What Are We Doing, How Long Will It Take

That taut feeling in the back of your neck is where your relict guard hairs are standing up...

Photo by Martha Ture

This week, the New York Times (and other news organizations) reported that a Pentagon leaker revealed the news of Musk's planned meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to receive a top-secret briefing on China war plans.

The Times reported that "The top-secret briefing that exists for the China war plan has about 20 to 30 slides that lay out how the United States would fight such a conflict. It covers the plan beginning with the indications and warning of a threat from China to various options on what Chinese targets to hit, over what time period, that would be presented to Mr. Trump for decisions, according to officials with knowledge of the plan."

The report was swiftly followed by a proclamation of “fake news” from the president, and reports of a pablum meeting for Musk at the Pentagon with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. We can not know whether these reports are accurate or not.

Musk then declared that he wants the leaker/s prosecuted. You may want Musk prosecuted, but despite the fact that neither Musk nor you has been appointed by Congress to do anything, Musk and you are not on the same footing before the law at this time.

We can be fairly certain that this leak came from pretty high up in the Pentagon chain of command.

When questioned closely, the Times reporter stated “We’re absolutely sure this is what was scheduled. There were a couple of things that gave us confidence, besides our sourcing being very strong. If Musk were really coming to the Pentagon for a more casual discussion, why would you hold it in the Tank? What’s more, the main briefer for the originally scheduled meeting was the four-star admiral in charge of the Indo-Pacific area, Samuel Paparo — and he would be the wartime commander in the event of a conflict with China.”

This leak indicates a crack in the wall, in the Department of Defense. It does not follow that Trump can’t count on an army to counter the rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court, or any other court.

Besides a Pentagon leak, which is really not trivial, a lot of citizens – thousands, actually - have been attending Senator Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) and Representative Alexandria Octavio-Cortez’ (D-NY) “Fighting Oligarchy” tour concerts meetings. According to Heather Cox Richardson, on March 21, 11,000 people turned out to hear Sanders and AOC in Republican-led Greeley, Colorado. Another 34,000 turned out in Denver. Greeley voted heavily Republican in November.

In other congressional districts, voters are holding “empty chair” town halls when their representatives don’t show up. Per MSNBC, the progressive organization “Indivisible” is helping to organize town halls in districts where Republicans are avoiding voters. Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski told MSNBC why she decided to speak out at a Wisconsin town hall where an empty chair was left for Republican Rep. Van Orden who voted for millions in funding cuts for people in her state. “How the hell do you get the gall?” is the question.

At Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko’s town hall on March 17, a 20-year veteran teacher stood up and told Tonka “When I saw you at (NOAA and the U.S. Department of Education buildings) ...I know what John Lewis would have done. He would have gotten arrested that day...make them outlaw you. We will stand behind you. I will get arrested with you...We will stand with you. ..If you ask us to show up, we will show up in D.C.” and the packed high school applauded and cheered in agreement.

There are also more than 100 lawsuits against the administration, and a March on Washington is planned for April 5^th. Billed as a Hands Off mass movement, their website reads “...we do not consent to the destruction of our government and our economy for the benefit of Trump and his billionaire allies. Alongside Americans across the country, we are marching, rallying, and protesting to demand a stop the chaos and build an opposition movement against the looting of our country.”

This is all to the good. But it will not immediately oust the White House occupants, nor its funders, nor its Congressional codependents, nor its mugs and thugs.

The issue is how long do any people have in which to depose a dictator? Is the answer not 4 years, not 2 years, not 1.5 years, not 1 year?

What does history show us?