Mark Davess

davess - tastebuds quote.plus/yS5

Twenty-six generals and admirals in fourteen months. No misconduct cited for a single one. A former Fox News weekend host who never held a senior military command has removed the Joint Chiefs Chairman, the Army Chief of Staff, the commander of Army Transformation and Training, the Chief of Chaplains, and at least 22 other senior officers from the most powerful military on earth. He blocked four Army officers from promotion to brigadier general, two Black men and two women, by unilaterally striking their names from a list of 36. When Army Secretary Dan Driscoll refused to remove them, Hegseth did it himself. No hearing. No review board. No Senate consultation. The names were struck because the man who reads the list decided they should not be on it. The pattern is not random. It is architectural. Every removal serves the same function: shortening the distance between a presidential decision and its execution. The officers who remain are the ones who did not resist. The officers who resisted are gone. The replacement for the Army Chief of Staff is Vice Chief General Christopher LaNeve, who served as Hegseth’s personal military aide. The man who carried the briefcase now signs the orders. The chain of command has been rebuilt so that every link answers directly to the man who removed the previous link. General Randy George was the commander of the United States Army’s ground forces. That title matters now in a way it did not matter six weeks ago. Before February 28, ground forces in Iran were a theoretical exercise discussed in war colleges and think tanks. After five weeks of air strikes, with the IRGC publishing bridge target lists across four allied nations, with the President saying the military has “not even started” destroying what remains, with MEUs staged in the Gulf and the 82nd Airborne deploying and JSOC operators at forward bases in four countries, the ground option is no longer theoretical. It is a logistics package. And the man whose job was to assess whether that package should be opened was told to retire the same day the President posted “much more to follow.” Lieutenant General Hodne ran the command that trains every soldier who would execute a ground operation. Major General Green led the chaplain corps that would minister to every soldier who dies in one. George decided whether the operation should happen. Hodne prepared the soldiers to carry it out. Green prepared them to live with it. All three were removed on the same afternoon. Congress has not held a hearing. No subpoenas issued. The legal authority for a Defence Secretary to unilaterally override promotion lists and force immediate retirement of Senate-confirmed officers during wartime has not been tested because nobody with the authority to question it has chosen to. The IRGC has said attacks will “intensify from next week.” The Ford carrier is heading back. The CNN intelligence assessment confirms half of Iran’s launchers and thousands of drones remain. The President has named the next targets: power plants, desalination, oil wells, Kharg Island. And every general who might have said “this crosses a line” is already gone. Twenty-six officers. Zero misconduct findings. One question that every general still serving is asking behind closed doors: who is left to say no? And what happens when the answer is nobody? open.substack.com/pub/shanakaans…

EU's Kaja Kallas on U.S. criticisms of free-speech in Europe: Coming from a country that is number two in the Press Freedom Index, hearing criticism regarding press freedom from a country that is fifty-eighth on this list (the U.S.) is interesting. (2026)

Trump has insulted and tariffed his European allies, persuaded Denmark to prepare for a US invasion and, by pressuring Ukraine and not Russia, encouraged Putin to keep fighting. All of which he has forgotten. theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/…

@SecWar Matthew 15:8-9 " ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' " biblegateway.com/passage/?searc… via @biblegateway

We are (still) making the Chaplain Corps Great Again.

Captain Szilveszter Pálinkás, Hungarian Army officer: What causes me difficulty is understanding which side this government is choosing. It portrays Ukraine as an enemy, while in reality, in this military conflict, Ukraine is a victim, because Russia attacked Ukraine. This is common knowledge. This raises concerns and questions: why are we weakening our role in NATO because of this position? And why are our relationships of trust deteriorating? I have taken part in several NATO exercises since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, where soldiers from other NATO member states directly asked us - Hungarian soldiers - whether we were on Russia’s side, because, judging by our messaging, that’s how it seemed. So tell us, they say, because we want to know. It was very difficult to hear, because I truly do not understand why we would not want to belong to the strongest military alliance in the world. And why we cannot reach the same position. I do not see the real reason behind this.

This isn’t just incompetence it’s a full on ideological coup. Top generals purged for refusing to turn the military into a cult? This is exactly how nationalism eats institutions from the inside. @SecWar didn’t just cross a line; he tried to redraw the whole battlefield in his own delusion.

Terrifying revelation. A retired top US General exposes Pete Hegseth for firing the Army's Chief of Chaplains. He reveals these top generals were purged because they stood up against Hegseth's psychotic claim that US soldiers are fighting for Jesus. A nationalist takeover!

I spoke with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex today. At the very moment of our conversation, the Russians attacked Ukraine yet again – hundreds of “shaheds” and dozens of missiles against our cities and communities. In fact, the attack has been ongoing in waves since last night, and at least five regions have already been targeted. Not a single hour of peace for our people, and this is Russia’s response to our proposal for an Easter ceasefire. Essentially, the Russians have only intensified their strikes, turning what should have been silence in the skies into an Easter escalation. This certainly cannot be ignored, and I am grateful to everyone in the world who does not remain quiet about it. I spoke about the negotiation process and our work with the American team. I also expressed gratitude for the assistance in returning our abducted children and for all the humanitarian aid the Vatican has provided to our people, particularly during this difficult winter. We also discussed the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region. I wished His Holiness and all those celebrating Easter this Sunday a blessed holiday and peace. Of course, we would be glad to welcome His Holiness to Ukraine on an apostolic visit. And I am especially grateful that the Pope remembers Ukraine, the Ukrainian people, and prays for peace for our nation.

@campbellclaret NATO allies (excluding the U.S.) spent $574 billion on military hardware in 2025, a 20% year on year increase. The largest share went to the U.S. arms industry. Only a blithering idiot like Trump and his MAGA goons would destroy these sales and attack USA/Jobs & industries.

@campbellclaret @Scaramucci It’s highly hypocritical that the US considers Europe to be selling them out when their president is so clearly pro-Russia and anti-Europe.

@RonFilipkowski Under the current administration, democracy is not in the U.S. national interest.

Trump and JD Vance obviously admire autocrats over Democratic western allies. What they seem to be missing is that Orban is increasingly despised not just by Europe but by the Hungarians themselves. He is headed for an election disaster, and this will be the next step in Putin‘s eventual downfall. Trump will go down in history as siding with the world’s autocratic losers. At this point, as a conservative and former GOP, who despises Trump as well as JD Vance, I see no way JD Vance will get the nomination. It’s actions like openly supporting autocrats that the vast majority of Americans simply cannot understand.

Moldova is turning a historic page. By leaving the Commonwealth of Independent States, Chișinău is making a clear political choice: distancing itself from a system undermined by Russia’s aggression and aligning with European values. This is more than a symbolic break with the Soviet past—it is a concrete step towards democracy, sovereignty and a shared European future built on peace, rule of law and cooperation.

I hope this statement is the end of Rubio in Europe: 1. Trump has insisted on annexing Canada & Greenland, which are part of NATO. That aggression is impermissible. 2. The main threat to European security is Russia's aggression against Ukraine & Europe. Your National Security Strategy ignores that and claims that Europe is the main threat. 3. The US has cut off all assistance to Ukraine. 4. The US has voted with Russia & a dozen of its rouge states in the UN claiming that Russia did not pursue a war of aggression against Ukraine. 5. NATO Article 5 has only been invoked once, but the US in 2001 after 9/11 & the whole of NATO stood up for the US. 6. Trump has repeatedly insulted the allies that lost about 1,000 soldiers for the US in Afghanistan. 7. Trump has all along claimed that NATO allies do not pay their share of NATO costs, which is untrue. They are now spending more on their own defense because nobody trusts the US under Trump. 8. Trump incessantly insults NATO allies for no reason. If you don't know how to behave, you deserve no sympathy or support. 9. The US started a mad war of aggression on Iran without consulting any allies but Israel. Immediately afterwards Trump started insulting allies as usual. 10. Trump's war on Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz & is causing a global economic crisis, which is entirely due to the stupidity and power of Trump, but you are defending this atrocity. If you don't know how to think or behave, shut up!

@FoxNews Matthew 15:8-9 " ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' " biblegateway.com/passage/?searc… via @biblegateway

PRESIDENT TRUMP: "I'm proud to join with Christians across the country and around the world to celebrate the most glorious miracle in all of time: The resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." "To be a great nation, you must have religion — and you must have God. In churches across the nation on Sunday, the pews will be fuller, younger, and more faithful than they have at any time in many, many years." "Happy Easter to all, may God bless you, may God bless the United States of America."

@mfa_russia Hypocritical cunts.

@mfa_russia Фашистская РФ уничтожила сотни церквей в Украине, а сейчас начинает лить крокодиловы слёзы по поводу одной церкви в Иране.

@mfa_russia It's terrible of course, but have you forgotten the word "ЛИЦЕМЕРИЕ"?

💬 Maria #Zakharova: We are shocked by reports of the serious damage inflicted on St Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Tehran as a result of yet another barbaric air strike by the US-Israeli tandem. We strongly condemn any harm inflicted on religious sites. t.me/MFARussia/29034

Europeans might ask themselves this question. If Trump does not care about Putin helping the Iranians to kill Americans, do you think he will care at all about Putin trying to kill Europeans?

Only reason for Pete Hegseth to fire top generals in middle of a war is that they refused to follow orders. Only reason well-respected generals would refuse to follow DOD Secretary's orders was that those orders were insane. Americans are going to die for Pete & Donald's egos.