Heil Fire

 Let's just say what every MAGA minion knows and applauds: General Charles Brown, Jr. was fired as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff because he is black, just as Admiral Lisa Franchetti was fired as Chief of Naval Operations because she is a woman, just as Admiral Linda Fagan was previously fired as head of the Coast Guard because she is a woman.

These firings begin to create the opportunity that every dictator needs--refashioning the military to be only and absolutely loyal to the dictator. But whatever contributing factors are involved, these specific firings are about judging people on the basis of their race and gender.  

It is obviously not about competence, especially since the people making the decisions are without it.  All of these officers had long and varied experience, and long and distinguished records.  Like many of the changes being made, the appointment of the named replacement as chair of the Joint Chiefs is on its face illegal.

The current Chaos administration seems guided by some familiar principles: racism, imperialism and crony capitalism.  Its methods include lies (both Big and little), absolute loyalty, bullying, arrogance and inducing chaos.

A familiar pattern, though it is ahistorical in this sense: this was a country at peace, a country that was measurably prosperous, and a country that was working pretty well, with problems of a scale that democratic processes should be able to address.  In other words, unlike the onset of most tyrannical dictatorships, there was no extreme crisis that precipitated the kind of extreme changes that are still being implemented. 

The plans to do all this were open to public knowledge.  I knew them, Kamala Harris talked about them (though apparently not enough.)  There may be a certain amount of buyers' remorse out there now, and we are all in shock, but nobody should be surprised.  Project 2025 published their plans.  These people made speeches.  

Things weren't perfect but there were just two people running, and one of them was always going to do this, and--despite some general denials--pretty much said so.  Only ignorance--much of it willful ignorance-- led to the apparent results of the 2024 presidential election, and likely its influence on other elections, particularly for the Senate.  Ignorance, and a background of unacknowledged fear and denial.