When I was serving in the US Navy at 18-22 years of age, I had a top secret eyes only codeword clearance as I was part of the Naval Security Group. And one point in my career I had a Marine assigned as my executioner in the event we were ever in danger of being captured by the enemy. To save us from being tortured. Was not aware of this when I signed up to be a cryptologic technician O branch, but handled it. Became good friends with him. Never was there any desire to show off to anyone what data I had access to. Never. Since we were at war, to do so could have resulted in a firing squad. Age didn't matter then or now.
Sadly, this has been going on for decades. Schools need repair, we all need health care, housing is in short supply, but the Pentagon ALWAYS gets what it wants. Try checking the pockets of our legislators, the Beltway Bandits keep them in cash.
Below is a comment that I left on Steve Schmidt’s writing from yesterday. Please forgive me for being lazy and copying and pasting, but I appreciate that you and Elliot are also shining a light on this important subject. I would like to call attention to my comments within my comments about how we feel compelled to apologize for making negative comments about the military in general. I notice you have make sure to cover that base in your writing and I don’t fault you for that at all, it’s part of the social psychology theory of belonging and being accepted in the group. Thank you for a wonderful piece!
Thank you for bringing Jon Stewart into my morning! I miss him so much from the Daily Show, but am so grateful for the work he’s doing now. I was married to the military in the early ‘80s and can attest that it is its own culture. It seems that in my lifetime, the military has become god-like in that they can not be questioned in any way. We don’t question anything about them it seems until some brave journalist breaks a story and then they scramble to try to cover their ass. From what I understand, it is still highly frowned on to seek help for mental health problems, regardless of the big campaign they put forth after it was revealed the military was hiding the amount of suicides. I wonder how many people know about Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s case that was coming before the Supreme Court when Roe was passed? A pregnant female military officer was being pressured to have an abortion in order to keep her job. What about the abuse of gay men? What about the abuse of women? I realize this piece is about the money, but my point it, there needs to be a whole lot more oversight of the military across the board, and not by people in the military! I think that because of the nature of their work, we as citizens who don’t possibly put our lives on the line some day, feel like we can’t challenge them because it won’t be socially acceptable. I thinks it’s time to challenge
The Commander in Chief is resposible for the Pentagon. He may not be resposible for funding it, but He or She is resposible fir its integrity.
The intent of the Marshall Plan, may have had an economic intent for Europe after WW2, but it evolved into a sort of Americanization of the world This idea has been rejected strongly by those in favor of self determination as a mantra for Democracies. Teach the world how to fish, don't buy them a fish dinner.
I'm not sure why Jon Stuart has become an authority on anything, but it seems that is the latest thing.
Good to see us finally discussing accountability in government. We have agencies of secrecy designed to deceive our neighbors and to force our will upon them in the form of nation building. More recently, these agencies have turned nation building inward upon the client, you and I. This is an intolerable situation and must be dealt with swiftly and strongly.
It's become painfully obvious that we cannot employ such agencies of deception without them turning upon us. We have woven a wicked web of deception and we must cease this practice if we are ever to preach about our own morality. We can dare to be different. We must.
It's amazing to me how quickly the media has been to assume that this 21 year old committed these acts just to be a big shot in his online game room group. I don't think that assumption should be jumped to so quickly. The reason usually has to do with making money or being coerced or used as a tool by someone much smarter to set an easy trap for him. In other words, it's hard to believe someone that young would do this for profit, but then again, of course they could.
$857 BILLION. And service personnel qualify for food stamps. The new computer patient tracking system purchased from Orecle Cerner is so faulty people, veterans, have died. Where is the over site? Unaccounted funds, death, graft at egregious levels and her response is “ they will prioritize” soldiers qualifying for food stamps!!! $857 BILLION. I worked in affordable housing for over 40 years. We had auditors EVERY YEAR!!! And we’d only used a couple hundred thousand. We had to account for every one of those dollars. The housing had to last 50 years.
I’m convinced there is little real auditing going on with these billions because congress has lined so many friends and families pockets they don’t want citizens to know.
trump’s VA director (wilkie) authorized 2 billion - yes, Billion with a B, dollars to a group whose sole job was to make appts for veterans. When called out on this his response was basically “oops”. And that was that. No investigation, no accountability.
By the way, since trump & wilkie, & sadly even more so under Biden’s VA director McDonough (I think I spelled that correctly), the VA’s phone systems, among other things, are a mess. Pre-2016 I could call any VA medical clinic myself and make my own appts. Since 2016 all calls are routed through people clearly working at home (you can hear children, dogs, household stuff in the background). It’s never a person working at the actual clinic. This is, in my opinion, wasteful, a breach of medical confidentiality and evidence of extreme disorganization and corruption - somebody is making money off these ridiculous changes.
Sorry, Mr Rather, no one at the top will pay at all for the security leak. Biden not only won’t call the brass on the carpet he’ll find a way to deflect and blame trump for it all - just like he did with the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle. First, he flat out said - twice publicly - that he didn’t believe a word of the initial report which was based on testimonies of those actually there - thus insulting those who spoke up and those who died and were injured. Then he publicly said the brass did a great job and no one would be fired. Two years later the DOD puts out a new report that blames trump in full. (trump’s agreement with the Taliban was bullshit but he wasn’t in charge of the disastrous withdrawal.)
Over half of the DOD’s grotesque budget goes to private contractors while servicemembers need food stamps and can’t afford on-base child care.
I am sickened by all the corruption and the lack of accountability, responsibility and basic common sense across the board within the DOD and the VA.
In answer to your question, "Is anyone accountable?" the short answer is probably not. Accountability is becoming an irrelevant term in American society. When the public looks at political leadership that has escaped accountability for the most egregious acts against our country why should anyone have confidence that wrongdoers will pay any price for their acts? Trump and his boxcars of deplorables still walk free and thumb their noses at the law. George Santos continues to serve in Congress without any consequence for his lies and questionable financial dealings. The double standard of justice is on full display daily in a myriad of ways. The requisites of punishment to ensure accountability have been all but lost. It is not swift, it is not certain, it is not fair or proportionate, it only serves as a bad example to others instead of as an example of consequence for illegal or inappropriate behavior. We move closer and closer to a consequence free environment each day and there is little I see to give people trust and confidence in our governmental institutions to hold people accountable. Endless investigations that are little more than fodder for news media speculation further undermine that confidence in a system of justice to protect us. It is as though America suffers from terminal "POGO Syndrome;" "We have met the enemy and he is us!"
This is just another example of Americans taking life for granted. Everyday Americans pay the price for someone else’s folly! Yes there needs to be checks and balances, also, there needs to be a modern upgrade to the whole system! From generals to pfc’s. From weapons to general supplies. It’s a complex system because of neglect, not because of its importance to our security.
There is also, as Eisenhower warned, the issue of what is guiding our national investment in the military. Is it readiness and strategic development or the propping up of industries and jobs solely based on the local city or state view (Defense Contractors --> $$ --> Congress)? A recent article in the Atlantic Magazine, "The Age of American Naval Dominance is Over" by Jerry Hendrix, a retired navy captain, can be seen as evidence of a change in the way our military invests its vast resources. We have crippled our fleet and increasingly depend on foreign manufacturers for essential things, while rising powers not friendly to us start building their fleets and "guarding" international waters vital to trade. Another person anyone interested in the topic should read is Matt Stoller and his numerous articles here on Substack on market concentration in the military industrial complex.
The vast amounts spent in defense, if strategically planned at a macro level, could both strengthen our posture and create tens of thousands of good paying jobs that could revitalize vast areas of the country.
Accountability is part of your commentary which I was glad to read; I keep waiting for someone to ask another question. This young man, and his cohorts did not become who they are in a vacuum. What about his “gun obsession?”
What environments did he and others on this site grow up in? What were his parents politics? Yes the “leak” is front and center and it begs the question that this needs sone major overhaul and inspection.,
My guess is that his parents “knew” someone in the Microsystems/ offices he was working out of? Just a hunch and not based on any facts. I want to see sone deep digging into the environment (governmentally and locally) how this came about.
Let’s not just scratch the surface and move on. Where did this kid come from? I want to know! His connection to guns?
I hate to say it, and will probably catch flak for it, but the current military establishment is exactly what Madison feared when he wrote the 2nd Amendment. A large military, funded by Congress, with very little in the way of checks on its power, and perhaps too easily led into support for an authoritarian and/or dictator. Or worse, a dictatorial government.
What he didn't foresee, of course, is Reaper drones, aircraft, Abrams tanks, and all the other gear making a modern soldier about 200 times more lethal than the soldiers of his day. Nor did he foresee a Supreme Court deciding that the average untrained individual had every right to obtain, keep, and use a weapon that is so far beyond the lethality of weapons of his day, it would be inconceivable to him. And that that individual wouldn't need to belong to a "well regulated militia".
When I was serving in the US Navy at 18-22 years of age, I had a top secret eyes only codeword clearance as I was part of the Naval Security Group. And one point in my career I had a Marine assigned as my executioner in the event we were ever in danger of being captured by the enemy. To save us from being tortured. Was not aware of this when I signed up to be a cryptologic technician O branch, but handled it. Became good friends with him. Never was there any desire to show off to anyone what data I had access to. Never. Since we were at war, to do so could have resulted in a firing squad. Age didn't matter then or now.
Excellent! Both the interview and this article. Voices what I have believed for many years. Thank you
Sadly, this has been going on for decades. Schools need repair, we all need health care, housing is in short supply, but the Pentagon ALWAYS gets what it wants. Try checking the pockets of our legislators, the Beltway Bandits keep them in cash.
Below is a comment that I left on Steve Schmidt’s writing from yesterday. Please forgive me for being lazy and copying and pasting, but I appreciate that you and Elliot are also shining a light on this important subject. I would like to call attention to my comments within my comments about how we feel compelled to apologize for making negative comments about the military in general. I notice you have make sure to cover that base in your writing and I don’t fault you for that at all, it’s part of the social psychology theory of belonging and being accepted in the group. Thank you for a wonderful piece!
Thank you for bringing Jon Stewart into my morning! I miss him so much from the Daily Show, but am so grateful for the work he’s doing now. I was married to the military in the early ‘80s and can attest that it is its own culture. It seems that in my lifetime, the military has become god-like in that they can not be questioned in any way. We don’t question anything about them it seems until some brave journalist breaks a story and then they scramble to try to cover their ass. From what I understand, it is still highly frowned on to seek help for mental health problems, regardless of the big campaign they put forth after it was revealed the military was hiding the amount of suicides. I wonder how many people know about Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s case that was coming before the Supreme Court when Roe was passed? A pregnant female military officer was being pressured to have an abortion in order to keep her job. What about the abuse of gay men? What about the abuse of women? I realize this piece is about the money, but my point it, there needs to be a whole lot more oversight of the military across the board, and not by people in the military! I think that because of the nature of their work, we as citizens who don’t possibly put our lives on the line some day, feel like we can’t challenge them because it won’t be socially acceptable. I thinks it’s time to challenge
The Commander in Chief is resposible for the Pentagon. He may not be resposible for funding it, but He or She is resposible fir its integrity.
The intent of the Marshall Plan, may have had an economic intent for Europe after WW2, but it evolved into a sort of Americanization of the world This idea has been rejected strongly by those in favor of self determination as a mantra for Democracies. Teach the world how to fish, don't buy them a fish dinner.
I'm not sure why Jon Stuart has become an authority on anything, but it seems that is the latest thing.
Good to see us finally discussing accountability in government. We have agencies of secrecy designed to deceive our neighbors and to force our will upon them in the form of nation building. More recently, these agencies have turned nation building inward upon the client, you and I. This is an intolerable situation and must be dealt with swiftly and strongly.
It's become painfully obvious that we cannot employ such agencies of deception without them turning upon us. We have woven a wicked web of deception and we must cease this practice if we are ever to preach about our own morality. We can dare to be different. We must.
It's amazing to me how quickly the media has been to assume that this 21 year old committed these acts just to be a big shot in his online game room group. I don't think that assumption should be jumped to so quickly. The reason usually has to do with making money or being coerced or used as a tool by someone much smarter to set an easy trap for him. In other words, it's hard to believe someone that young would do this for profit, but then again, of course they could.
$857 BILLION. And service personnel qualify for food stamps. The new computer patient tracking system purchased from Orecle Cerner is so faulty people, veterans, have died. Where is the over site? Unaccounted funds, death, graft at egregious levels and her response is “ they will prioritize” soldiers qualifying for food stamps!!! $857 BILLION. I worked in affordable housing for over 40 years. We had auditors EVERY YEAR!!! And we’d only used a couple hundred thousand. We had to account for every one of those dollars. The housing had to last 50 years.
I’m convinced there is little real auditing going on with these billions because congress has lined so many friends and families pockets they don’t want citizens to know.
trump’s VA director (wilkie) authorized 2 billion - yes, Billion with a B, dollars to a group whose sole job was to make appts for veterans. When called out on this his response was basically “oops”. And that was that. No investigation, no accountability.
By the way, since trump & wilkie, & sadly even more so under Biden’s VA director McDonough (I think I spelled that correctly), the VA’s phone systems, among other things, are a mess. Pre-2016 I could call any VA medical clinic myself and make my own appts. Since 2016 all calls are routed through people clearly working at home (you can hear children, dogs, household stuff in the background). It’s never a person working at the actual clinic. This is, in my opinion, wasteful, a breach of medical confidentiality and evidence of extreme disorganization and corruption - somebody is making money off these ridiculous changes.
Sorry, Mr Rather, no one at the top will pay at all for the security leak. Biden not only won’t call the brass on the carpet he’ll find a way to deflect and blame trump for it all - just like he did with the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle. First, he flat out said - twice publicly - that he didn’t believe a word of the initial report which was based on testimonies of those actually there - thus insulting those who spoke up and those who died and were injured. Then he publicly said the brass did a great job and no one would be fired. Two years later the DOD puts out a new report that blames trump in full. (trump’s agreement with the Taliban was bullshit but he wasn’t in charge of the disastrous withdrawal.)
Over half of the DOD’s grotesque budget goes to private contractors while servicemembers need food stamps and can’t afford on-base child care.
I am sickened by all the corruption and the lack of accountability, responsibility and basic common sense across the board within the DOD and the VA.
In answer to your question, "Is anyone accountable?" the short answer is probably not. Accountability is becoming an irrelevant term in American society. When the public looks at political leadership that has escaped accountability for the most egregious acts against our country why should anyone have confidence that wrongdoers will pay any price for their acts? Trump and his boxcars of deplorables still walk free and thumb their noses at the law. George Santos continues to serve in Congress without any consequence for his lies and questionable financial dealings. The double standard of justice is on full display daily in a myriad of ways. The requisites of punishment to ensure accountability have been all but lost. It is not swift, it is not certain, it is not fair or proportionate, it only serves as a bad example to others instead of as an example of consequence for illegal or inappropriate behavior. We move closer and closer to a consequence free environment each day and there is little I see to give people trust and confidence in our governmental institutions to hold people accountable. Endless investigations that are little more than fodder for news media speculation further undermine that confidence in a system of justice to protect us. It is as though America suffers from terminal "POGO Syndrome;" "We have met the enemy and he is us!"
This is just another example of Americans taking life for granted. Everyday Americans pay the price for someone else’s folly! Yes there needs to be checks and balances, also, there needs to be a modern upgrade to the whole system! From generals to pfc’s. From weapons to general supplies. It’s a complex system because of neglect, not because of its importance to our security.
There is also, as Eisenhower warned, the issue of what is guiding our national investment in the military. Is it readiness and strategic development or the propping up of industries and jobs solely based on the local city or state view (Defense Contractors --> $$ --> Congress)? A recent article in the Atlantic Magazine, "The Age of American Naval Dominance is Over" by Jerry Hendrix, a retired navy captain, can be seen as evidence of a change in the way our military invests its vast resources. We have crippled our fleet and increasingly depend on foreign manufacturers for essential things, while rising powers not friendly to us start building their fleets and "guarding" international waters vital to trade. Another person anyone interested in the topic should read is Matt Stoller and his numerous articles here on Substack on market concentration in the military industrial complex.
The vast amounts spent in defense, if strategically planned at a macro level, could both strengthen our posture and create tens of thousands of good paying jobs that could revitalize vast areas of the country.
Thank you! Where has common sense and accountability gone?
Why was such a young person given so much responsibility in the first place.
Accountability is part of your commentary which I was glad to read; I keep waiting for someone to ask another question. This young man, and his cohorts did not become who they are in a vacuum. What about his “gun obsession?”
What environments did he and others on this site grow up in? What were his parents politics? Yes the “leak” is front and center and it begs the question that this needs sone major overhaul and inspection.,
My guess is that his parents “knew” someone in the Microsystems/ offices he was working out of? Just a hunch and not based on any facts. I want to see sone deep digging into the environment (governmentally and locally) how this came about.
Let’s not just scratch the surface and move on. Where did this kid come from? I want to know! His connection to guns?
I hate to say it, and will probably catch flak for it, but the current military establishment is exactly what Madison feared when he wrote the 2nd Amendment. A large military, funded by Congress, with very little in the way of checks on its power, and perhaps too easily led into support for an authoritarian and/or dictator. Or worse, a dictatorial government.
What he didn't foresee, of course, is Reaper drones, aircraft, Abrams tanks, and all the other gear making a modern soldier about 200 times more lethal than the soldiers of his day. Nor did he foresee a Supreme Court deciding that the average untrained individual had every right to obtain, keep, and use a weapon that is so far beyond the lethality of weapons of his day, it would be inconceivable to him. And that that individual wouldn't need to belong to a "well regulated militia".
Finally Dan stepped up to address a critically important issue rather than most of the liberal chatter so many times on your broadcast.
thank you!!!