Disgruntled lawmaker, Republican Thomas Massie, and the Democrats lost in the move to force a vote this week on impeaching Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial Cabinet secretaries.
Speaker Johnson called for a vote to refer the charges to committee. The Democrats and Massie did not want that but no other Republican House member sided with him. The measure succeeded 211-204. Interestingly 11 Democrats did not vote due to a “traffic incident.” Apparently seven Republicans also did not vote. No excuse was given for them.
The charges will die there.
PDJT wasted no time celebrating the result.
“Every single Republican, except [Kentucky Rep.] Thomas Massie, a major LOSER, voted in favor of Pete.
“Again, Victories in Venezuela and Iran, the Best Recruitment Numbers in the History of the Military (Long waiting lists to get in!), and Spirit like rarely seen before, led to the EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot.
“The Democrats continue to weaponize and abuse the United States of America. They must be stopped!”
Who is Thomas Massie and what were the substance of his charges?
Massie has been in Congress for 14 years. What had he accomplished in that time? One thing for sure is that he received lots of praise from the media for opposing Trump as the Republican nominee for President. He did this not once, not twice but three times. This may be the only thing he gave America. His opposition to Trump.
What about the eight charges he made? What can we discern here? They appeared to be designed at gaining attention for a back-seater in the House. Massie is irrelevant to any of the larger issues in politics at this point in time. Massie only seeks headlines, not the common good of all Americans, before he leaves office.
The first three articles charge Hegseth with “Waging War in Contravention of the War Powers Resolution of 1973.” Just who made the call to wage war? Was if Hegseth or was it our commander-in-chief? Trump did so in full compliance with the law. Now one might argue as some constitutional scholars do that the law is unconstitutional. That is not what Massie is saying. Massie is saying that Hegseth violated the law. Ridiculous!
No Democrat or RINO wants to challenge the constitutionality of this law. It allows them to repay those campaign contributions and to keep the money laundering cartel in business.
Article IV charges Hegseth with “Ignoring Laws that Minimize Civilian Casualties.” How many CIVILIAN casualties were there in the Venezuela? Zero. There were some Cuban soldiers that died.
How many CIVILIAN casualties were there in the boat strikes in the Caribbean or the eastern Pacific? Zero. The casualties here were cartel soldiers. What about Iran? Again, civilian deaths have been minimal in Iran. No civilians have been intentionally targeted in any of the operations.
Article V—“Extrajudicial Killings” covers the deaths of 243 pirates who tried to smuggle contraband drugs into this country, most notably fentanyl. Fentanyl is a drug Red China makes and distributes in a modern opium war against America.
Now I am no constitutional law expert but it seems to me that terrorists are legitimate military targets. The cartels that employ the fast boats used in these smuggling operations have all been designated as terrorist organizations. These fast boat operations seem to be a clear national security threat and a threat to the health and wellbeing of Americans. Why wouldn’t these be legitimate military targets?
Then there is Article VII—“Kidnapping of a Sovereign Foreign Leader.” Of course, this refers to the arrest of Maduro in Venezuela. And yes, Maduro was arrested…pursuant to a valid arrest warrant. Calling the arrest of a drug lord the “kidnapping of a sovereign foreign leader” is the hyperbole of some click-bait blogger.
Biden did not recognize the election of Maduro and Trump certainly did not. Massie’s charges are not the somber and serious thinking expected from a Member of Congress.
Cui bono? Who benefits from Massie’s opposition to enforcing drug laws? I doubt that he has been bought off but… I am certain that the Chinese and the drug cartels are happy with his support.
Massie seems to be the brand of politician that loves the sound of their own voice but accomplishes nothing. Rand Paul is another one out of the same state. Rand Paul is a good man who has no real idea of how to build a coalition to support his ideas.
Will Hegseth be impeached when the Democrats take control in January? I would be very surprised if it does not happen. The Democrats are in league with the coup plotters who want to turn America into a totalitarian state.
They want Hegseth gone because he and the rest of this administration work for America and will not serve the global order. As Mario Rubio said in Paris,
“The difference between this President and previous administrations is sometimes other presidents forgot and other administrations and other people in the role that I play now, have forgotten that we work for America. We don’t work for the global order. We don’t work for other countries. We work for the United States.”
As I asked previously, how does all of this fit under the color revolution umbrella?
Pete Hegseth pointed out in his speech that this is about policy disagreements by a disgruntled congressman. AG Todd Blanche pointed out that everything Hegseth did was coordinated and cleared by the DOJ. Senate and House members were briefed as required by law. This administration has made sure to check all the boxes needed to advance such actions. Of course, the decision to actually order the execution of these actions rests with our Commander-in-chief.
If the politicians in Washington buy into this nonsense that stopping a drug invasion was not legal, then the whole structure of our government changes. The Executive branch would no longer have the power to properly defend this country.
This is not a policy disagreement as Hegseth suggests. It is a fight about whether we will surrender control of our nation’s policies and military to that global order as all the other Presidents and their administrations in this century have done.
To help the coup plotters, the Democrats are trying to paint a target on the back of our military. They are telling them that their service is a crime. This is a predictable step in the process of declaring our government illegitimate.
Iran is the big question here. Two former secretaries of state, Pompeo and Blinken do not see any end to the Iran conflict other than escalation or a negotiated peace where the IRGC remains in power. Escalation means more bodies on the ground just as we have seen in every other war in the last fifty years. A negotiated settlement with the iRGC in power means that the threat of a nuclear Iran remains.
This is the globalist approach. It becomes a managed crisis. The war never ends and the body count continues. We have seen this over and over again in Iraq, in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Trump has seen a third option. His approach is limited kinetic action when necessary and economic pressure with a defined condition to end it. This leaves that region’s nations to work with each other and to rebuild. We have already seen some of this playing out.
Of course, the globalists are truly frightened by the idea of nations working things out without their omnipotent guidance and outside of their imperial system. Once again, one can see where the real war is. It is between this administration and the globalists centered in London and the EU who see their power slipping away.
Saudi Arabia and Syria have signed a defense cooperation pact without outside intervention.
Syria is also considering a mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan. This would be regional security built by regional powers among themselves without the intervention of the globalists.
Now let’s ask this question. Who loses when Iran is contained without a ground war? Who loses when regions handle their own security? America doesn’t lose. The Gulf States don’t lose. The rest of the region doesn’t lose. As Susan Kokinda notes, “The ones who lose are the ones who gave us the permanent crisis and gave us the body count.” Just look at Ukraine to see that.
Batten down the hatches. It is going to be a wild ride. If you have seen the marionette strings, you know you cannot unsee them. Prepare accordingly.