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   Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Saturday, 14-Jun-2025 23:42:28 JST Nonilex

   #GiftArticle

   #Trump Relishes #Troops in American Streets While Shunning Conflict Overseas

   by Peter Baker

   When Trump first sought to stage a #military parade in Washington, a 4-star general argued against it, telling him that “it’s what dictators do.” Trump was unbothered by the comparison, & so on Sat tanks will roll down the streets of the nation’s capital for the first time in decades.

   #AmericanAutocracy #MilitaryState #ForeignPolicy #authoritarianism #propaganda
   https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/us/politics/trump-military-parade-israel-iran.html?unlocked_article_code=1.O08.h7ef.Jfy0NJRp1gFf&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Saturday, 14-Jun-2025 23:42:24 JST Nonilex

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     #Trump has always been a contradictory commander in chief, one unlike any other in American history. A graduate of a HS #military academy, he never actually served in the #ArmedForces, avoided being drafted for Vietnam thanks to a dubious bone spurs diagnosis, publicly denigrated Sen #JohnMcCain’s wartime heroism & was quoted [multiple sources] privately dismissing #veterans as “suckers” & “losers” (which he denied).

     #AmericanAutocracy #MilitaryState #ForeignPolicy #authoritarianism #propaganda

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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Saturday, 14-Jun-2025 23:42:25 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     The seemingly disparate postures of recent days— #strongman at home, *peace-seeker* [bystander] abroad—speak to Trump’s complicated relationship w/the #military. He has ordered more #troops to #LosAngeles & Washington than he currently has stationed in #Syria & #Iraq combined. He seems more willing at the moment to use the military against Americans than against Iranians. He celebrates a show of force on US soil even as he denounces “endless wars” outside its borders.
     #ForeignPolicy #propaganda

     Mr. Bill repeated this.
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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Saturday, 14-Jun-2025 23:42:26 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     Yet as a real #war broke out…in the #MiddleEast, #Trump seemed reluctant to get involved, declining to join #Israel in its aerial blitz against Iran’s #nuclear facilities despite years of chest-thumping threats of “obliteration” against the Islamic regime.While he authorized US forces to help defend Israel from Iran’s subsequent retaliation,in keeping w/past practice, Trump made clear that he would not target #Iran himself, at least for now, & instead urged it to return to the negotiating table.

     Mr. Bill repeated this.
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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Saturday, 14-Jun-2025 23:42:27 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     Nor was Trump evidently concerned about being accused of #authoritarian excess for deploying #troops to #LosAngeles to quell #protests against his #immigration crackdown. If anything, he seemed to revel in the moment, vowing to “hit” anyone who so much as spit at a police officer & even threatening “very big force” against protesters in Washington.

     #AmericanAutocracy #MilitaryState #ForeignPolicy #authoritarianism #propaganda