Trump exposed our military and government showing how incompetent and unorganized they are. Everyone is in it for themselves and no one gives a shit.
Wtf: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hospitalization for days in ICU, but pentagon didn’t tell Biden, 1/29 back at Pentagon
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Biden not knowing whats going on with his sec def is fucking wild. Who are they briefing for national security matters right now?
It was during the holidays, shit probably was not getting done anyways.
There’s levels to this shit and these folks the top of that level…
That shit would be straight for me and you but bruh….
This ninja is 5th in line
This ain’t one of those situations where we working @ Walmart and your black azz is my boss. Say you haven’t heard from me for 3 days because I’m in the hospital.
Folks would still be worried but this is completely different.
I mean where's the media on this one. Shit could have happened during christmas time, and dude wasn't around. This is very bad...
There is no excuse for this and posters (mainly democrat shills) are dismissing it on some “what’s the big deal?” type shit or throwing Trump’s name around to deflect.
This should be another example of mandatory retirement age for these elected officials and their appointees. It should be the same as social security.
Seriously, its deeper than even that. Democrats, today, do not have any values other than hurting their perceived enemies. This is what they are on. They do not care about anything other than that. So, when I look at this situation, it makes sense for them to NOT care about the decorum/procedures of the chain of command.
They are basically saying, "we can do whatever, say whatever, and if you react, we will make you out to be the villain."
This is why I try not to discuss actual policies anymore. They simply do not care about actual solutions.
Not entirely. SECDEF is in immediate recall and has to report his duty status when it changes. Never really changed from his 4-star days. We know it’s BS but he signed up for it.
‘This can’t happen again’: How the White House reacted to Austin’s stunning news
The damage control effort has been complicated by the fact that aides to the president, and even Biden himself, were left in the dark.Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attend a farewell tribute in September for former Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley. | Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
01/10/2024 05:57 PM EST
Updated: 01/10/2024 07:13 PM EST
The first part was: Is Austin okay?
The second was: How could this happen?
Biden’s dual responses in that initial moment have continued to define the White House’s handling of the Austin saga. While the president and his aides have felt concern for the Pentagon chief, they’ve also been dismayed at his decision to conceal his illness and hospitalization.
That dynamic has only been compounded by a cascade of dramatic disclosures that have come seemingly by the day.
Worries over the 70-year-old defense secretary have grown as it became revealed that his mysterious illness was, in fact, a cancer diagnosis, and that a urinary tract infection had landed him in the emergency room. But aides said they were also frustrated over how Austin and his team managed the process and piqued by how it has complicated their preferred image as a drama-free White House.
They could not escape the unfortunate timing too: butting into coverage of the president’s big democracy speech last week at Valley Forge.
“Generally,” said one White House official, who like the others in this story was granted anonymity to speak freely, “the president has been like, this can’t happen again.”
The process by which the White House sought to clean up the Austin saga has been complicated by the fact that aides to the president — and even Biden himself — were left in the dark. They didn’t hear about Austin’s hospitalization until Jan. 4, three days after the fact.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan and his deputy, Jon Finer, had been scheduled to attend an event at Joint Base Myer where Austin himself was supposed to be. Shortly before then, however, Defense Department Chief of Staff Kelly Magsamen informed Sullivan that Austin had been in the hospital since Monday evening.
Sullivan told White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, as well as the White House counsel’s office and the president shortly thereafter. Sullivan and Zients promptly called Magsamen to insist the Pentagon put out a public statement.
The statement said that Austin had been hospitalized for days. It did not disclose why.
Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon’s top spokesperson, said that the drafting of a statement began “on the afternoon of January 4,” alongside congressional outreach. “This was a logical next step and part of a coordinated effort that involved multiple stakeholders, to include the White House,” he added.
Inside the White House, the reaction was mixed. Some officials considered it largely a coordination issue, in which one department was operating in a silo when it should not have been. “I think people expected this would be told to the White House,” said the aforementioned official.
To address that concern, Zients moved to put together a uniform process for delegation of authority. The chief of staff had a meeting with Biden about the memo on Monday. The president approved it and told Zients to send it to all the Cabinet secretaries.
Some officials took more proactive steps to clear themselves from the story. They stressed that the Pentagon was alone in the decision to not disclose Austin’s illness and suggested part of the issue stemmed from the fact that Austin is a private person unaccustomed to this type of a spotlight, while a seasoned politician would have understood the benefits of transparency.
As a third person familiar with the matter put it, Austin’s instinct toward privacy got in the way of departmental policy, opening the administration up to fresh political scrutiny. In a letter Wednesday to Austin, Senate Armed Services Committee Republicans sought a full timeline of an episode they termed a “massive failure of judgment and negligence.”
“Everybody here and the Pentagon recognizes that this should have been put out to the public more quickly,” said one senior administration official. “We wish it would have been handled differently but it also has now been dealt with. That’s the unified view point.”
Austin took responsibility on Saturday for the disclosure failure. “I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better,” he said. “This was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.” The statement didn’t mention why Austin kept his hospitalization or condition from Biden.
Austin spoke with Biden for the first time since his hospitalization on Saturday. A person close to the White House said, more broadly, that there has been “a recognition that Austin is dealing with health complications.” But even during that conversation, Austin declined to reveal the nature of his diagnosis. It’s unclear if Biden asked.
Since the first revelation about Austin’s absence, the White House has made sure to maintain close lines of communication with the Pentagon. John Kirby, the president’s spokesperson on national security issues and a close Austin ally, has been one of the main conduits. So too have Sullivan and Zients.
But the channels haven’t been entirely devoid of hiccups. The Pentagon only revealed Austin’s cancer diagnosis to the president on Tuesday. Later that day, they put out a more robust medical note to the press corps.
Through it all, aides stress, Biden never contemplated dumping Austin. He has a close relationship with his defense secretary, owing to ties Austin had with his deceased son, Beau, and retains trust in his ability to manage the department.
“The president’s not keeping him around because he has this personal loyalty to the secretary that’s overcoming other issues,” a former Biden aide said. “The secretary has been a strong national security voice, a strong partner trusted by allies around the globe, and helped provide counsel to the president during an extremely challenging and turbulent time.”
Beyond that, both the president and Zients prize continuity in personnel, especially as the White House confronts a range of national security crises — from managing the Israel-Hamas war and threat of broader regional conflict to aiding Ukraine in its tenuous defense against Russia.
Biden and his top aides have long stressed the need for an administration-wide focus on executing on the White House’s agenda. Senior agency officials who came into government with policy ambitions of their own have chafed occasionally at the top-down culture.
But it’s also contributed to a remarkable lack of turnover within Biden’s Cabinet, and compelled the White House at times to set aside personnel concerns in favor of continuity — whether it be aides’ irritation with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra over his initial management of unaccompanied children at the southern border or, more recently, growing pressure over Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and his handling of the migrant crisis.
In Austin’s case, two people close to the White House said, Biden’s own empathy for Austin’s wellbeing also played a factor, even before the cancer diagnosis was revealed.
“I think he relates to him as a human being,” said one person close to the White House.
First Democrat in Congress publicly calls for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to resign
By Haley Talbot,
CNN
Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., prepares conducts a news conference on junk fees at Tavern Pizza in Bellevue, Pa., on Tuesday, August 29, 2023.
Rep. Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania is calling on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to resign “due to lack of transparency,” the first Democratic member of Congress to do so.
“I have lost trust in Secretary Lloyd Austin’s leadership of the Defense Department due to the lack of transparency about his recent medical treatment and its impact on the continuity of the chain of command,” Deluzio said in a statement on social media Wednesday.
Deluzio represents a swing district in Western Pennsylvania and sits on the House Armed Services Committee.
Austin is being treated for prostate cancer and suffered complications that led to him being taken to hospital on New Year’s Day where he is still being treated, according to a statement Tuesday from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
The Pentagon had been facing intense questions after it was revealed late last week that Austin had been hospitalized for days without notifying the public. It was subsequently reported that President Joe Biden, senior national security officials and even Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks – who had assumed Austin’s duties – were not aware of the defense secretary’s hospitalization until three days after he was admitted.
“I have a solemn duty in Congress to conduct oversight of the Defense Department through my service on the House Armed Services Committee. That duty today requires me to call on Secretary Austin to resign,” Deluzio added. “I thank Secretary Austin for his leadership and years of dedicated service to the American people and wish him a speedy recovery.”
By Haley Talbot,
CNN
Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., prepares conducts a news conference on junk fees at Tavern Pizza in Bellevue, Pa., on Tuesday, August 29, 2023.
Rep. Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania is calling on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to resign “due to lack of transparency,” the first Democratic member of Congress to do so.
“I have lost trust in Secretary Lloyd Austin’s leadership of the Defense Department due to the lack of transparency about his recent medical treatment and its impact on the continuity of the chain of command,” Deluzio said in a statement on social media Wednesday.
Deluzio represents a swing district in Western Pennsylvania and sits on the House Armed Services Committee.
Austin is being treated for prostate cancer and suffered complications that led to him being taken to hospital on New Year’s Day where he is still being treated, according to a statement Tuesday from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
The Pentagon had been facing intense questions after it was revealed late last week that Austin had been hospitalized for days without notifying the public. It was subsequently reported that President Joe Biden, senior national security officials and even Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks – who had assumed Austin’s duties – were not aware of the defense secretary’s hospitalization until three days after he was admitted.
“I have a solemn duty in Congress to conduct oversight of the Defense Department through my service on the House Armed Services Committee. That duty today requires me to call on Secretary Austin to resign,” Deluzio added. “I thank Secretary Austin for his leadership and years of dedicated service to the American people and wish him a speedy recovery.”
Republicans Are In Hysterics Over Lloyd Austin's Urinary Tract Infection
Charles P. Pierce
The officials at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center finally put to rest the mystery of what has been going on with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who went incommunicado for a few days. It turns out that Austin had undergone prostate surgery and then he had developed a severe urinary tract infection. It may be that Austin simply wanted to avoid any possible embarrassing public revelations. That would be understandable, especially if we were living in a sane political age, but we're not, so the situation has created yet another opportunity for performative outrage in the Congress.
To be fair, Austin made it easier for them. He went off the grid entirely, not even notifying the White House and leaving officials at the DOD out to dry. And this is hardly a propitious time in history for the Secretary of Defense to go missing. No matter how jealously he wanted to guard his privacy, he handled this very badly. And he clearly did not reckon with the likes of Senator Tom Cotton, the bobble-throated slapdick from Arkansas.
Wow. That sounds bad. Except that, asMatthew Gault reports on Vice, the Defense Secretary isn't part of the nuclear chain of command.
And that's the reasonable position. Cotton's already gone beyond these concerns into full partisan high-sterics. From Politico:
Then, there are those members of Congress who leaped into the saddle of their favorite hobby horse of the moment. From Axios:
Oh, just shut up.
Out on the campaign trail, the Republican presidential aspirants added their two cents, which is approximately what their thoughts were worth. The former president* already has called for Austin to be fired, because, as you know, he's radically opposed to keeping the health problems of government officials secret. And Nikki Haley, "surging" among the caucus Caucasians, decided to combine the thoughts of Cotton and the former president* in one tasty bowl of innuendo.
All this means is that, sooner or later, Austin will have to trudge up to Capitol Hill and undergo a public probe that will rival anything the doctors did to him at Walter Reed, and this one will be on TV.
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Pentagon chief Lloyd “Raytheon” Austin, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer, remains in the hospital and his release date is still unknown, US Defense Department spokesman Patrick Ryder said on Saturday.
According to him, the secretary "maintains contact with senior Pentagon officials, has full access to secure communications and continues to monitor the department's daily work around the world."
According to him, the secretary "maintains contact with senior Pentagon officials, has full access to secure communications and continues to monitor the department's daily work around the world."
Lloyd Austin called to testify for concealing hospitalization
Chairman of the Armed Forces Committee of the US House of Representatives, Mike Rogers, asked US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin to testify before that committee because of his failure to inform on time about the recent hospitalization, to which even President Joseph Biden was not informed.
President Biden and senior US administration officials were not informed of Austin's hospitalization until January 4th, and Austin kept his diagnosis a secret until January 9th.
Biden said that Austin was wrong, but emphasized that he still has confidence in his defense secretary.”
Where is Lloyd Austin family from?
Look at dude he got a damn Ukan’t flag in his fucking office
He ain’t giving nothing up
The brother needs to just go before Congress and call the Rethuglican's bluff and in answer to the first question, say: "I tried to keep it quiet because I didn't want grown men talking about my asshole!" and walk out...
It was elective surgery, probably knee surgery.
Media blows anything up.
It's like that kid in class always telling the teacher on everyone for brownie points.
Can't get away with shit.
Media blows anything up.
It's like that kid in class always telling the teacher on everyone for brownie points.
Can't get away with shit.
Just like a child when a toy is taken away or they are not able to have something that they want, they will start crying.
An adult will undergo the same process in a different way.
1. President Trump claiming that election fraud had occurred by black election workers.
2. Accusing an athlete that had won a race of using performance enhancing drugs or that they are less evolved/animal and that is the reason they are able to perform better than your racial group. Jimmy the Greek, Howard Cosell.
3. Claiming a test is rigged against them when they did not study or perform well.
4. Accusing a person of crimes that is successful.
Just as with January 6th, this behavior can escalate into violence.
There are other racial groups besides whites escalating with this behavior chasing me around. They may start a military conflict or engage in other effeminate behavior. This junk lawsuit attacking college enrollment is a red flag, we need a viable Sec Def running things right now.
Disappointed in dude…to whom much is given, much IS expected .
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