"Biden Didn’t Learn for Days That Pentagon Chief Was in Hospital"

[GrndPndr]

This a big deal?  I guess not...

Unlocked article link below:

https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/hospitalized-pentagon-chief-was-in-intensive-care-unit-12b3f1a6?st=n7pns02pvqo4gy7&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

[ClearedHot]

1 hour ago, GrndPndr said:

This a big deal?  I guess not...

Unlocked article link below:

https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/hospitalized-pentagon-chief-was-in-intensive-care-unit-12b3f1a6?st=n7pns02pvqo4gy7&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Can you imagine if an active duty member was not at work, in the hospital for a few days and didn't notify their supervisor/commander.  Yet another double standard by Fat Albert...he was the WRONG choice for so many reasons.  Biden and the elitist Dems don't care, maintain power at all costs.

[TreeA10]

Makes you wonder about the competence of a person that can be missing without informing his boss and nobody seems to care.

[Lawman]

Makes you wonder about the competence of a person that can be missing without informing his boss and nobody seems to care.

How about the fact there are active hostilities going on involving our deployed troops as well as the Russo-Ukrainian war and yet the SECDEF can go a week without talking to the boss.

Guess we know which cabinet members don’t mean that much.


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[M2]

To be fair, I don't think Biden knows where he's at the vast majority of the time!

On the other hand, it shows how (un)important Austin is in the current administration!

[Biff_T]

3 hours ago, M2 said:

be fair, I don't think Biden knows where he's at the vast majority of the time 

Don't let Biden jumpseat.  I heard he likes to pull fire handles.  

[uninformed]

I think the relationship between Austin and Biden can be explained best by looking at the Afghanistan exit fiasco.  Either Austin told Biden the truth about ANA/ANP's lack of motivation to fight the Taliban (which anyone that spent a second in country could clearly see) and Biden ignored him, or he lied to Biden about the ANA/ANP's state of readiness and (since Biden didn't fire him) Biden was okay with being lied too.  So Biden either ignores Austin or he doesn't trust him.  So why would he care if the guy is in the hospital for a few days (other than it looks bad politically).

And why would Austin bother to inform Biden?  Biden would either not believe him or not care.  And, who knows, maybe he did tell Biden and Biden forgot.

[nsplayr]

As a bonafide elitist Dem who would not do anything to maintain power, I do care. I know some of y'all don't talk to many Dems these days it seems...

I have never understood the Austin pick and don't know how you could possibly go to the ICU and not direct a member of your staff to inform the White House. In fact you would think he must have directed his staff not to say anything for this to have occured. If I was on Austin's staff, my first phone call would be to the WH Chief of Staff after the boss was admitted to give them a heads up.

Specifics of this hospital stay aside, from the start I'm not a fan of waiving the requirement that flag officers should have been out of uniform for seven years. I didn't like the precedent set by approving a waiver for Mattis (even though liked Mattis, especially in a Trump admin), nor do I like that the traditional was continued when Congress approved a waiver for Austin.

The SECDEF should be a straight-up civilian defense/security executive, not a very recently retired 4-star with all the active duty military political baggage that comes with it. Someone with a background like Kathleen Hicks, the current Deputy Secretary of Defense, should have been tapped for the top spot in the first place rather than a recently retired general or admiral.

Also Austin is 70...for fucks sake Boomers, fucking retire already! Hand-build a canoe in your garage and let your grandchildren sleepover for the weekend. GTFO of high office and enjoy the fruits of a lifetime of labor. And I say this to all of you equally  in the 65+ age range. When I am that age, I sure as hell won't be commuting to an office 6am-8pm, busting my hump flying around the world, dealing with Congress & pulling my hair our managing a gigantic organization. Screw that man - that could not possibly sound less appealing.

Edited January 7 by nsplayr

[guineapigfury]

8 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

Can you imagine if an active duty member was not at work, in the hospital for a few days and didn't notify their supervisor/commander.  Yet another double standard by Fat Albert...he was the WRONG choice for so many reasons.  Biden and the elitist Dems don't care, maintain power at all costs.

The article is vague, but it sounds like he was in the hospital for the better part of a week.  If I'm reading that incorrectly, please ignore my post.  What horrifies me is that the SECDEF is in the hospital for days and no-one in his office bothers to inform the White House.  I'm equally horrified that the White House apparently did not notice they hadn't heard from him in several days.  Does he have a spouse that could have called someone?  Did SECDEF notify anyone or was it the kind of medical emergency that would preclude that?  Did his staff know or did they not know?  If they knew did they inform the White House?  If they didn't know, did they just ignore a missing SECDEF for several days?  I've had people no-show for work and if I can't get them to pick up the phone I go to their house and knock on their door, even if it's 3 am.  This is basic Lieutenant level stuff that the very top of our government got wrong.  The whole situation is utterly inexcusable and the public is owed a straight answer on what went wrong.

[Sim]

He's only on the 6th place for succession. No worries. 🤡

 

Quote

No.	Office[3]	Incumbent	Party
1	Vice President	Kamala Harris		Democratic
2	Speaker of the House of Representatives	Mike Johnson		Republican
3	President pro tempore of the Senate	Patty Murray		Democratic
4	Secretary of State	Antony Blinken		Democratic
5	Secretary of the Treasury	Janet Yellen		Democratic
6	Secretary of Defense	Lloyd Austin		None

 

[waveshaper]

I wouldn't be surprised if the reason the SECDEF is keeping his pie hole shut is because he went to the hospital to get some type of trans surgery?    

[Springer]

1 hour ago, nsplayr said:

 

 

Also Austin is 70...for s sake Boomers, ing retire already! Hand-build a canoe in your garage and let your grandchildren sleepover for the weekend. GTFO of high office and enjoy the fruits of a lifetime of labor. And I say this to all of you equally  in the 65+ age range. When I am that age, I sure as hell won't be commuting to an office 6am-8pm, busting my hump flying around the world.......

As a Boomer I took your advice at 59:

[nsplayr]

8 minutes ago, Springer said:

As a Boomer I took your advice at 59:

This guy fuckin' gets it 🍺 #Winning

[O Face]

To be fair, Austin probably did tell Biden in person.  Hell, they probably had lunch that day and talked all about his upcoming operation. Austin assumes it’s cool and our senile grandpa of a president, wanders off thinking how fun it was to have just had lunch with Grimace from McDonalds, Elvis and Captain Crunch and proceeds to shit his pants, catch a Matlock episode, and in bed asleep by 1600. 

Edited January 8 by O Face
,

[herkbum]

it’s inexcusable and he should be removed.


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[Prosuper]

39 minutes ago, nsplayr said:

As a Boomer I took your advice at 59:

Myself also at 60,

[RASH]

it’s inexcusable and he should be removed.


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It’s inexcusable and they should all be removed


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[Prosuper]

2 hours ago, nsplayr said:

I have never understood the Austin pick

This is why, the military industrial complex wanted him there. Immediately after retiring as CENTCOM Commander, Austin joined the board of Raytheon Technologies, a military contractor, in April 2016. I guess he sucked at Raytheon too.

[Day Man]

1 hour ago, Springer said:

As a Boomer I took your advice at 59:

*new balance shoes pic*

ya don't say

j/k...keep living the dream, just jealous over here 🍻

[Magnum]

4 hours ago, Springer said:

As a Boomer I took your advice at 59:

Where is that?  Austria?  Need to go there!

 

[Springer]

31 minutes ago, Magnum said:

Where is that?  Austria?  Need to go there!

Wengen, Switzerland....car-free mtn village overlooking Lauterbrunnen Valley.  Discovered during my Germany tour.  Hasn't changed in the last 30 years.  And yes you need to go there.

Edited January 8 by Springer

[brabus]

13 hours ago, nsplayr said:

Hand-build a canoe in your garage and let your grandchildren sleepover for the weekend. GTFO of high office and enjoy the fruits of a lifetime of labor. And I say this to all of you equally  in the 65+ age range. When I am that age, I sure as hell won't be commuting to an office 6am-8pm, busting my hump flying around the world, dealing with Congress & pulling my hair our managing a gigantic organization. Screw that man - that could not possibly sound less appealing.

I don’t agree with you often, but fuck yeah, nailed it! Credit where credit is due. 

[Biff_T]

14 hours ago, Springer said:

As a Boomer I took your advice at 59

14 hours ago, nsplayr said:

This guy fuckin' gets it 🍺 #Winning

This.  

[ClearedHot]

15 hours ago, nsplayr said:

As a bonafide elitist Dem who would not do anything to maintain power, I do care. I know some of y'all don't talk to many Dems these days it seems...

Hard to get a word in when they are screaming equity, DEI, open borders, hate the orange man and white guilt.

15 hours ago, nsplayr said:

Specifics of this hospital stay aside, from the start I'm not a fan of waiving the requirement that flag officers should have been out of uniform for seven years. I didn't like the precedent set by approving a waiver for Mattis (even though liked Mattis, especially in a Trump admin), nor do I like that the traditional was continued when Congress approved a waiver for Austin.

Not a good reply if you don't invoke Trump.  I am not a giant fan of the waiver either but there are good exceptions but IMHO Mattis was a good one.  For those that know Austin it was obvious he was not a good choice for the job or the waiver but he did hit the DEI metrics.

15 hours ago, nsplayr said:

The SECDEF should be a straight-up civilian defense/security executive, not a very recently retired 4-star with all the active duty military political baggage that comes with it. Someone with a background like Kathleen Hicks, the current Deputy Secretary of Defense, should have been tapped for the top spot in the first place rather than a recently retired general or admiral.

Having worked in that office I do not agree with this assessment.  Yes we absolutely need civilian control of the military and that is one of the main drivers for the waiver requirement but some of these "straight-up civilian defense/security executive", are nothing more than academics (usually from left wing Ivy universities), and that presents a separate issue of ignorance.  If these were elected positions I might think differently but I always flash back to Robert McNamara and the horrific damage he did and the American lives lost because of his actions as SECDEF.  Interesting you mention Kathleen Hick, I've worked with her and again I do NOT agree with your assessment.  Having a public affairs grad Mount Holyoke College determine defense policy for the most powerful military in the world is far from optimal.

16 hours ago, nsplayr said:

Also Austin is 70...for fucks sake Boomers, fucking retire already! Hand-build a canoe in your garage and let your grandchildren sleepover for the weekend. GTFO of high office and enjoy the fruits of a lifetime of labor. And I say this to all of you equally  in the 65+ age range. When I am that age, I sure as hell won't be commuting to an office 6am-8pm, busting my hump flying around the world, dealing with Congress & pulling my hair our managing a gigantic organization. Screw that man - that could not possibly sound less appealing.

I hear you...but different personalities and drivers, not everyone is the same.

You and I have both worked with people driven by power, like you I am not in that ilk but I can see how some need that pursuit to keep them going.

I will be curious your view when you get closer to my age.  Growing up poor I am now in my peak earning years which is beyond anything I ever dreamed of as a kid.  It's crazy, my wife and I both drive cars that cost more than our first house.  Also, based on my childhood I will ALWAYS have the irrational fear, I don't have enough.  I've mentioned before that years ago I set three personal numbers.  The first number was absolute minimum to retire...I will easily meet all basic needs and never have to work again.  Second number was great quality of life, freedom to do whatever whenever.  Third number was FU money.  I had first number when I retired from the AF and was fortunate to hit second number years ago thanks to second job and two big investments that paid off.  Oddly my childhood wealth insecurity is colliding with peak earning years and a bonus package from new job.  In round numbers if I work another 14 months there is a big payout.  In essence would you work another 14 months for $100K a month?  It is probably irrational especially knowing my family and my wife's family are both wealthy and will leave us more than we could ever spend, but inheritance was never part of my retirement calculus.  My wife confronted me over the holidays and asked me to retire and I committed to get across the bonus finish line then hang it up while we are both relatively young and have our health.

[nsplayr]

2 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

Hard to get a word in when they are screaming equity, DEI, open borders, hate the orange man and white guilt.

I'm not screaming anything, in fact I rarely post here and overall am unsure why I'm wasting my time right this second. 

2 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

Not a good reply if you don't invoke Trump.  I am not a giant fan of the waiver either but there are good exceptions but IMHO Mattis was a good one.  For those that know Austin it was obvious he was not a good choice for the job or the waiver but he did hit the DEI metrics.

Trump admin started the trend, which I generally don't support, and Biden admin unfortunately continued it. I share your views that Mattis was good and Austin really hasn't been.

2 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

Having worked in that office I do not agree with this assessment.

I don't know her at all and so don't have a specific assessment there. My point was that as an opening argument, someone who is a real civilian is preferable to someone who is a recently retired flag officer.

2 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

I hear you...but different personalities and drivers, not everyone is the same.

I will be curious your view when you get closer to my age.

I hear you and agree not everyone is the same, there's just IMHO too many people who are "married to work" and too driven by fears, insecurities, greed, power, etc. and who cling on to top positions far too long.

I hope to live my values when I get up to your ancient status and retire in a timely fashion both for my own life enjoyment and for the advancement and prospering of the subsequent generations.

I have two numbers: "the number" and icing on the cake. I'll reach "the number" if I can TAFMS retire from the Guard, which is on track. Anything after that is for fun.

Icing would be if my wife chooses to work again for a significant stretch and/or I make any money in my second hobby career, both of which seem somewhat likely. Icing on the cake to me means working approx. 0.5 FTE vs full-time, buying an airplane, and flying the (future) grandkids out for very expensive hamburgers.

Hell, I might even build that canoe one day!

Edit to add: for those having a hard time retiring, can't bring themselves to spend more than they're making just in investment returns, might be inheriting millions, or are planning on leaving their kids millions at death when the "kids" are in their 60s or 70s, I highly recommend the book Die With Zero by Bill Perkins. I liked the book a lot and got a lot out of it.

Edited January 8 by nsplayr