Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

AverageOldGuy

(3,060 posts)
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 03:39 PM Sep 30

I don't know who wrote this.

A friend sent this to me, she doesn't know the author either. If we figure out who wrote it, I'll come back and edit this comment. Here is is.

"Donald Trump walked into Quantico Tuesday expecting a rally. He got a funeral.

The generals sat in perfect silence, faces locked in the kind of grim stillness that comes from years of watching idiots talk and choosing not to react. Trump, of course, couldn’t handle it. “I’ve never walked into a room so silent before,” he confessed, his voice trembling somewhere between wounded pride and panic. Then came the kicker: “If you want to applaud, you applaud.”

This wasn’t leadership. This was a washed-up Vegas act begging the crowd to clap. The Commander-in-Chief turned into the Clapper-in-Chief, reduced to prodding the nation’s top brass like a sad carnival barker who forgot his punchline.

A campaign rally in uniform.

Instead of strategy, Trump delivered his usual medley of grievances: Barack Obama ruined everything, Joe Biden ruined it twice as hard, and only Donald J. Trump, self-proclaimed “two-term, maybe three-term president” could save America. It was less a military briefing than an episode of The Apprentice: Pentagon Edition.
The generals, trained to withstand battlefield chaos, sat stone-faced through the barrage of nonsense. They have endured artillery fire with more enthusiasm.

Enter Pete Hegseth, America’s Pastor-in-Arms. Trump’s “Secretary of War” took the podium with the intensity of a man who thinks Tom Clancy novels are actual military doctrine. He promised “fire and brimstone,” called for purges of “fat generals,” and announced he wants the next war to look exactly like the Gulf War, because apparently it’s still 1991 and CNN is running that same grainy footage of tanks in the desert.

But Hegseth wasn’t done. He led them in prayer. Yes, prayer. The nation’s top generals, summoned by presidential ego, now folded into a forced altar call like extras at a megachurch revival. The separation of church and state? Obliterated. Constitution? Shredded. Jesus, apparently, is now Commander-in-Chief. Trump can play Vice.

Weakness on parade

Trump likes to brag about firing generals who “aren’t warriors.” But on Tuesday, the real firing squad was silence. Not one clap. Not one cheer. Just the steady hum of contempt vibrating off the brass like feedback from a dead microphone.
These men and women have seen actual combat. They’ve buried soldiers. They’ve lived with the weight of real command. And now they’re expected to cheer for a man who brags about moving “a submarine or two” like it’s a toy in a bathtub, or who lectures about “two N-words” as though nuclear strategy were a stand-up routine.

No wonder they didn’t clap.

The pin-drop presidency

What happened at Quantico wasn’t just awkward. It was diagnostic. Trump’s presidency is a hollow shell propped up by applause, and when the applause disappears, so does he.

And Hegseth? He’s the zealot-in-chief, delivering sermons about war and Christ in equal measure, a man confusing the Book of Revelation with the Pentagon’s operations manual. Together, they make quite the duo: one desperate for claps, the other desperate for amens.

The generals gave them neither.

Instead, they gave silence, the most cutting judgment of all."

64 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
I don't know who wrote this. (Original Post) AverageOldGuy Sep 30 OP
Don't count your military chickens lame54 Sep 30 #1
One of these days Marthe48 Sep 30 #2
They laughed when he said they could walk out CivicGrief Sep 30 #3
I don't think that at all. I thinhk their laughs were a sort of mocking, go fuck yourself kind of laugh. patphil Sep 30 #21
I don't have faith that the majority of the top CivicGrief Oct 1 #52
Say what you want. OldBaldy1701E Oct 1 #49
Mango Mussolini has zero sense of humor. His "jokes" are an exercise in punching down, & he means it. Hekate Oct 1 #56
BRAVO! some_of_us_are_sane Sep 30 #4
A pretty boy fox news host and a D-list tv celebrity..... who suffered bonespurs. IcyPeas Sep 30 #5
The lack of applause wasn't judgment, it was protocol. WhiskeyGrinder Sep 30 #6
Right ... they never clap ... and Chump was an idiot to think that they would FakeNoose Sep 30 #23
Trump was of course expecting a 20 minute standing ovation. tanyev Sep 30 #29
I think if he'd known they weren't going to clap, he would have skipped it altogether FakeNoose Sep 30 #30
He should have known the protocol not to applaud dwayneb Oct 1 #51
Yes. Tradition reflecting the non-partisan/neutrality of the our military. pat_k Sep 30 #35
"The next war" Conjuay Sep 30 #7
Because they are already evolves Sep 30 #8
It's important to remember that for a change of government to be successful, whether it be a successful Fil1957 Sep 30 #9
You can bet popsdenver Sep 30 #20
One of the first thing Marines learn, BidenRocks Sep 30 #27
I understand that now! Sparkly Sep 30 #36
The unblinking stare sarge43 Sep 30 #39
Guess they got their answer: ReRe Sep 30 #38
they're not that smart NJCher Oct 1 #57
I'm not necessarily saying that the military evolves Sep 30 #31
Planning for war against democrats, liberals, and free thinkers everywhere. BComplex Sep 30 #18
Great line LilElf70 Sep 30 #10
"washed-up Vegas act" Wild blueberry Sep 30 #11
I'm surprised he didn't fire them on the spot for not worshipping him enough. rubbersole Sep 30 #12
Well, the ball is in his court. ReRe Sep 30 #40
Did you hear his quip BaronChocula Oct 1 #61
Recent new is popsdenver Oct 1 #64
The text is from an Instagram post. Lonestarblue Sep 30 #13
Thank you. I don't know how she or he would know this, but I hope it really happened. ancianita Sep 30 #15
That poster credits Michael Jochum. sl8 Oct 1 #44
Two idiots WmChris Sep 30 #14
That might be our only way out of this fall into fascism that the Heritage Foundation BComplex Sep 30 #19
Agreed BC popsdenver Sep 30 #26
Kicked and recommended Uncle Joe Sep 30 #16
Beautifully stated malaise Sep 30 #17
I really wonder MLWR Sep 30 #22
When Hogsbreath called for prayer, did any - most - none of them participate? 3Hotdogs Sep 30 #24
I saw a link for the full speech NJCher Oct 1 #58
Screw him and screw his military goons angrychair Sep 30 #25
Expect popsdenver Sep 30 #28
Possible source? markbark Sep 30 #32
Wow.. that was brilliantly written ... Cha Sep 30 #33
God, they made me so proud.... Mustellus Sep 30 #34
I ran into it, signed, by Mustellus Sep 30 #37
I just compared them NJCher Oct 1 #59
Led in prayer by a drunk, cheating, abuser of women? Americanme Sep 30 #41
Perfect, thanks for sharing! nt babylonsister Sep 30 #42
The problem is the new is white washing it all. mucifer Oct 1 #43
Depends on the media. The Washington Post didn't whitewash anything. Martin68 Oct 1 #46
that is no whitewash, for sure! NJCher Oct 1 #60
"If you want to applaud..." They didn't want to applaud. They didn't applaud. Martin68 Oct 1 #45
trump has always been worried about getting "the clap". Totally Tunsie Oct 1 #47
That's perfectly said. I imagine Trump will stew about that silence until he takes his last breath. Vinca Oct 1 #48
Mentally ... the generals were booing loudly FakeNoose Oct 1 #53
"This was a washed-up Vegas act begging the crowd to clap" Ray Bruns Oct 1 #50
Don't forget about the admirals. Gimpyknee Oct 1 #54
Quantico Rally gfarber Oct 1 #55
KNR and bookmarking. niyad Oct 1 #62
KNR and bookmarking. niyad Oct 1 #63

CivicGrief

(249 posts)
3. They laughed when he said they could walk out
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 03:46 PM
Sep 30

But would lose their jobs and rank. I guess they thought he was joking.

patphil

(8,355 posts)
21. I don't think that at all. I thinhk their laughs were a sort of mocking, go fuck yourself kind of laugh.
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 05:38 PM
Sep 30

You don't get to be line officers by being easily intimidated.
Besides, I'm sure they've been talking between themselves for months, and may already be developing plans about how to
deal with Trump and Hegseth if/when the going gets rough.

These guys have stared down foreign enemies for decades. Now they've got a homegrown enemy who thinks they'll fold like a house of cards in the face of threats.
I can hear Dirty Harry's words echoing throughout that room, albeit unsaid, "go ahead, make my day".

CivicGrief

(249 posts)
52. I don't have faith that the majority of the top
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 12:14 PM
Oct 1

brass in the military don’t think like Hegseth and Trump. That’s just me, and I hope I’m wrong.

OldBaldy1701E

(9,328 posts)
49. Say what you want.
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 11:11 AM
Oct 1

But, if I saw the entire command staff get up and walk out en masse, I would have been fucking cheering!

I would be popping the popcorn for the next day as they tried to recover from it. They just don't have enough cronies to replace the entire General Staff. They might think they do, but they don't. And, they cannot just put whomever in there. The entire military would collapse in a matter of weeks.

Then, what would they have done (that was not illegal or created a massive lawsuit from many states in a 'final strike' class action)?

Hekate

(99,829 posts)
56. Mango Mussolini has zero sense of humor. His "jokes" are an exercise in punching down, & he means it.
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 01:46 PM
Oct 1

They know.

some_of_us_are_sane

(2,287 posts)
4. BRAVO!
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 03:54 PM
Sep 30

The most searing and accurate report I've ever read about Trump's effect on the military (officers in particular) who have been in actual war zones.

A BIG QUIET FUCK YOU to that worm of a man.

He's a doddering, pathetic national embarrasment.

WhiskeyGrinder

(25,818 posts)
6. The lack of applause wasn't judgment, it was protocol.
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 04:02 PM
Sep 30

It was clear Trump was uncomfortable, of course.

FakeNoose

(39,001 posts)
23. Right ... they never clap ... and Chump was an idiot to think that they would
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 05:47 PM
Sep 30

I'm very glad they didn't clap because we all would have been so disappointed.

Thank you Generals, Admirals, Officers and Gentlemen!

tanyev

(48,088 posts)
29. Trump was of course expecting a 20 minute standing ovation.
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 06:07 PM
Sep 30

Thank goodness it was televised, or he would be talking the rest of his life about how they all stood and cheered and applauded him with tears in their eyes.

Hell, he might do that anyway after his tangled brain cells finish rewriting his reality.

FakeNoose

(39,001 posts)
30. I think if he'd known they weren't going to clap, he would have skipped it altogether
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 06:11 PM
Sep 30

That's how pathetic he is.

dwayneb

(1,060 posts)
51. He should have known the protocol not to applaud
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 12:06 PM
Oct 1

But he is so stupid and self obsessed that he didn't bother to inquire.

Regardless, he will do his level best to decimate the ranks of his military leadership, to weaken then and to install his shills.

God forbid we get into some kind of real shooting war with this idiot as commander in chief. We are sitting ducks.

pat_k

(12,058 posts)
35. Yes. Tradition reflecting the non-partisan/neutrality of the our military.
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 06:25 PM
Sep 30

Civilian control over the military doesn't mean they serve a political agenda. They serve the elected leadership and the CONSTITUTION, but the 47 regime will never get the notion that the military' DOES NOT AND MUST NEVER SERVE a political party or partisan agenda.

They will never be his cheerleaders.

They will never cheer any elected's naked partisanship.

The notion of political neutrality and political non-interference with the military, the treasury, DOJ, FBI, or any other agency, like the labor relations board, is an idea the 47 regime utterly rejects and purposefully violates. To 47, it is all "MINE! MINE! MINE! MY Military! MY Treasury! MY DOJ! It's all MINE!!!

Conjuay

(2,748 posts)
7. "The next war"
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 04:12 PM
Sep 30

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE MORONS?
'The next war,'
why doesn't he just give us a date and time?

WHAT ever happened to 'if in some unfortunate situation, we find ourselves at war...'?

Fil1957

(271 posts)
9. It's important to remember that for a change of government to be successful, whether it be a successful
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 04:55 PM
Sep 30

revolution, or the consolidation of a fascist state, support of the military is required. These guys took an oath to the Constitution, and it looks like they intend to honor it. Bad news for Trump, good news for the american people.

popsdenver

(648 posts)
20. You can bet
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 05:37 PM
Sep 30

they had cameras focused on each and every officer there........reading the body language for each person in the audience........

Trying to figure out which individuals were for or against him..........

Why else would they assemble the entire group, at an immense risk??????....Trying to see how deep his MAGA propaganda has infiltrated the top end of the military, to incorporate that into their future decisions......

All their long term future intentions/actions will depend on a military coup, and they need to judge the odds of an actual military revolting...........

BidenRocks

(2,381 posts)
27. One of the first thing Marines learn,
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 05:54 PM
Sep 30

is that 'stare'.

I can look right through you with zero emotion.

That's what chump saw looking back at him.

No emotion, just taking mental notes!

Sparkly

(24,765 posts)
36. I understand that now!
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 06:32 PM
Sep 30

I had a teacher who did the 'stare.' "How do YOU think you performed?" ... and the stare. It was awful!!!

When we look for some emotional response -- especially one that signals approval -- that stare is devastating, at least when it comes from a superior. And everyone in that room was superior to the two charlatans onstage today.

NJCher

(41,732 posts)
57. they're not that smart
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 01:50 PM
Oct 1

Let's face it, if they cared about the concerns and positions of other people, they wouldn't be doing what they're doing.

Body language? LOL.

evolves

(5,649 posts)
31. I'm not necessarily saying that the military
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 06:15 PM
Sep 30

is planning it, but the MAGAts certainly are....

BComplex

(9,626 posts)
18. Planning for war against democrats, liberals, and free thinkers everywhere.
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 05:29 PM
Sep 30

How embarrassing for our country.

rubbersole

(10,733 posts)
12. I'm surprised he didn't fire them on the spot for not worshipping him enough.
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 05:08 PM
Sep 30

You know he thought about it.

BaronChocula

(3,557 posts)
61. Did you hear his quip
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 02:17 PM
Oct 1

about him firing them if they walked out? It was one of several times he got some laughs which deeply disappointed me.

popsdenver

(648 posts)
64. Recent new is
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 03:20 PM
Oct 1

that Putin is firing a bunch commanders at the top of Russia's military.....and probably told Trump in Alaska........watch me !!!!!!!!!!!

BComplex

(9,626 posts)
19. That might be our only way out of this fall into fascism that the Heritage Foundation
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 05:30 PM
Sep 30

has decided for us.

popsdenver

(648 posts)
26. Agreed BC
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 05:50 PM
Sep 30

At this point, I figure a Military Revolt against them is the only alternative left......It ALL hinges on if he can succeed with a Military Coup, or if he faces a Military Revolt against the whole lot of them........

You can be sure, that in their last meeting, Putin told him to close ALL military bases in NATO countries immediately, and bring the soldiers back to the U.S. so The Republicans could use them to establish Martial Law, all across the U.S. in every city and state.....and to aid in the roundup and deportation of every citizen who isn't white to some other third world country........Maybe that's the War his Secretary of War was talking about wanting.....Operation "Clean" Sweep.........

MLWR

(605 posts)
22. I really wonder
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 05:40 PM
Sep 30

what was going on their heads to be lectured by a five-time draft dodger, who called members of the military "suckers and losers," who said of John McCain, "I prefer soldiers who weren't caught," who said of fallen heroes, "they knew what they signed up for."

NJCher

(41,732 posts)
58. I saw a link for the full speech
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 01:51 PM
Oct 1

It would be interesting to know the answer to your question. There might be camera shots of the audience on that link during the "prayer session."

angrychair

(11,277 posts)
25. Screw him and screw his military goons
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 05:50 PM
Sep 30

He is has ordered them into our cities or more specifically, our "inner cities" to "practice". WTF!?!

FVKC HIM AND HIS BROWN SHIRTS. HIS MILITARY MURDERBOTS.

He has ordered the military to kill US citizens and everyone just acts as if he ordered a ham sandwich.

popsdenver

(648 posts)
28. Expect
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 05:59 PM
Sep 30

all the men who were incarcerated in the attempted J6th to be utilized in the leadership of his ICE and DOJ attack on U.S. Citizens.......Along with all their Militia friends and followers...........

Cha

(315,016 posts)
33. Wow.. that was brilliantly written ...
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 06:19 PM
Sep 30

What an Epic description for those who didn't see it and for those who did.

Mahalo

Americanme

(292 posts)
41. Led in prayer by a drunk, cheating, abuser of women?
Tue Sep 30, 2025, 06:50 PM
Sep 30

Lectured to by a lesser military mind? I tend to think there were some angry officers at the end of that meeting.

Martin68

(26,545 posts)
46. Depends on the media. The Washington Post didn't whitewash anything.
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 10:47 AM
Oct 1

Headline: "Trump, Hegseth lecture military leaders in rare, politically charged summit"

Excerpts:

"The unusual, hastily organized event became a forum for the president and his defense secretary to tout their partisan agenda."

"Hundreds of the U.S. military’s top leaders listened in silence to highly partisan addresses from President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, with each harshly criticizing their predecessors and hyping their political objectives during an extraordinary exhibition of both men’s grievances."

"A former Pentagon official and expert on civil-military affairs, Kori Schake, took a dimmer view. 'It was disgraceful to subject military leaders to so flagrantly partisan political theater and dangerous for the commander in chief to encourage them to violence against fellow Americans,' said Schake, a senior fellow with the American Enterprise Institute."

Martin68

(26,545 posts)
45. "If you want to applaud..." They didn't want to applaud. They didn't applaud.
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 10:41 AM
Oct 1

Every service member has experience with an incompetent superior.

Totally Tunsie

(11,346 posts)
47. trump has always been worried about getting "the clap".
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 11:02 AM
Oct 1

In the past, it's been curable with antibiotics (shot up his ass?); this time, not so much so.

Vinca

(52,844 posts)
48. That's perfectly said. I imagine Trump will stew about that silence until he takes his last breath.
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 11:06 AM
Oct 1

Hopefully he won't have long to stew.

FakeNoose

(39,001 posts)
53. Mentally ... the generals were booing loudly
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 12:14 PM
Oct 1

Chump should be happy there's a protocol that prevents both booing and clapping.

Ray Bruns

(5,671 posts)
50. "This was a washed-up Vegas act begging the crowd to clap"
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 11:57 AM
Oct 1

Exactly! Another reality tv actor who doesn’t realize his career was over decades ago.

gfarber

(125 posts)
55. Quantico Rally
Wed Oct 1, 2025, 01:04 PM
Oct 1


At Quantico, Trump took the stage,
Expecting some cheers to engage.
But the generals stared,
Stone-faced and unimpaired,
While silence wrote him off the page.

He swaggered in loud, full of flair,
But was met with a cold, deadly stare.
“Applaud if you must,”
He begged through the dust,
As brass judged a clown unaware.

He thought it was time for a cheer,
But not even one volunteer.
“Clap if you want!”
Was his meek little taunt —
Like a lounge act abandoned mid-beer.

In a room where war’s ghosts reside,
He pleaded, but none would abide.
No claps, not a breath—
Just the stillness of death,
While his ego collapsed from inside.

His preacher rose up to declare,
That Jesus would lead every prayer.
But brass didn’t flinch,
Not giving an inch,
As war met revival mid-air.
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»I don't know who wrote th...