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Not a single authoritarian leader or aspiring dictator has ever assembled the complete senior military leadership of their military in a single location to demean them as failures and humiliate them for their slovenly personal appearance, while degrading whole classes serving in the military branches as inferior and undeserving.

Donald Trump is used to entering events with energetic audiences applauding to music. "I've never entered a room so silent before," he stated when speaking to the country's top military commanders at the Marine Corps Base Quantico. "No laughing. Unsure if you're permitted to do that." He was attempting to force some laughter, an vintage performance technique to energize a dead audience. "You know what? Just enjoy yourselves."

Trump's logic perfectly encapsulated his psychology of feeling victimized and politics of retribution. If you do not bend the knee to him, he is deeply wounded. The failure to admire him must be penalized. Any disrespect of his authority condemns you to ruin.

Military Discipline vs. Partisan Demands

The speaker fails to understand that the silence of the commanders during his unprecedented speech to them demonstrated their ultimate responsibility. Their composure showed fidelity to uphold their oath to the nation's founding document. By their stillness they presented themselves as models for the remainder of the military leadership and the service members.

They aren't loyal to any individual or any cult of personality, but to his constitutional position.

They served as a backdrop for a campaign-like event, but they were resistant to serving as partisan players.

Basic Misunderstanding

Trump's inability to understand their steadfastness in the face of his provocations showed his lack of understanding not only of the military but the executive office under the legal system. As he became offended at their stoney silence his criticism made clear that he viewed them simply as his pawns.

The president had arrived on an pressing task for them to execute. He was there to tell the armed forces leadership they were to be his obedient agents for the most significant reversal of military strategy since the "war on terror" – an unprecedented conflict to be waged against his perceived domestic rivals at home in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which forbids the domestic deployment of the American armed forces as a law enforcement agency.

Context and Executive Measures

Every high-ranking generals had been assembled for the unprecedented gathering at the Marine Corps Base Quantico on the directive of the secretary of defense. They possessed no idea for what momentous purpose they were being called. They dared not theorize that they were being brought to be a captive crowd for a self-referential ego-driven presentation seeking to restore his reputation and establish his power.

But the military leaders could have gotten more than a clue that they were being rounded up for the latest episode of political theater by reading the presidential directive Designating an activist movement as a terror group, an "organization" that lacks formal structure. This was followed included a security directive citing multiple events as justifications: "This political violence is not a collection of isolated incidents and doesn't originate organically.

Ideological Framework

According to the directive, a new "government approach" would be implemented against an belief system of "anti-Americanism, opposition to capitalism, and opposition to Christianity; advocacy of the removal of the federal government; radical views on migration, ethnicity, and sex; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and ethics."

These vapors were not a description of an philosophy so much as a hodgepodge of partisan catchphrases. Should any belief system expressed it was an inchoate authoritarianism based on a controlling impulse that conjured up an universal opponent called "Antifa".

Military Chief's Performance

The theatrical display at Quantico began with the military leader darting back and forth on the stage. He was a motivational speaker as a drill sergeant with a publication to hawk – and a warm-up act for the main speaker.

The ex national guard officer said he had been "considered an radical"; he was flagged as a possible "insider threat" by colleagues. Regardless of numerous reports of his drinking issues, he told journalists in an conversation: "I have never had a alcohol issue," but then reportedly promised a senator that he would "avoid alcohol while I have this position."

Procedural Modifications and Contentious Remarks

As a television personality, the speaker had been a prominent advocate for forgiving or showing mercy to service members accused or found guilty of war crimes. He described them as "warriors" rather than "war criminals".

Now, in his speech, he announced he was clearing away "unnecessary elements". He promoted loosening rules aimed at preventing forbidden force within the military. He announced the "restructuring" of the oversight and informant reporting system, which would weaken safeguards and shield violent or careless violators from responsibility.

He planned to, he said, implement discriminatory measures of "unisex" or "masculine standard" physical standards for combat roles, stating: "If that means no females meet standards for some military positions, so be it."

Confrontational Rhetoric and Military Reaction

The speaker swaggered in front of the commanders, shouting obscenities – "Acronym for explicit phrase", or vulgar expression. "No more identity months, DEI offices, cross-dressing individuals. End environmental focus. No more division, distraction or gender delusions. Remove debris. As I've said before and repeat again, we are finished with that shit."

The military leaders sat expressionless at his crude language that could be charged under the military legal system as a infraction against indecent language that "neglects to the prejudice of proper conduct and discipline".

Appearance Standards and Personal Comments

Per the speaker, it was the flabby commanders who needed to work out following his example. "It's completely unacceptable to see overweight military leaders in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It's a bad look," he said. "Eliminate facial hair."

Concluding Observations and Governmental Context

Not once did the speaker mention "the Russian Federation" or "the Ukrainian nation". He made not the smallest reference to the Russian huge aerial assaults striking Ukraine, Russia's unmanned aircraft over neighboring countries, the strained relations over US wavering within the international coalition, or utter anything that might be interpreted as a military consideration.

After his threatening address, the speaker stepped aside for Donald Trump. Trump displayed his usual contempt for the armed forces by baiting them with an series of political insults to which they remained completely unresponsive.

During the course of his rambling remarks, he introduced his new objective for the armed forces against the "enemy from within", with major American urban areas as the "training grounds … the ones that are run by the progressive politicians … And this is going to be a major role for some of the people in this room. That's a war, too. It's a war from within." Silence.