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Heard Chris Hayes talking about this tonight, and thought it was worth following up on. If I was aware of this direct anti-endorsement of Trump for re-election, given by his Defense Secretary Mark Esper — I had long since forgotten it.
It looks like Esper is back at again, at least in Japan, with his dire warnings of what a 2nd Trump Administration would mean for America, and for the world at large.
Former U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who served in the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump, shared his concerns about a possible second Trump administration in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun. The following is excerpted from the interview.
Former U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper Voices Concerns Over a Trump Second Term; New Administration Would Likely Be Isolationist
The Yomiuri Shimbun, japannews.yomiuri.co.jp — March 16, 2024
One specific concern regarding a Trump second term is how he has said it will be about retribution. I’m concerned that he’ll continue to chip away at our democracy, at our institutions, at the established norms and behaviors that make our republic strong. This is particularly concerning because a second term would also be Trump’s last term. The prospect of reelection won’t restrain him the way it did during his first four years.
He will take a harder line toward allies and partners, beginning with Ukraine, and then likely NATO. If all funding for Ukraine is not cut off by time he enters office in January of 2025, then I think he will move quickly to end U.S. assistance, and then he will probably turn his sights on NATO. And if there’s any metric to gauge who he will target and how he will measure success, it will be which countries are contributing 2% or more of their GDP toward defense.
[...]
A big difference from the first administration is, there were people like me and others who consider ourselves internationalists. My concern is that the litmus test for people coming into a second Trump administration will be loyalty first and foremost. As such, I suspect these people will share Trump’s views on most things, and that they will take a more isolationist view of America’s role in the world.
[...]
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Here’s was the bit referenced by Hayes tonight — reminding viewers that the former guy did not understand WHY he couldn’t just order that protesters be shot.
You know who thinks like that? Kings and Dictators, and Strongman-leaders who have taken their governments hostage … never to be voted out of office again.
Scoop: Esper says Trump wanted to shoot protesters
Mike Allen, www.axios.com — May 2, 2022
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper charges in a memoir out May 10 [2022] that former President Trump said when demonstrators were filling the streets around the White House following the death of George Floyd: "Can't you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?"
[...]
Esper enraged Trump by publicly stating in June 2020 that he opposed invoking the Insurrection Act — an 1807 law that permits the president to use active-duty troops on U.S. soil — in order to quell protests against racial injustice.
Michael Bender — then with The Wall Street Journal, [...] — reported last year in his book, "Frankly, We Did Win This Election," that Trump repeatedly called for law enforcement to shoot protesters during heated meetings inside the Oval Office.
[...]
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Imagine for minute, what a 2nd Trump Administration would look like, when it — and civil service workers — are re-staffed with only hand-picked loyalists, who only pledge their Allegiance to Trump.
Re-staffed — and re-trained — according to the “vision/manifesto” of Project 2025.
Consider the recent RNC re-alignment, a trial run of Trump Loyalty Litmus Test, of sorts …
RNC lays off dozens of staffers days after Trump’s team takes over
by Daniel Strauss, CNN — March 11, 2024
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The layoffs affect staffers across multiple departments, the sources said. The cuts also go beyond senior staff to vendors and mid-level employees, one of the Republican operatives said. Vendor contracts will likely be cut as well.
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In an email to staff on Monday, Cairncross wrote that “Chairman Whatley is in the process of evaluating the organization and staff to ensure the building is aligned with his vision of how to win in November.”
“During this process, certain staff are being asked to resign and reapply for a position on the team,” Cairncross continued in the email, which was obtained by CNN.
[...]
Some of the deepest cuts went to the data and political departments, as well as to the state directors and the regional political directors. The election integrity division was untouched, according to a Republican with knowledge of the layoffs. Going forward, the digital and finance teams would be based out of Palm Beach, the Republican also said.
[...]
What could possibly go wrong — what with the screened loyalists running “finance and digital” operations of the RNC, right out of Palm Beach now? Does that include a rent-free wing in Mar-a-Lago too?
Now, just extend that RNC “take-over” model to the Pentagon, the Department of Defense, and even to the DOJ — such that only MAGA loyalists “aligned with Trump’s vision of how to win,” need apply. Independent thinkers, aligned with the Constitution, will be shown the door — or worse.
Just ask Mike Pence what happens, when you dare to say No — to what Trump wants.
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No wonder former U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper is worried, that enough Americans may fall for that failed leadership act again.
We’ve been warned … but probably not loudly enough yet. I hope more Trump Admin-insiders speak-out loudly and often, against their former celebrity-apprentice boss-man.
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