Esper fired.
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Just a quick couple of articles I read here. Trump developed a dislike for him over the summer - because Esper was much more reluctant than Trump to use troops to quell riots.
Esper also wants Confederate names off bases.
Some articles seem to suggest that Esper is getting sensitive that people call him "Yesper" - so he's goading Trump a bit into firing him (by pushing the base rename issue).
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Esper has been on shaky ground with the White House for months, a rift that deepened after the defense secretary said in June that he did not support using active-duty troops to quell the large-scale protests. Esper also said military forces should be used in a law enforcement role only as a last resort.
His remarks from the Pentagon briefing room were seen by many as an effort to distance himself from Trump's threats to deploy the military to enforce order on American city streets.
Trump lambasted the leadership of the Pentagon in September, accusing the military's leadership of seeking to fight wars in order to boost the profits of defense contractors.
The President's accusations drew the ire of Esper, who called White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to complain, according to defense officials. Meadows soon afterward appeared on television and attempted to walk back Trump's comments, saying his broadside against the Pentagon's leaders had not been directed at anyone in particular.
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The sort of plausible "worst case" I can imagine would be Trump wants to inject the military into the electoral process (e.g., get the military to do or monitor the recounts or get the military to guard the various election offices or where the recounts are being done), and Esper rejected that sort of ideas outright.
Anyway, will wait to learn the rationale before passing judgment.
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@Copper said in Esper fired.:
@Axtremus said in Esper fired.:
"worst case" I can imagine
That is how history will remember him.
The president who inspired haters to imagine the worst
And then start believing it
Imagine
You missed a very important word, "plausible", when quoting me.
I wrote 'plausible "worst case" I can imagine".'While recognizing that as a possibility, I have not "believe" that that is what happened yet, hence the parts you do not quote about waiting to learn what Trump's rationale is before passing judgement.
There are some even worse cases that I can imagine that are not "plausible" in my estimation, such as space aliens having put Trump under mind control.
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@Axtremus said in Esper fired.:
@Copper said in Esper fired.:
@Axtremus said in Esper fired.:
"worst case" I can imagine
That is how history will remember him.
The president who inspired haters to imagine the worst
And then start believing it
Imagine
You missed a very important word, "plausible", when quoting me.
I wrote 'plausible "worst case" I can imagine".'While recognizing that as a possibility, I have not "believe" that that is what happened yet, hence the parts you do not quote about waiting to learn what Trump's rationale is before passing judgement.
There are some even worse cases that I can imagine that are not "plausible" in my estimation, such as space aliens having put Trump under mind control.
Imagine
One word is enough
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https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/16/trump-troop-reductions-afghanistan-iraq-436799
Maybe it has to do with troop drawdowns from Iraq and Afghanistan?
