THIS IS HOW BAD IT IS - PART 1

Let’s start with some background.

The firings last night were done by Pete Hegseth on Trump’s orders. In addition to JCS chairman General Charles Q. Brown, Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to serve as Chief of Naval Operations, and Gen. James Slife, a top Air Force officer, were fired. Slife has served as the Air Force’s No. 2 officer since December 2023. But he ran afoul of many Trump supporters after decrying the 2020 police murder of George Floyd, saying in a written message to airmen that it would be naive to think that institutional racism and unconscious bias do not affect us all.“We can’t ignore it. We have to face it. And to face it, we have to talk about it.”

Many commenters argue that these highly qualified leaders, such as General Brown and Admiral Franchetti, were replaced due to their race and gender, rather than merit. Hegseth had previously criticized Brown when Hegseth was at Fox, claiming he was only named Chairman because he was Black. Hegseth also criticized women serving in senior positions in the military and being involved in combat operations, pointing to Admiral Franchetti as an example of what he didn’t like.

The Judge Advocate Generals of the Army, Navy and Air Force were also fired, removing potential opposition to any illegal orders Trump may issue.

As to who Trump reached down into the retired ranks to turn into his private CJCS, here is information on Air Force Lt. General John Dan “Razin” Caine:

Caine, who is known by his middle name Dan, worked for three years at the Central Intelligence Agency until December 2024 and helped lead the fight against the Islamic State from Iraq. When he and Trump met in 2019, he told Trump he could defeat ISIS in “one week” if they could use more force. He knew what he was doing when he told Trump: “I love you, sir. I think you’re great, sir. I’ll kill for you, sir.” What sealed the deal for Trump was that Caine then allegedly put on a red MAGA hat, despite military protocol prohibiting active-duty troops from donning any clothing with a political message.

Caine was promoted to Lt. General in 2021. His most recent government role was Associate Director for Military Affairs at the CIA. He was Director of Special-access Programs at the Pentagon from 2019 to 2021 and a deputy commanding general in the fight against the Islamic State, based in Baghdad in 2018 and 2019.

Caine is a relative unknown, but Trump has brought him up at least twice in previous years at CPAC, describing him in glowing terms, and again this past Wednesday at an investment summit in Miami. This was obviously not a spur-of-the-moment decision. It is obvious Caine is a Trump supporter and highly unlikely to maintain an independent position as JCS Chairman; this is a guy capable of both sending troops into the streets and planning and carrying out invasions of the Panama Canal, Greenland and Canada.

The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Christopher Grady, is expected to serve as interim chairman until Caine can be confirmed.

The firings appear to represent the most significant move yet in the administration’s emerging campaign to purge the Pentagon of what Hegseth has decried as “woke” policies and personnel and - despite the military’s role as a nonpartisan institution spanning administrations of both parties - to reshape its highest ranks.

From a former high-ranking military and civil official I know - whose name most of you would know if I posted it (but I don’t so I can get things like this), an initial analysis:

“I don't know Caine but I can imagine him quite accurately -- either a Curtis LeMay type or a Michael Flynn type, or God forbid, a combination of the two. I do know positively from his biography and record that BY LAW he is not qualified to be the CJCS, nor a Combatant Command Commander (Unified Command from the UCP), nor for that matter even a Chief of Service. So, the law is broken at once; but so is the law broken with so many actions the Trump team is taking (the courts will be very busy for all 4 years and beyond -- if of course there is a "beyond"). "The Law" in this case (as most cases with Federal law) is made by Congress and that body has proven how cowardly, feckless, and in some cases complicit, it is or wants to be.

“Hegseth was behind the recommendation to Trump to ax CQ Brown and very likely the others as well, including the CNO Adm Lisa Fraucetti and the VCS/USAF Gen Slife. As I hear also, all the JAGs of the Army, Navy and Air Force are on notice of imminent removal. That alone is a disaster and a direct assault on the rule of law (UCMJ) in the military. Add the wholesale release of IGs and you have anarchy into which Hegseth and his minions can flow at will, locating all those who will support their eventual coup d'etat when it comes.

“One other historical example: the last time a president reached down into the retired community to select a Service Chief. It was a SOF guy, somewhat like LtGen Caine. Remember (2003-2007)? His name was Peter Schoomaker, called out of retirement to be CSA. A complete disaster -- and one residual reason was what he did to the SOF. He elevated them higher than their counterparts in the conventional forces, gave them tons of money, and expanded their ranks majorly without any consideration for maintaining quality. Today we see some of the results. And one is that the SOF is full of MAGA-types, Christian Nationalists, and what I would call potential domestic terrorists.”

Yeah, that last scares me, too, and I have a pretty good idea of what is what about those people.

SpecOps includes the SEALs. They are largely Christian Nationalists. They call themselves “crusaders.”

Spineless Trump toady Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said, “I am confident Secretary Hegseth and President Trump will select a qualified and capable successor for the critical position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,”after Brown was fired.

However, Senator Jack Reed, the committee’s ranking Democrat, said the dismissals appeared to mark an attempt to “purge talented officers for politically charged reasons, which would undermine the professionalism of our military and send a chilling message through the ranks.”

In conclusion:

Trump was always going to do this to the Pentagon. You cannot cement a dictatorship without control of the military. His specific timing may be due to the recent defeats his moves have gotten in court; his attempt to get rid of birthright citizenship has already been defeated at the appellate level, and it’s very likely these legal defeats will continue. There is also the fact that he is starting to lose popular support. This is important because the Elmo firings are now hitting his supporters, as witness the various reports of “raucous” congressional town halls this past week held by Republican congressmen in districts Trump won comfortably.

The most important item is his decision to join Putin. In the face of strong negative reaction, he is doubling down. Yesterday in an interview on Fox, he said Zelensky “has no cards” and added he doesn’t think it’s important for the Ukrainian president to be at meetings about the future of Russia’s war. He blamed Biden and Zelensky for the Russian invasion, claiming they “said the wrong things.” He is also doubling down on domestic politics. In the same interview he claimed California “just finished” counting votes from the 2024 election (California’s secretary of state certified the results on Dec. 17). He also falsely claimed votes were still being cast “a week and a half ago.” This is all lunacy.

The lunacy is important. Trump is making decisions with his mental capacities severely compromised. What this means is that the Really Dangerous Ones in the administration can now take advantage of him - they will push through the “decisions” he makes with maximum effect.

That is what makes things so dangerous. We are in “Night At Camp David” territory.

So, they have laid the groundwork for a military coup, which is why they did what they did late on a Friday night. Plus everything else. But TAFM will keep up and keep you informed. It would sure help if you supported this as a paid subscriber, which is only $7/month or $70/year.

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