Talked with retired soldier Saturday at the barber.

[Duncanpup]

He is Retired officer not a ring knocker O.C.S. King of battle he said smiling at me shaking my hand and Duncan the golden retrievers paw as we introduced ourselves and it was decent conversation.

What started conversation was he walked in and asked whose car is that out there with 82nd bumper sticker and he sat down and we had decent conversation. Then we realized we both belong to the same gym and have passed each other in working out.

It turned to politics and we discussed J6 2021 and he was active duty then i mentioned our very own two seditious pigs here in central Pennsylvania. Scott Perry Doug Mastriano who clearly violated the oath we swore to the Constitution upon our enlistment.

We discussed Posse Comitatus yet he feels that our military has officers and senior enlisted in our ranks that would not have acted against our citizens.

In what would surely have become national protest if J6 succeeded and supported martial law in which possible attorney general Jeff Clark would have tried to implement.

And we discussed how power or the thought of power can absolutely corrupt and i mentioned I think that Scott Perry a retired P.A.National Guard General would have been appointed joints chief of staff of the Military if J6 was successful and Mastriano would have been rewarded as well for his sedition.

And we both agreed that this November will be 2020 on steroids. I admitted to him that i am a 58 year old man who is frightened for our democracy and perhaps in back my mind a bit scared for my and children and grandchildren personal safety in case of violence.

We live in a red area of Pennsylvania people will remember my Gore Obama Hillary yard signs. I said I’m frightened to point of where if it goes sideways I’ll take off work and stay home armed just in case and i say this with no drama.

I just find it so disturbing and disgusting that this is what our country has become. In the last 9 years since that orange obese leech came down the escalator.

[yardwork]

1. Did you get a sense of how he feels about Trump?

[Duncanpup]

3. Yes he despises trump.

[yardwork]

4. Good.

I don't understood why so many military like Trump, especially after he stole top secret documents. Honestly, his support should have ended when he mocked people lost in battle and prisoners of war.

[InstantGratification]

10. Two words

Fox News

They are reason why. The pro Trump spin they put on everything works. Fox spews propaganda 24/7 and when you are constantly bombarded with it, that shit sinks in. It has been a known thing for ages and the nazi's used it to great effect: if you repeat a lie often enough, people will begin to believe it, even when it is obviously false. Fox has been telling them that everything coming out of the "liberal" media is fake news and only conservative sources can be trusted.

They have literally been running a psychological warfare campaign on conservative Americans since they were founded and have especially targeted military and first responders. Example of the targeting: Their Fox Nation streaming service is a subscription service for most, but free to military and first responders, capturing and keeping many of them in the fold.

[Attilatheblond]

21. Yes, that sort of 24/7 propaganda plus...

it is sadly true that many in the military now are not especially, um, well read. I was appalled, years ago, reading that the US Army had lowered the standard reading level requirement to 8th grade level for the printed training material they supply. Recently heard it was or going to be lowered further. (Recently read studies suggesting almost 1/4 of our general population reads at the THIRD GRADE level.) Add that to the fact that many in military are there due to the 'economic draft', meaning many young people go in because they have no marketable skills and face poverty. Some enlisted because of trouble with the law and they were given the choice of conviction & jail or enlisting.

To make things more questionable, we had the continued lowering of standards for graduation from high school in many states, school boards peopled with those driven by political and/or religious desires to limit/control what history is taught, and we get too many 'adults' unleashed in society with little actual understanding of history, civics, or ability to read and think critically. Makes a lot of people ripe for swallowing what the propaganda machines put out. It is terrifying to me.

Breaks my heart to know that the REAL patriots who sign up to protect our nation have to serve with people who are in the military because they have no other choice or are even dangerous. Our active duty personnel deserve better company than some of the people who should not really be in uniform.

I do applaud some of the commanding officers of facilities who have banned FOX news. But it's not enough to hold the propaganda machines at bay and makes me fear for the safety of members of the armed forces and the public in general.

[NanaCat]

26. Sigh.

Stop.

Seriously.

The military always has leaned conservative, long before there was Fox News or any other right wing bugaboo that you could try to wedge into this blame gap. Excessively hierarchical institutions like that are catnip for authoritarians. They especially love the rah-rah patriotism aspects that appeal to their hard-on for nationalism.

Fox has nothing to do with creating that sort of organization--the conservative tilt was baked in, long before Ailes dreamed it up, as anyone who served before there was Fox can tell you. People like...oh...ME.

And, honestly, Fox does not have as much reach on bases as you want to think. My immediate neighbour (a Democrat!) is serving right now, and goes on frequent TDY excursions all around the US. He laughed when another neighbour made the same assertion about Fox News brainwashing the military. If you'd ever been on a base, you'd know what he does: that the clinic/hospital waiting rooms are blasting home improvement shows, and nobody goes to the BX to watch telly, and the BX is the one place where Fox News is most likely playing. And nobody really notices it at all. It's background clutter that one can rarely hear over typical loud Americans, who are unaware of any public volume setting below 11.

I'm not saying the Fox blast doesn't happen here and there in any of the bases, but the problem isn't as widespread as your inner chicken little wants it to be.

[SomedayKindaLove]

22. To me if feels the military was more solidly red

In the 80’s and 90’s, and support started waning during the Baby Bush Administration.

Seems about the same time the Right stopped ogling over the military and turned their love to police officers instead.

[sop]

12. I've met people who say they "despise" Trump, yet are still voting for him.

At best, after all his disqualifying actions are pointed out, some of the more rational will say they might write in someone else for president, and vote straight "R" downballot.

[gab13by13]

2. Glad you posted this because

a lot of people do not have a clue what a 2nd Trump reign would look like. I don't believe it will be an Orban-style reign, I believe it would be a Pinocet-style reign.

I cringe when I keep hearing about how our institutions held, did they, are they?

[Evolve Dammit]

19. They haven' t held yet. It's still a jump ball.

[SomedayKindaLove]

23. The 1st time around Trump was a little bit in awe

Of the Presidency. This time around I’m pretty sure he knows it’s not for him, too limiting, so might as well just become a dictator instead, suits him better.

[Diamond_Dog]

5. I am happy to hear he despises Trump.

After Trump called our war veterans “Losers and suckers” it is unfathomable to me how any of them or their families still support that despicable jackass.

[magicarpet]

6. This is so unhealthy for America to be sitting on the edge of their seats just waiting for the next,..

... political bomb to explode so the deranged Orange Fuhrer can massage, entertain, self gratify and comfort his sick and insatiable ego.

Come November we will hopefully put this monster of trDUMP finally behind us and resume building a better America for ourselves, our families, and our communities.

[hay rick]

7. I also live in a very red area (in Florida).

Before Trump came along I was predisposed to view strangers and new acquaintances as likely to be decent people. That is no longer the case. In my area Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 2 to 1. Before (if) I shake a hand, I have already done the math.

[Zilli]

8. I've actually tried to find and read "Project 2025"

The stochastic terrorism that has been ginned up over the last 9 years has been a successful precursor to the terror we have waiting for us if the red states that have legislated all the ways of overturning the voice of the people are able to dismiss the VOICE OF THE PEOPLE so that the Sadistic Court can step in and declare trump God King for life.

Yeah, so I live in fear and would be prepared to leave this country if I had 2 dimes to rub together..

[shrike3]

11. Here's a pdf

https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

I'd leave the country in a heartbeat, but I have a sick spouse who would not be able to relocate.

[Hekate]

15. TY. Awhile back I looked it up, thinking to download it for reference, but it's 920 pages!

Anyone have an opinion about whether it’s worth the disc space?

[shrike3]

16. Here's what's supposed to be a summary.

https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration

[Hekate]

17. Thanks -- that's only 19 pages!

[Evolve Dammit]

20. Welcome!

[Joinfortmill]

9. We gotta vote and we must get the young people to vote.

[barbtries]

13. yeah.

i am convinced that there will be violence in November, and I hate it.

i hate republicans.

[roscoeroscoe]

14. Right there with you

I'm a long time leftie and 26 year Army vet. I mean, I read "It Can't Happen Here" when I was a kid (along with everything else I could put my hands on). There's no room in America for Brownshirts. This is not America. I know the strain of reactionary fear-based politics is strong in the U.S., but aren't we passed all that stupidity? I guess not.

Thank the Lord and the Absolute I've been able to come here to DU for a dose of sanity. Pretty much every day since about 1999... Happy Memorial Day y'all, appreciation for all whose family served and sacrificed.

[calimary]

18. Thank you for your service to all of us, roscoeroscoe.

I suspect most if not all of us come here for that dose of sanity, as well as the many clever ways to word it.

I think of my dad and father-in-law today. They both served in WW2. My dad never talked out it - neither of them did. But one thing my dad said really stuck. He flew photo-reconnaissance and he once told me he was always very proud that - as he put it: “I never raised a gun against my fellow man.”

I’ve thought about that ALOT ever since. I never heard him say anything else that deep.

[Boomerproud]

25. I like your username. My GG grandfather was Robert Roscoe

He served twice in the Civil War (Union) and was an amputee.

[roscoeroscoe]

27. Ah thanks

It's usually roscoe.e.roscoe, but that's my nickname.

Respect to your GGOG!

[Woodwizard]

24. I am in the NY Catskills

I go to Pennsylvania to sell at a few art shows the amount of maga crap I see each year is more than I see in my home area and I am in a 68 percent republican district.