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Not a single authoritarian leader or would-be dictator has previously gathered the entire senior officer corps of their military in one room to demean them as failures and embarrass them for their unprofessional grooming standards, while insulting entire groups serving in the military branches as inferior and undeserving.

The former president is used to entering events with enthusiastic crowds cheering to music. "I've never walked into a room so quiet before," he remarked when addressing the country's top military leaders at the Marine Corps Base Quantico. "No laughing. Don't know if you're permitted to do that." He was attempting to elicit some laughter, an vintage performance technique to energize a dead audience. "Listen up, Just have a good time."

Trump's logic clearly demonstrated his psychology of feeling victimized and politics of retribution. Should you do not bend the knee to him, he is deeply wounded. The failure to admire him must be punished. Your slight of his majesty dooms you to destruction.

Armed Forces Discipline vs. Political Expectations

Trump fails to understand that the silence of the military leaders during his extraordinary address to them showcased their ultimate duty. Their composure displayed fidelity to maintain their pledge to the constitution. Through their calm they represented themselves as models for the remainder of the officer corps and the troops.

They aren't loyal to Trump or any cult of personality, but to his legal role.

They served as a background for a political event, but they were unwilling to serving as partisan players.

Basic Lack of Comprehension

Trump's failure to understand their stolidity in the face of his provocations showed his incomprehension not only of the military but the executive office under the legal system. When he took offense at their unresponsive silence his criticism made clear that he saw them simply as his tools.

The president had come on an urgent task for them to execute. He was there to inform the armed forces leadership they were to be his obedient agents for the most significant reversal of military strategy since the "anti-terrorism campaign" – an unprecedented conflict to be waged against his viewed political opponents at home in violation of the federal law of 1878, which forbids the internal deployment of the US military as a law enforcement agency.

Background and Executive Actions

Every high-ranking military leaders had been gathered for the historic gathering at the Marine Corps Base Quantico on the order of the secretary of defense. They possessed no idea for what momentous occasion they were being called. They wouldn't theorize that they were being assembled to be a captured crowd for a self-referential vanity presentation seeking to rehabilitate his image and assert his authority.

However the commanders could have obtained more than a clue that they were being assembled for the most recent episode of political drama by reading the presidential directive Labeling Antifa as a Domestic Terrorist Organization, an "entity" that does not exist. Subsequent actions included a security directive citing multiple incidents as pretexts: "This political violence is not a series of isolated incidents and doesn't originate naturally.

Philosophical Basis

Per the memorandum, a new "government approach" would be implemented against an belief system of "opposition to America, opposition to capitalism, and anti-Christianity; advocacy of the overthrow of the United States Government; radical views on migration, ethnicity, and gender; and opposition towards those who hold conservative values on family, religion, and ethics."

These vapors were not a portrayal of an philosophy so much as a hodgepodge of political shibboleths. If there were ideology expressed it was an inchoate fascism based on a controlling drive that created an universal opponent called "the opposition".

Defense Secretary's Presentation

The dramatic presentation at Quantico started with the defense secretary darting back and forth on the platform. He was a inspirational presenter as a drill sergeant with a book to hawk – and a opening performance for the headliner.

The former military reserve major said he had been "deemed an extremist"; he was identified as a possible "insider threat" by colleagues. Regardless of numerous accounts of his drinking issues, he told journalists in an interview: "I never had a drinking problem," but then allegedly promised a legislator that he would "not touch alcohol while I have this role."

Procedural Changes and Contentious Remarks

While serving as media personality, the defense secretary had been a leading advocate for pardoning or showing mercy to service members charged or found guilty of military offenses. He described them as "warriors" rather than "war criminals".

Now, in his address, he declared he was removing "unnecessary elements". He encouraged relaxing rules aimed at stopping forbidden violence within the military. He declared the "overhauling" of the inspector general and informant complaint process, which would undermine legal protections and shield violent or careless violators from responsibility.

He would, he said, impose selective measures of "unisex" or "male level" fitness requirements for combat roles, stating: "If that means no females meet standards for some combat jobs, so be it."

Confrontational Language and Military Response

The speaker swaggered in front of the military leaders, shouting obscenities – "Acronym for explicit phrase", or explicit language. "No more heritage observances, DEI offices, cross-dressing individuals. End environmental focus. No more separation, distraction or identity issues. No more unnecessary elements. As I stated before and will say again, we are finished with that nonsense."

The generals sat without reaction at his vulgarity that could be charged under the military legal system as a violation against improper speech that "fails to the detriment of proper conduct and military standards".

Appearance Standards and Individual Observations

According to the defense chief, it was the out-of-shape commanders who needed to work out like him. "It's totally improper to see overweight generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the nation and the globe. It appears unprofessional," he said. "No more beardos."

Final Observations and Governmental Background

Not once did the defense secretary mention "Russia" or "Ukraine". He offered not the smallest reference to Russia's huge aerial assaults bombarding Ukraine, Russia's unmanned aircraft over neighboring countries, the tensions over US wavering within the international coalition, or express anything that might be interpreted as a strategic thought.

Following his threatening address, the speaker made way for the president. The president displayed his customary disrespect for the armed forces by provoking them with an array of partisan barbs to which they remained rigidly motionless.

In the middle of his rambling remarks, he introduced his new mission for the armed forces against the "internal threat", with large American urban areas as the "training grounds … the ones that are run by the radical-left Democrats … 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." No response.