San Francisco Chronicle

03/05/2025

“But what about civil disobedience?” you might ask. “You can’t just turn America into North Korea overnight!

The only thing that stopped Trump the last time he ordered the military to open fire on American protesters (“Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?”) was the refusal by his then-defense secretary and top general to carry out his order.

Fast forward four years, and the venture capitalist slated to be our next top general is a Conservative Political Action Conference darling who Trump claims was wearing a MAGA hat when the two met previously in Iraq.

Other vacancies waiting to be filled are the top uniformed lawyers for the Army, Navy and Air Force — the three-star generals responsible for reviewing orders from the commander-in-chief and defense secretary, to decide whether they’re legal. Seeking to remove any doubt as to why the previous officers were being removed, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently explained that the action was taken, preemptively, to prevent them from blocking “orders that are given by a commander in chief.”
Thanks for saying the quiet part out loud. Sounds like Trump is well on his way to finding the right “yes men” this time around.

Meanwhile, don’t take your eyes off Elon Musk.

Is it a coincidence that the president would just happen to set the world’s richest man loose inside all of the government’s computers — allowing his biggest campaign donor, the owner of one of the world’s largest artificial intelligence companies, access to everything the government knows about you — at the same moment he could be preparing to impose martial law?