Prize???
Trump thuggery and fuckery will continue if is not soon removed. He is a stupid monster.