Well, if it would make him happy I would give him that Nobel Peas Prize.
I'll be happy to get a can of peas from a good brand like for example "Le Sueur Brand Premium Canned Vegetables". Spray paint the thing yellow (we'll tell him it is of the purest of pure gold) and name the thing Nobel Peas Prize.
For info, "Le Sueur Brand Premium Canned Vegetables" also has "very young small sweet peas" in the offering. We'll use one of those cans for his Nobel Peas Prize.... I'm sure Trump will appreciate that.
OR . . . there could be a "Nobel Please Prize." This is to give to most excellent sycophant that ever kissed the (ahem) ring of the crudest person in the world.
Whenever I hear "Department of War," I think of Duck Soup. Except Chicolini is a better Secretary of War than Pete Hegseth, who in his pompous self-importance would make a perfect foil for the Marx Brothers.
I think he also wants a "Department of War" so that he can get rights to the name change and put lots more of our money in his pocket. Everything he does is motivated by greed and cruelty.
The irresponsible, frankly unserious, billionaire-owned media calls this “rebranding,” as if a Cabinet agency is a cereal box.” Jen, you hit it on the head!
I’m not sure it’s wise to think of Trump’s conduct as mere "rebranding" or “window dressing” or “little boys play acting.” This looks like the posturing and even massaging of public opinion that precedes war. This might be a good time to recall that in Trump’s first term he changed the Army’s dress uniform to resemble the dress uniform worn during World War II. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/news/us-army-new-uniforms.html
The ones who glorify war are often the ones who make a lot of money from it. The ones who bear the costs are those who fight and their families. And the taxpayers.
I understand what you mean. i was strenuously avoiding saying "men," and "soldiers" didn't work, so "people" seemed the right choice. But it is too general.
The people whom I know who have been in combat have been reticent about talking about it at all. They have tried to back their minds out of what they experienced. Getting anything but the lightest anecdotes out of them is like pulling teeth.
Steve, Dad's tour of duty in WWII was in the Philippines under McArthur. His primary duty was sniper patrol in the jungle. The only comment I ever heard was "We spent a lot of time shooting ****** out of trees." That was it. His reward was to come home with malaria. At least he came home. A lot of his mates did not. Rich S, Octogenarian and Contrarian
My uncle was also deployed to various locations in the South Pacific during WWII as an Army sharpshooter. He returned with what we would now consider PTSD, and like your Dad, at least he came home. Right you are in your observations.
My father was a B.A.R. gunner in the European theater. He wouldn't talk about the war until I was in my thirties. When I was younger, he said he didn't want to glorify it.
That won't happen unless the rethuglican stranglehold on governance in the US can be stopped dead in its tracks. We need a raft of serious Constitutional Amendments which turn the President into a General Manager whose Board keeps him on a tight leash. We need actual teeth in the Constitution which keeps the President and SCOTUS from denying people their rights. and allowing them the right to implement edicts. It is going to take an engaged and enraged electorate to start to fix this.
All the more reason to reform the SCOTUS. But, you are right, we are stuck until the next Democratic Congress and President are installed. Honestly, it would not surprise me one iota if they fished around in Alito's ass and dredged up a 'precident' to negate the 19th Amendment.
Agree, but my fear is that much (most?) of the damage that has already been done by the trump regime is going to be incredibly difficult to undo. That is part of the regime’s strategy to ensure the damage they inflict is long lasting. Even under a democratic trifecta I fear it will take many decades to stabilize and rebuild a functioning and truly democratic government.
I believe we could be looking at two or three administrations before the repairs are done, if they ever are completely finished. The damage this delusional moron has done may never be fully repaired. Another delusional narcissist could come along and reverse the repairs, unless the members of Congress will actually honor their oaths.
Thank you for the list of better ways to fund care for veterans. I would add, restore funding for suicide prevention both for active service members and veterans. I am a Gold Star mother and am frustrated that Trump gutted the programs that helped those who are contemplating suicide.
How much did the Supreme Court contribute to Trump's rebranding when it allowed him 'supreme rights' as president. It seems to me that they have a hand in this.
The Supreme Court has willingly becomme part of the Executive branch. There is still a federal judiciary that the lower courts belong to and are trying to follow the law in their rulings. But the Supremes have abandoned the lower courts.
The Supine Court, as I now call it, gave up their duty of checks and balances and to the Constitution. What they don't realize is that in doing so, under the ultimate reign of a dictator, they themselves would become irrelevant and unnecessary. They'd be out of a job.
Uh, not now and definitely not with the GOP Senate majority that would rubber-stamp anyone that Trump advances for confirmation. Were we to do it now, we'd end up with more of what we already have too much of.
Jennifer, I remember the fury I felt when our great legacy media reported on the activities of “DOGE” as if it were a real thing.
There was never any such legal entity called “the Department of Government Efficiency.” No Act of Congress created it, no public monies were ever lawfully spent to fund it, its structure was never published, its “head” was never nominated and confirmed by the Senate, and most importantly, none of its mysterious employees, like “Big Balls” ever swore an oath on record to defend the Constitution, or were ever legally granted access to secret databases containing phone and social security numbers of tens of millions of Americans.
The entire affair was an exercise in illegality, executive overreach and misappropriation of already Congressionally mandated spending. Its very existence was a shocking violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act that would never have been permitted at any other time in Smerican history, not even during the Civil War.
And yet every day, our chickens (media) followed the trail of bread crumbs left for it to peck at. Not a speck of this bullshit, rogue “agency” was ever legitimate and its existence had absolutely NOTHING to do with cutting “waste, fraud and abuse.”
Own up, America ! Our demented and deranged Hitler wannabe made no secret that a return to the White House would be his "retribution tour" -- and in its indifference and stupidity you STILL voted for him. NOW SUFFER ALL THE LIES, ALL THE CHAOS, ALL THE CRIMINALITY, AND ALL THE INCREASINGLY DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES !!!
Elizabeth: What a situation we were in with Biden's age--just the optics of it was enough to make everyone wonder. But at this stage in the Trump debacle, I figure that anyone who still supports him is paying NO attention to what's going on (and are unaware of what he and they are doing to themselves and to everyone else), are living in a na-na land between reality and the game they've been playing all of their lives; or like Trump, just plain whacko. I've stopped talking to anyone who supports Trump--it's hard to think of them as anything but functional in some respects, but ultimately brain dead.
Richard, no one who is reading Jen Rubin or this comment section voted for Trump. Your comment is not helpful. As a matter of fact, you seem just as gleeful as MAGA at the mess we are in.
Cindy, Repeating this post -- as I will continue doing -- is my way of reminding people who sat out the November election that their NOT voting is responsible for the global nightmare we are ALL currently forced to live.
"Just because Donald Trump barks out an executive decree does not mean it is the law of the land."
Jennifer, thank you for pointing out the egregious error that the MSM fell for, hook, line, and sinker. You also did a service to the military in your support of the priorities the funds could be better used for.
It's clear (at least to me) that Trump is grasping at straws to stay in the headlines by becoming more and more erratic in his demands, which become less palateable and more ridiculous. Not only for the price, but for the appearance, this latest order should be ignored. If nothing else, it's no mark of fiscal conservatism.
This is now up for question. It looks as if some congressional Republicans may be extracting a little turn-about revenge, begining with the release of the leather bound "birthday book". Cries of 'fake' and 'dead issue' may well fan the flames of a cover-up. Then there are the victims who are compiling their own list of participants who Trump may have even less ability to silence.
Steve: MY naive optimism died awhile back. How's yours? But the Epstein mess is just an extension of the same degenerate personality who was recorded talking on the bus that day and when we all thought then that it was all over. HA HA HA HA.
While Trump is busy wanting to bring back the names of yesteryear - Department of War and Washington Redskins - how about bringing back his original family name, so we'd now have to call him President Drumpf.
I do not understand why military leadership keeps complying with unlawful orders. I hope when this is administration is over there will be a full investigation and those who bent to illegal orders will be punished.
As always, the underlings will be fully investigated and will be held responsible for orders that came from much higher up. It's even possible the investigating will be done by Republicans, after Trump is gone and they feel they have to pretend they were always appalled by this action.
Wow, Jen. This piece is so fierce I'm surprised the middle of it doesn't burn away like the opening credits of Bonanza (yes, I date myself, but so what? lol).
I think it's also prescient, in that I bet he's already seen "secret" designs for the future uniforms those happy folk under his tiny thumb will soon be compelled to wear. The whole crew: staffers, advisors, Congresspeople, even the weak and deplorable SCOTUS. Now that his women all have matching faces, bodies, and hair, they may as well take one step further to an actual team garment. And of course, it will have epaulets. And fit tightly, at least for the women.
I can already see the rationalization for the change: how easy and convenient it will be, eliminating troublesome daily dressing decisions. It will also come in three colors, so the wearer will not appear to be in the lockstep h/she is in (this part won't be publicized).
Imagine the possibilities! Naturally there will be some (cough) patriotic branding stitched across the chest or on the shoulder. I bet Ann Telnaes would have a field day with this!!
Finally, I also suspect there are secret lessons in goosestepping going on. Remember how in Animal Farm (talk about prescience: Orwell!) the pigs went behind the barn and learned how to do it?
Here’s an idea- tongue in cheek but worth thinking about-since Trump and his rich buddies don’t pay taxes, if every single taxpayer in the country stopped paying taxes, changed their W2 status, and prevented the government for the rich from collecting taxes to pay for these follies, what would they do? They’re already depleting the treasury with their crazy budgeting and the IRS staff with their stupidity. Don’t let them have our money unless they use it for the people. We need an epic sit down strike to bring the country to a halt. All the slaves to corporations need to stop allowing their employers to get rich.
The question before us if the military has any remaining leaders who are truly committed to the Constitution and codes of honor. We are at a point where such a military is our only hope. With the corrupt Supreme Court, the disgraceful Republican Congress, the laughingly sycophant Cabinet, only a unified military leadership could say, "No more!" and effect a restoration by forming some kind of caretaker government. As much as fantasy as is that thought, it is hard to imagine any other interrupting of the destroying of our country. Their plan is working to completely disenfranchise the American people.
Yes, poor old Gaza has fallen off the radar, with all the dastardly things happening at home . Bu make no mistake, this president has SOMEONE (now we know it's Jared) laying the groundwork for the Family's takeover of Gaza.
Donna: I also thought that--it's part of the family planning. Can you imagine what it's like to be one of those boys, e.g., Jared or the other children? Do you think Melania will ever write a real tell all?
Trump wants both a "Department of War" and a Nobel Peace Prize. Hmmm.... Well, consistency and logic has never been one of his strong points.
Well, if it would make him happy I would give him that Nobel Peas Prize.
I'll be happy to get a can of peas from a good brand like for example "Le Sueur Brand Premium Canned Vegetables". Spray paint the thing yellow (we'll tell him it is of the purest of pure gold) and name the thing Nobel Peas Prize.
For info, "Le Sueur Brand Premium Canned Vegetables" also has "very young small sweet peas" in the offering. We'll use one of those cans for his Nobel Peas Prize.... I'm sure Trump will appreciate that.
Or the Noble Piss Prize; maybe Putin can provide the background data.
Probably should “rebrand” the peas, just to be contemporary!
OR . . . there could be a "Nobel Please Prize." This is to give to most excellent sycophant that ever kissed the (ahem) ring of the crudest person in the world.
Whenever I hear "Department of War," I think of Duck Soup. Except Chicolini is a better Secretary of War than Pete Hegseth, who in his pompous self-importance would make a perfect foil for the Marx Brothers.
I think he also wants a "Department of War" so that he can get rights to the name change and put lots more of our money in his pocket. Everything he does is motivated by greed and cruelty.
Maybe he thinks he's going to try to invade and take the Nobel.
Your sarcasm is hilarious!!
If Nobel Peace Prize will make him so happy and contended that he is willing to step down and retire, I would create a special one just for him.
The irresponsible, frankly unserious, billionaire-owned media calls this “rebranding,” as if a Cabinet agency is a cereal box.” Jen, you hit it on the head!
I’m not sure it’s wise to think of Trump’s conduct as mere "rebranding" or “window dressing” or “little boys play acting.” This looks like the posturing and even massaging of public opinion that precedes war. This might be a good time to recall that in Trump’s first term he changed the Army’s dress uniform to resemble the dress uniform worn during World War II. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/news/us-army-new-uniforms.html
I can think of one head that deserves a nail or two!
I knew she was the author before I checked just by reading that line!! Superb, as always, dear Jen!
❣️🇺🇸 🎯 Jennifer Rubin..
https://bsky.app/profile/kenaiseasky.bsky.social/post/3lyg6dlkuoc2h
People who have never been in combat always seem to glorify war. QED.
I think a more proper wording would be; the people who glorify war are almost never the ones who have been in combat.
The ones who glorify war are often the ones who make a lot of money from it. The ones who bear the costs are those who fight and their families. And the taxpayers.
More proper or just a different way of expressing a similar thought?
“People who have never been in combat always seem to …”
Most people have never been in combat - but they don’t all glorify war.
Sentence structure makes it too inclusive even as a generalization.
- but we get your point.
I understand what you mean. i was strenuously avoiding saying "men," and "soldiers" didn't work, so "people" seemed the right choice. But it is too general.
Perhaps "Some people....often seem to..." Is that better?
The people whom I know who have been in combat have been reticent about talking about it at all. They have tried to back their minds out of what they experienced. Getting anything but the lightest anecdotes out of them is like pulling teeth.
Steve, Dad's tour of duty in WWII was in the Philippines under McArthur. His primary duty was sniper patrol in the jungle. The only comment I ever heard was "We spent a lot of time shooting ****** out of trees." That was it. His reward was to come home with malaria. At least he came home. A lot of his mates did not. Rich S, Octogenarian and Contrarian
My uncle was also deployed to various locations in the South Pacific during WWII as an Army sharpshooter. He returned with what we would now consider PTSD, and like your Dad, at least he came home. Right you are in your observations.
Septegenarian and Contrarian.
My father was a B.A.R. gunner in the European theater. He wouldn't talk about the war until I was in my thirties. When I was younger, he said he didn't want to glorify it.
Once Trump is out of office, the next president will have a lot of work to do to rectify the mess Trump is creating.
That won't happen unless the rethuglican stranglehold on governance in the US can be stopped dead in its tracks. We need a raft of serious Constitutional Amendments which turn the President into a General Manager whose Board keeps him on a tight leash. We need actual teeth in the Constitution which keeps the President and SCOTUS from denying people their rights. and allowing them the right to implement edicts. It is going to take an engaged and enraged electorate to start to fix this.
New amendments won't solve anything. The current SCOTUS is ignoring and rewriting the ones we have.
All the more reason to reform the SCOTUS. But, you are right, we are stuck until the next Democratic Congress and President are installed. Honestly, it would not surprise me one iota if they fished around in Alito's ass and dredged up a 'precident' to negate the 19th Amendment.
Agree, but my fear is that much (most?) of the damage that has already been done by the trump regime is going to be incredibly difficult to undo. That is part of the regime’s strategy to ensure the damage they inflict is long lasting. Even under a democratic trifecta I fear it will take many decades to stabilize and rebuild a functioning and truly democratic government.
It’s going to take an entirely new constitution and I’m pretty sure the country will come apart in that process
Squeezing the life out of freedom, in order to protect it. The loss of genuineness and "good faith efforts" in people with power does that.
A question from Jane Austen, paraphrased: How does such a person get worked on?
Let's first see if you all have a "normal" midterm come November 2026.
Don't forget that the real masters of Trump have that Vance fellow lined up already.
Perhaps. But thankfully Vance is no Trump.
Hi Kim, I'm afraid Vance is worse. The thing is, that guy has a functioning brain.
He'll continue to do the destroying stuff but without the trump crazy stuff.
But I give it to you that no way he'll get the magats to vote for him.
Well, barring dramatic change we're going to get the Couchf... never mind. Might as well get as prepared as we can for him.
In a couple years, they'll have promoted DonnyJon Junior to be the candidate.
I believe we could be looking at two or three administrations before the repairs are done, if they ever are completely finished. The damage this delusional moron has done may never be fully repaired. Another delusional narcissist could come along and reverse the repairs, unless the members of Congress will actually honor their oaths.
That's assuming smart, honsst, dedicated people can take control. I think there's a good chance of things like secession and/or civil war.
Thank you for the list of better ways to fund care for veterans. I would add, restore funding for suicide prevention both for active service members and veterans. I am a Gold Star mother and am frustrated that Trump gutted the programs that helped those who are contemplating suicide.
How much did the Supreme Court contribute to Trump's rebranding when it allowed him 'supreme rights' as president. It seems to me that they have a hand in this.
The Supreme Court has willingly becomme part of the Executive branch. There is still a federal judiciary that the lower courts belong to and are trying to follow the law in their rulings. But the Supremes have abandoned the lower courts.
The Supine Court, as I now call it, gave up their duty of checks and balances and to the Constitution. What they don't realize is that in doing so, under the ultimate reign of a dictator, they themselves would become irrelevant and unnecessary. They'd be out of a job.
I won't be entirely surprised if he dissolves the USSC.
At this point, I'd not put anything past this demented creature.
We need to expand the Court
Uh, not now and definitely not with the GOP Senate majority that would rubber-stamp anyone that Trump advances for confirmation. Were we to do it now, we'd end up with more of what we already have too much of.
Of course.
Jennifer, I remember the fury I felt when our great legacy media reported on the activities of “DOGE” as if it were a real thing.
There was never any such legal entity called “the Department of Government Efficiency.” No Act of Congress created it, no public monies were ever lawfully spent to fund it, its structure was never published, its “head” was never nominated and confirmed by the Senate, and most importantly, none of its mysterious employees, like “Big Balls” ever swore an oath on record to defend the Constitution, or were ever legally granted access to secret databases containing phone and social security numbers of tens of millions of Americans.
The entire affair was an exercise in illegality, executive overreach and misappropriation of already Congressionally mandated spending. Its very existence was a shocking violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act that would never have been permitted at any other time in Smerican history, not even during the Civil War.
And yet every day, our chickens (media) followed the trail of bread crumbs left for it to peck at. Not a speck of this bullshit, rogue “agency” was ever legitimate and its existence had absolutely NOTHING to do with cutting “waste, fraud and abuse.”
Own up, America ! Our demented and deranged Hitler wannabe made no secret that a return to the White House would be his "retribution tour" -- and in its indifference and stupidity you STILL voted for him. NOW SUFFER ALL THE LIES, ALL THE CHAOS, ALL THE CRIMINALITY, AND ALL THE INCREASINGLY DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES !!!
But I didn't vote for him and no one I know voted for him. I also convinced dummies who weren't going to vote, to vote for Harris.
Too many registered voters stayed home!
Elizabeth: What a situation we were in with Biden's age--just the optics of it was enough to make everyone wonder. But at this stage in the Trump debacle, I figure that anyone who still supports him is paying NO attention to what's going on (and are unaware of what he and they are doing to themselves and to everyone else), are living in a na-na land between reality and the game they've been playing all of their lives; or like Trump, just plain whacko. I've stopped talking to anyone who supports Trump--it's hard to think of them as anything but functional in some respects, but ultimately brain dead.
Richard, no one who is reading Jen Rubin or this comment section voted for Trump. Your comment is not helpful. As a matter of fact, you seem just as gleeful as MAGA at the mess we are in.
Cindy, Repeating this post -- as I will continue doing -- is my way of reminding people who sat out the November election that their NOT voting is responsible for the global nightmare we are ALL currently forced to live.
"Just because Donald Trump barks out an executive decree does not mean it is the law of the land."
Jennifer, thank you for pointing out the egregious error that the MSM fell for, hook, line, and sinker. You also did a service to the military in your support of the priorities the funds could be better used for.
It's clear (at least to me) that Trump is grasping at straws to stay in the headlines by becoming more and more erratic in his demands, which become less palateable and more ridiculous. Not only for the price, but for the appearance, this latest order should be ignored. If nothing else, it's no mark of fiscal conservatism.
Trump will do anything to distract from the Epstein mess.
He'll have to try harder. It's not going away, and it's even some Republicans that are demanding the release of the files.
Once they're released, they will contain exactly what DonnyJon wants them to contain.
This is now up for question. It looks as if some congressional Republicans may be extracting a little turn-about revenge, begining with the release of the leather bound "birthday book". Cries of 'fake' and 'dead issue' may well fan the flames of a cover-up. Then there are the victims who are compiling their own list of participants who Trump may have even less ability to silence.
Steve: MY naive optimism died awhile back. How's yours? But the Epstein mess is just an extension of the same degenerate personality who was recorded talking on the bus that day and when we all thought then that it was all over. HA HA HA HA.
. . . Anne: and THAT'S the scariest thing going.
The irresponsible, frankly unserious, billionaire-owned media calls this “rebranding,” as if a Cabinet agency is a cereal box.”
While Trump is busy wanting to bring back the names of yesteryear - Department of War and Washington Redskins - how about bringing back his original family name, so we'd now have to call him President Drumpf.
I do not understand why military leadership keeps complying with unlawful orders. I hope when this is administration is over there will be a full investigation and those who bent to illegal orders will be punished.
As always, the underlings will be fully investigated and will be held responsible for orders that came from much higher up. It's even possible the investigating will be done by Republicans, after Trump is gone and they feel they have to pretend they were always appalled by this action.
I worry you are right. We are seeing, in real time, why the founding fathers were deeply suspicious of a standing army.
Wow, Jen. This piece is so fierce I'm surprised the middle of it doesn't burn away like the opening credits of Bonanza (yes, I date myself, but so what? lol).
I think it's also prescient, in that I bet he's already seen "secret" designs for the future uniforms those happy folk under his tiny thumb will soon be compelled to wear. The whole crew: staffers, advisors, Congresspeople, even the weak and deplorable SCOTUS. Now that his women all have matching faces, bodies, and hair, they may as well take one step further to an actual team garment. And of course, it will have epaulets. And fit tightly, at least for the women.
I can already see the rationalization for the change: how easy and convenient it will be, eliminating troublesome daily dressing decisions. It will also come in three colors, so the wearer will not appear to be in the lockstep h/she is in (this part won't be publicized).
Imagine the possibilities! Naturally there will be some (cough) patriotic branding stitched across the chest or on the shoulder. I bet Ann Telnaes would have a field day with this!!
Finally, I also suspect there are secret lessons in goosestepping going on. Remember how in Animal Farm (talk about prescience: Orwell!) the pigs went behind the barn and learned how to do it?
Here’s an idea- tongue in cheek but worth thinking about-since Trump and his rich buddies don’t pay taxes, if every single taxpayer in the country stopped paying taxes, changed their W2 status, and prevented the government for the rich from collecting taxes to pay for these follies, what would they do? They’re already depleting the treasury with their crazy budgeting and the IRS staff with their stupidity. Don’t let them have our money unless they use it for the people. We need an epic sit down strike to bring the country to a halt. All the slaves to corporations need to stop allowing their employers to get rich.
I've thought the same thing. But switch the taxes from federal to the states. They are really going to need money thanks to this regime.
The question before us if the military has any remaining leaders who are truly committed to the Constitution and codes of honor. We are at a point where such a military is our only hope. With the corrupt Supreme Court, the disgraceful Republican Congress, the laughingly sycophant Cabinet, only a unified military leadership could say, "No more!" and effect a restoration by forming some kind of caretaker government. As much as fantasy as is that thought, it is hard to imagine any other interrupting of the destroying of our country. Their plan is working to completely disenfranchise the American people.
This article by Popular Information will also turn your stomach.
https://open.substack.com/pub/popularinformation/p/kushner-takes-millions-from-saudis?r=fc8b8&utm_medium=ios
Yes, poor old Gaza has fallen off the radar, with all the dastardly things happening at home . Bu make no mistake, this president has SOMEONE (now we know it's Jared) laying the groundwork for the Family's takeover of Gaza.
Donna: I also thought that--it's part of the family planning. Can you imagine what it's like to be one of those boys, e.g., Jared or the other children? Do you think Melania will ever write a real tell all?
They dont talk about this on MSM. Copy link and spread the information.