If widespread violence breaks out as a result of Trump regime’s sustained (in many cases, illegal) attempts at destroying representative democracy, one would, at least in theory, feel a lot safer living on a military base. According to a recent report by Michael Scherer, Missy Ryan and Ashley Parker in The Atlantic, that’s precisely what’s happening: Kristi Noem, Marco Rubio, Steve and Katie Miller, and others have moved themselves and loved ones/partners to the safe confines of military bases.
At least six “high level” Trump associates, according to the report (emphasis mine).
When [Steve] Miller, the architect of that response who is known for his inflammatory political rhetoric, announced a legal crackdown on liberal groups, he singled out the tactics that had victimized his family—what he called “organized campaigns of dehumanization, vilification, posting peoples’ addresses.” Miller soon joined a growing list of senior Trump-administration political appointees—at least six by our count—living in Washington-area military housing, where they are shielded not just from potential violence but also from protest. It is an ominous marker of the nation’s polarization, to which the Trump administration has itself contributed, that some of those top public servants have felt a need to separate themselves from the public. These civilian officials can now depend on the U.S. military to augment their personal security. But so many have made the move that they are now straining the availability of housing for the nation’s top uniformed officers.
via Michael Scherer, Missy Ryan and Ashley Parker in The Atlantic
You read that right: Donald Trump’s insufferable employees—all of whom are the root cause of backlash they decry—are moving to military bases and causing shortages of housing for America’s most-senior military officers. As we reported in August, Noem got busted living above her pay grade (and for free) at a top military general’s residence with waterfront views and all the security she falsely believes in needed for “protection.”
There’s another regime member, whom The Atlantic chose not to identify, who has also received white-glove military treatment.
Another senior White House official, whom The Atlantic is not naming because of security concerns related to a specific foreign threat, also vacated a private home for a military installation after Kirk’s murder. In that case, security officials urged the official to relocate to military housing, according to people briefed on the move, who like many others who spoke with us for this story were not authorized to do so publicly. So many senior officials have requested housing that some are now encountering a familiar D.C. problem: inadequate supply. When Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s team inquired earlier in Donald Trump’s second term about her moving onto McNair, it didn’t work out for space reasons, a former official told us.
via Michael Scherer, Missy Ryan and Ashley Parker in The Atlantic
The piece goes on to contextualize the current “rehomings” of Donald’s people, which is, to put it mildly, historically unusual.
There are scattered examples from previous administrations of Cabinet members residing on bases. Both Robert Gates, defense secretary under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and Jim Mattis, Trump’s first Pentagon chief, lived in Navy housing at the Potomac Hill annex, a secure compound near the State Department. Mike Pompeo, CIA director and secretary of state during Trump’s first term, lived at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. The grand homes they occupied, some of which date back more than a century, offer officials an additional layer of security and ample space for official entertaining. But there is no record of so many political appointees living on military installations. The shift adds to the blurring of traditional boundaries between the civilian and military worlds.
via Michael Scherer, Missy Ryan and Ashley Parker in The Atlantic
AUTHOR FOOTNOTE
The Atlantic story is important, and I’m not trying to take away from the scoop because it lays bare yet another example of grifting and personal perks this fascist gang wants. But we are far gone from “blurred lines” of “traditional boundaries” here folks: exploiting military resources is absolutely NOT an “ominous marker of the nation’s polarization.”
That claim, as the saying goes, is utterly ridiculous. Housing violence-committing, lawbreaking future criminals in the storied halls of our military bases is an “ominous marker” alright: but about how far these people will go to enrich themselves (yes, this perk is a thing of value and more folks need to say that) at the expense of taxpayers.
Also, if you’re mentioning grifters and charlatans Mike and Susan Pompeo as “precedent” for political appointees living on a military base your logic might be flawed. Profoundly so.
SOURCES
- The Atlantic (Archived version)
