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military, militarization

Friday 19th of April 2024

2018 midterm elections I don't want to say the Army is being used as props, but instead of “move out,” the commanding officer now says, “Places! Places everyone!” Bill Maher, Real Time with Bill Maher, Nov. 2, 2018, on Trump deploying up to 15,000 troops on the Mexican border to stare down refugess fleeing violence in Honduros  © 2018 Kwiple.com
2020 Presidential election The Deputy White House Counsel reiterated to Co-Conspirator 4 [Jeffrey Clark] that there had not been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that if the Defendant remained in office nonetheless, there would be “riots in every major city in the United States.” Co-Conspirator 4 responded, “Well, [Deputy White House Counsel], that’s why there’s an Insurrection Act [which Trump would use to deploy armed miiitary forces against civilian protesters].” United States of America v. Donald J. Trump © 2023 Kwiple.com
Affirmative action  The United States as amicus curiae  contends that race-based admissions programs further compelling interests at our Nation’s military academies.  No military academy is a party to these cases, however, and none of the courts below addressed the propriety of race-based admissions systems in that context. This opinion also does not address the issue, in light of the potentially distinct interests that military academies may present. John Roberts, majority opinion in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v.  Harvard College and University of North Carolina © 2023 Kwiple.com
Afghanistan War $1,000,000,000,000 pissed away, and counting © 2015 Kwiple.com
Bullshitters say From day one I wanted a strong military. He doesn't want to see that. … He would like Hillary where she wants to have windmills. He would much rather have that, because energy prices will go up. And Russia as you know, relies very much on energy. Donald Trump, explaining why Vladimir Putin wanted Hillary Clinton and not him to be elected president © 2017 Kwiple.com
By the numbers Average percentage by which U.S. military spouses earn less than their professional counterparts married to civilians: 27 Harper's Index, August 2019 © 2019 Kwiple.com
By the numbers Portion of U.S. senators who had military experience in 1975: 4/5 Today: 1/5  Harper's Index, May 2017 © 2017 Kwiple.com
By the numbers Value of food stamps used at U.S. military commissaries last year: $66,978,704 Chances a child in school on a U.S. military base is eligible for free or reduced-cost meals: 2 in 5 Harper's Index, July 2017 © 2017 Kwiple.com
Kwiplers say Prohibit members of Congress from owning stock in defense companies  © 2017 Kwiple.com
Kwiplers say Shitcan our military ambitions or reintroduce the draft © 2017 Kwiple.com
Making money the old-fashioned way Being a draftee © 2017 Kwiple.com
The military Can service members maintain a sense of purpose when nobody – not the public, or Congress, or the commander in chief himself – seems to take the wars we're fighting seriously? Phil Klay, The Atlantic, May 2018 © 2018 Kwiple.com
The military  In the event of a dispute over some aspect of the elections, by law U.S. courts and the U.S. Congress are required to resolve any disputes, not the U.S. military. I foresee no role for the U.S armed forces in this process. --> General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, August 28, 2020  © 2022 Kwiple.com
The military In the long term, the strength and legitimacy of the military will be a function of the perceived strength and legitimacy of the project it is supposed to represent. The clarity of purpose so central to bonding men in combat cannot emerge purely from the military itself. And in our current climate, after a decade and a half of multiple wars on multiple continents, the hope for such clarity is rotting away. Phil Klay, The Atlantic, May 2018 © 2018 Kwiple.com
The military It didn’t sound too important to me. --> Donald Trump, defending wanting to divert $3.6 billion in funds to build base housing, schools, gyms and other projects benefitting service members and their families to build his pet project, a southern border wall © 2024 Kwiple.com
The military Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’ The president has repeatedly disparaged the intelligence of service members, and asked that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades, multiple sources tell The Atlantic. headline, article by Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic, September 3, 2020 © 2020 Kwiple.com
The military Trump and his allies understand that by leaving the military outside their political control the last time around, they also left intact a crucial bulwark against their plans.  They will not make the same mistake twice. --> Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, January/February 2024 © 2024 Kwiple.com
Military justice Of the more than 6,200 sexual-assault reports, made by United States service members in fiscal year 2020, only 50 — only 0.8 percent — ended in sex-offense convictions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, roughly one-third as many convictions as in 2019. It’s unclear why sexual-assault convictions have gone down, but it's part of a much larger trend: Courts-martial dropped by 69 percent from 2007 to 2017, according to Military Times, perhaps because commanders are instead choosing administrative punish- ments, which are bureaucratically easier but also result in milder punishments for the perpetrators, such as deductions in rank or administrative discharges. New York Times Magazine, August 8, 2021 © 2021 Kwiple.com
Military parades Check your cards! Who has dictator bingo? I was close. I had rallies and attack the free press. I didn't have military parade. Stephen Colbert, The Late Show, February 8, 2018, on Trump wanting one of his own  © 2018 Kwiple.com
Military parades I will say this: it won't make him happy. And I think it's important  that he knows that. Whatever this presidency is about –the search for a lost father's love, trying to fill a void with something tangible– that parade is going to go past him and he's going to realize this isn't it either. It's not gonna happen. Those phallic missiles, he'll think, “No, okay, it must be something else then.” And that–that–is when we're really fucked. John Oliver, on Trump wanting a parade of his own © 2018 Kwiple.com
Military parades The marching orders were: “I want a parade like the one in France,” said a military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the planning discussions are supposed to remain confidential. “This is being worked at the highest levels of the military.” Washington Post, February 6, 2018, on “a Jan. 18 meeting between Trump and top generals in the Pentagon's tank – a room reserved for top-secret discussions,” during which Trump said he wanted a parade like he saw in France on Bastille Day, 2017 © 2018 Kwiple.com
Military spending [T]he 2020 federal budget for  the Department of Defence is $738 billion. Homeland Security soaked up $47.7 billion;  the State Department got $41 billion. By comparison, the appropriation for the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2020 was $7.7 billion. The federal budget for planning and enforcing our environmental regulations was $9.4 billion. In other words, for every dollar it spends on defense, the federal government spends a little over two cents on public health and protecting the earth combined. Elizabeth Warren, Persist © 2021 Kwiple.com
Military spending If the average profitability that was negotiated in a firm fixed-price contract was typically between 12 and 15 percent, so a company could make 12 percent. … Based on what they [Lockheed Martin and Boeing] actually made [on the Patriot weapons system], we would have received an entire year's worth of missiles for free. Shay D. Assad, former Director, Defense Pricing/Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy [A formal review by the Army revealed that total profits made by Lockheed and Boeing approached 40 percent] © 2023 Kwiple.com
Military spending The US may account for half of global defence spending, but how much use is its military hardware in a software age? US aircraft carriers, which can cost up to $13bn to build, can be easily sunk by one of China's DF-26 missiles, costing a few hundred thousand dollars. John Thornhill, Financial Times, April 2, 2020 © 2021 Kwiple.com
Nukes Putin has built up their military again and again and again. Their military is much stronger. He's doing nuclear. We're not doing anything. Our nuclear's old and tired and his nuclear is tippy-top from what I hear. Donald Trump © 2017 Kwiple.com
Race The Marines don't have any race problems. They treat everybody like they're black.  attributed to Daniel “Chappie” James Jr., America's first black four-star general  © 2018 Kwiple.com
Republicans say Sacrifice public education, health care and infrastructure on the altars of military spending and tax cuts for corporations and the rich  © 2018 Kwiple.com
Selfie And here's the first thing I would do if I were president of the United States. I wouldn't let Congress leave town until we fix this. I would literally use the military to keep them in if I had to. We're not leaving town until we restore these defense cuts. We're not leaving town until we restore the intel cuts. Lindsey Graham © 2015 Kwiple.com
Snapshot  I'm not saying Trump is Hitler. Hitler volunteered for the army. Donald Trump portrayed by Bill Maher © 2018 Kwiple.com
State of the union Police, militarized, viewed by many as an occupying army © 2015 Kwiple.com
Surely you jest Saying, “Beat their plowshares into swords  and their pruning hooks into spears,” Trump proposes increasing the budget for military spending by $52.3 billion to facilitate killing foreigners and quelling domestic dissent An alternative fact [he tweeted, “A budget that puts #AmericaFirst must make safety its no. 1 priority—without safety there can be no prosperity.”] © 2017 Kwiple.com
Surely you jest Saying, “Let them eat munitions,” Trump administration officials defend increasing military spending by $50+bn by eliminating or severely reducing anti-poverty programs, including programs providing after-school food aid to low-income kids and Meals on Wheels for seniors An alternative fact [White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said, “We can't spend money on programs just because they sound good” and reducing anti-poverty programs is “one of the most compassionate things we can do” because they are an onerous burden on taxpayers] © 2017 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say  The number of white recruits has plummeted,  [It’s] a casualty of this cultural skirmish that  has left our Army beleaguered and besieged by “woke” ideologies. Paul Gosar © 2024 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say Our top generals have turned into woke corporate bozos, and our troops deserve better. … Our military leadership  is totally incompetent. No active duty American general has ever won a war. Think about how crazy that is. These people get promoted by giving politcally correct powerpont presentations. Blake Masters, 12:00 PM – Nov 16, 2021 © 2022 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say  They’re going through woke training. Their toxic masculinity is completely not accepted, even though, what are the military for? I would think toxic masculinity would be a No. 1 requirement.  Marjorie Taylor Greene, who suffers from toxic masculinity, on today's military recruits © 2022 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say When do you think we can have this parade? Because I want to go to the parade! Jeanine Pirro, after he said he wanted a military parade like the one he saw in Paris © 2018 Kwiple.com
Trust  You can trust a marine with your life, but not your money or your wife. Marine Corps saying © 2018 Kwiple.com
o Veterans say The military teaches you to kill, it doesn't teach you how to live with killing. Nobody wants to say, “I'm at the lowest point in my life, and I need help.” Nobody wants to say that. And nobody's saying, “Hey buddy, you fought for us, lemme help you.” We're forgetting them. Trump doesn't. A Gulf War veteran quoted in The Gilded Rage, by Alexander Zaitchik © 2016 Kwiple.com
Vietnam War Vietnam was a place where the elite went as reporters, not as soldiers. Almost as many people from Harvard won Pulitzer Prizes in Vietnam as died there. David Halberstam © 2017 Kwiple.com
Vietnam War When I was going to high school, when I was going to college Vietnam was like the big deal. Like you have to leave college and go fight. And I said, “excuse me?” Donald trump © 2016 Kwiple.com
Wannabe autocrats Donald Trump and his allies have begun mapping out specific plans for using the federal government to punish critics and opponents should he win a second term, with the former president naming individuals he wants to investigate or prosecute and his associates drafting plans to potentially invoke the Insurrection Act on his first day in office to allow him to deploy the military against civil demonstrations. … Much of the planning for a second term has been unofficially outsourced to a partnership of right-wing think tanks in Washington. Dubbed ”Project 2025,” … Project 2025 comprises 75 groups in a collab- oration organized by the Heritage Foundation. Washinton Post, November 5, 2023 © 2023 Kwiple.com
Wannabe autocrats say  If I say do it, they're going do it. Donald Trump, when asked what he would do if the US military refused to follow the [illegal] order he vowed to issue to kill ISIS family members in reprisal for attacks © 2018 Kwiple.com
 
War [I]f you think the mission your country keeps sending you on is pointless or impossible and that you're only deploying to protect your  brothers and sisters in arms from danger, then it's not the Taliban or al-Qaeda or ISIS that's trying to kill you, it's America. Phil Klay, The Atlantic, May 2018 © 2016 Kwiple.com