Roughly a week after Donald Trump started his second term as president, the U.S. military issued an order to three freight airlines operating out of Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and a U.S. base in Qatar: Stop 11 flights loaded with artillery shells and other weaponry and bound for Ukraine.

In a matter of hours, frantic questions reached Washington from Ukrainians in Kyiv and from officials in Poland, where the shipments were coordinated. Who had ordered the U.S. Transportation Command, known as TRANSCOM, to halt the flights? Was it a permanent pause on all aid? Or just some?

Top national security officials — in the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department — couldn’t provide answers. Within one week, flights were back in the air.

The verbal order originated from the office of Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, according to TRANSCOM records reviewed by Reuters.

  • Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 day ago

    I’ve combed through the statistics for the 2024 election multiple times. Just check my profile.

    The uncommitted movement were some 700,000 strong. Those numbers were on par with RFK’s votes since he didn’t pull out of the race by the time he endorsed Trump.

    Democrats lost voters in 2024, despite the eligible voting pool increasing. Republicans gain voters ofc.

    Why are you focusing on the voters when it’s the politician’s job to CONVINCE voters they’re worth voting for? And are we forgetting the awful transition by Biden to Kamala, where she had 3 months to campaign? Are we forgetting how Biden said he’d be a transition candidate, that he wouldn’t run for a second term but then did so anyway to the surprise of his staff?

    We could have held a primary where the American people could have at least had the impression that they were engaging in Democracy (only for the DNC to pick their favorite anyways).

    Pleaseeeeeee stop blaming voters. You’re repeating the cycle where those in power never have to change.

    • LePoisson@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I’m gonna at least blame the stupid fucks that voted for the orange fat man larping as an early days Mussolini.

    • Franklin@lemmy.ca
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      1 day ago

      I’m focused on both, I’ve been incredibly critical of the Democrats but I’m also critical of nonvoters because they’ve committed to it as a strategy to convince the Democrats to their own folly because it won’t work, and only serves as accelerationism

    • sepi@piefed.social
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      1 day ago

      I won’t stop blaming the voters that just sit there and expect to be spoonfed perfect candidates like toddlers, instead of understanding one candidate wasn’t perfect and the other is a fascist. The american electorate needs the plane noises and everything.

      • Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 day ago

        I won’t stop blaming politicians that just sit there and expect to be spoonfed perfect votes like toddlers, instead of understanding that people’s needs and wants change over time as shit happens in the world.

        Wages have stagnated. Civil liberties are being restricted. Immigration sucks now, where empires live or die by import of not only goods but laborers that fire up the economy. Harassment is on the rise, especially in cyberspace where there are no protections. Infrastructure is either crumbling or insufficient for how people want to live. Smog, pollution, and greenhouse gases are jeopardizing our future. People are having less children which will surely fuck up the economy at some point for those that age out of the workforce. Corporations control law and order beyond what science and research tells us. Privacy is eroding. There are TONS of issues that politicians could run on to galvanize non-voters, and yes anti-genocide is one of those.

        Democrats on the other hand would rather uphold existing institutions, however neololiberal they are, and chase after Republicans than run on popular, leftist policies.

        If Democrats don’t do what their constituents want, they will continue to lose elections. I think people want change, and I don’t think Dems (or MAGAts) are willing to give that. The politicians must change. We shouldn’t have to settle with mediocre, half baked centrism when we are now seeing the Right completely undermine and shock the existing system. Why can’t Democrats do the same, but in the other direction?

        • LePoisson@lemmy.world
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          17 hours ago

          Who the hell do you think these mythical Democrats should vote for? Some third party that won’t win and will have a spoiler effect? The GOP whose policies help create the problems you’ve described?

          What Republican is running on popular leftist policies? That’s news to me.

          You’re right we shouldn’t have to settle. Unfortunately we live in the real world where should doesn’t matter and actions dictate our reality. I’d much rather take a milquetoast centrist that wants to preserve our democracy and important institutions vs a right-wing radical that wants to burn it all down.

          Why can’t Democrats do the same, but in the other direction?

          They kind of are with AOC and Bernie Sanders on tour but it takes time. Not to mention, for better or worse, there are people trying to do the math of winning/losing voters and who is more or less likely to vote. For now, the DNC “professionals” are betting that they’d turn off more voters than they’d get if they ran further left candidates in more races.

          I’m not sure I agree with them or the overall DNC strategy the past decade but the strategy and who they plan to back with money does seem to be moving further left so that’s good.