President Donald Trump has become increasingly frustrated with his advisers tasked with crafting a new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and recently suggested firing the war’s top military commander during a tense meeting at the White House, according to senior administration officials.
During the July 19 meeting, Trump repeatedly suggested that Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford replace Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, because he is not winning the war, the officials said. Trump has not met Nicholson, and the Pentagon has been considering extending his time in Afghanistan.
Over nearly two hours in the situation room, according to the officials, Trump complained about NATO allies, inquired about the United States getting a piece of Afghan’s mineral wealth and repeatedly said the top U.S. general there should be fired. He also startled the room with a story that seemed to compare their advice to that of a paid consultant who cost a tony New York restaurateur profits by offering bad advice.
Trump is the third president to grapple with the war in Afghanistan. On Wednesday, two American troops were killed in Afghanistan when a convoy they were in came under attack. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. (Read more from “Trump Says U.S.’Losing’ Afghan War in Tense Meeting With Generals” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/5440004897_019dde2b8c_b-2-1.jpg6831024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-08-02 19:25:012017-08-03 02:19:15Trump Says U.S. ‘Losing’ Afghan War in Tense Meeting With Generals
President Donald Trump has a 39 percent approval rating in a Rasmussen Reports poll released Monday. It is the first time Trump has dipped below 40 percent approval in the Rasmussen poll, which has consistently been more favorable to Trump than other polls.
The poll shows that 39 percent of likely voters approve of Trump’s job performance, while 61 percent of likely voters disapprove. The poll showed that 49 percent of voters strongly disapprove of his presidency, while 26 percent strongly approve.
The findings come after Senate Republicans failed to pass health care reform and as the White House has a staff shake-up. The House of Representatives did pass partial funding for Trump’s border wall last week, and the stock market remains robust. (Read more from “This Is the Poll Number That Should Have Trump Worried” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/20958712179_753aeb6eb1_b-1.jpg7681024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-07-31 19:54:262017-07-31 19:57:25This Is the Poll Number That Should Have Trump Worried
I think he made the right decision—and as someone who lived as trans-female for several years, I should know.
When I discovered Congress voted earlier this month to not block funding for transgender-related hormone therapies and sex change surgeries, I wondered if it considered how devastating this will be to the fitness, readiness, and morale of our combat-ready troops.
In July, the House of Representatives voted down Missouri Republican Rep. Vicky Hartzler’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which would have banned the military from funding such treatments.
Paying for transition-related surgeries for military service members and their families is beyond comprehensible.
Perhaps they have forgotten that our military was forged to be the world’s strongest fighting force, not a government-funded, politically correct, medical sex change clinic for people with gender dysphoria.
Gender dysphoria, the common diagnosis for one who feels at odds with his or her birth gender, develops from prolonged anxiety and depression. People are not born that way.
The “proof” for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria is having strongly held feelings—but feelings can and often do change over time.
The military is expected to prepare its members in warfare: to kill, destroy, and break our enemies. The most important factors in preparing a strong military are not hormone therapy, surgical sex changes, or politically correct education.
We need psychologically fit, emotionally sound, highly trained troops to protect our nation from its enemies.
While countless homeless vets are currently sleeping under cardboard boxes, or waiting for life-saving care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, we learn that transgender military recruits now qualify for preferential coverage for sex change procedures that are scientifically unproven and extremely costly.
I myself was fully sex-reassigned from male to female, and eventually came to accept my birth gender.
I have over 70 years of firsthand life experience, eight years of living as a woman, 20 years of researching the topic, and 12 years of helping others who, like me, found that transitioning and reassignment surgery failed to be proper treatment and want to restore their lives to their birth gender.
Costly, but Not Effective
Transitioning can be expensive—up to $130,000 per person for numerous body-mutilating and cosmetic procedures over many months (or years) to fashion the body to appear as the opposite sex.
Yet, no matter how skilled the surgeon, or how much money is spent, it is biologically impossible to change a man into a woman or a woman into a man. The change is only cosmetic.
The medical community continues to recommend this radical “treatment” in the absence of scientific evidence that people are better off in the long run. This population attempts suicide at a rate of 40 percent.
Even after the full surgical change, they attempt to end their lives, or tragically succeed.
Over 60 percent of this diverse population suffer from co-existing mental disorders. Consider Bradley Manning (now Chelsea Manning), a former Army soldier who was so psychologically and emotionally unbalanced that he stole confidential documents from the military and forwarded them to WikiLeaks.
The Military Is a Fighting Force, Not a Gender Clinic
The military should not provide sex change surgery.
Through my website, sexchangeregret.com, I hear from people who experienced firsthand how damaging and unnecessary reassignment surgeries were. For them, the sex change failed to resolve the emotional and psychological disorders that drove the desire to change gender.
Many write after living the transgender life for years. They write to ask for advice on how to reverse the original surgical change and restore their lives to the original birth gender like I did, a process called detransition.
Some service members will come to regret having undergone the surgery and will want to detransition. Where will the military be then? Will the military pay for the sex change reversal procedure, too?
Failed “sex change surgeries” are not uncommon and will drive up the cost to care for the military transgender population above the projected $3-4 billion 10-year cost.
Beyond the financial cost, there’s the question of the service member’s military readiness during their transition or detransition, as the process often comes with a great deal of anxiety and emotional instability.
I know of many who have struggled to adapt to the new gender role for years after reassignment surgery.
In my view, as a former trans-female who works every day with regretters, allowing the military to pay for sex change surgeries will make a mockery of the U.S. military.
Advocates are relentless in their pursuit of making others, via the government and insurance companies, cover the cost of sex change procedures.
If the military had been forced to pay, the advocates would have used this as leverage to press every other entity—both government and commercial—to pay for sex change surgeries as well.
As a person who lived the transgender life for eight years, I can attest that assisting, affirming, or paying for hormone therapies and genital mutilation surgeries would not have strengthened our military. They would only have brought adverse long-term consequences, both for individuals and for our armed forces as a whole. (For more from the author of “I Was Once Transgender. Why I Think Trump Made the Right Decision for the Military.” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/32562107212_b65a8b0d1b_b.jpg6831024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-07-31 00:00:232017-08-05 21:55:26I Was Once Transgender. Why I Think Trump Made the Right Decision for the Military.
To hear the left tell it, Donald Trump is a fascist if not actually a Nazi. “I feel Hitler in these streets,” actress Ashley Judd chanted around his inauguration. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns terms Trump “Hitleresque.” Columnist Andrew Sullivan terms the GOP today a “neo-fascist party.” And MSNBC host Rachel Maddow says, “I’ve been reading a lot about what it was when Hitler first became chancellor … because I’ve I think that’s possibly where we are.”
The charge that Trump and the right are fascists and neo-Nazis is used to establish Trump as an illegitimate president, the GOP as a party in cahoots with him, and to justify getting rid of both “by any means necessary,” which is actually the name of one of the many so-called antifascist groups. The media barrage against Trump, the street violence of Antifa and other groups, are all based on the premise that the left is fighting a modern incarnation of the Hitler movement of the 1930s.
I agree that there is a fascist strain in American politics today, but who are the real fascists? Is fascism a phenomenon of the left or the right? This question is rarely asked in a serious way, and I want to give credit to two worthy predecessors who have begun to plough this ground. The first is the economist Friedrich Hayek, whose “The Road to Serfdom,” first published in 1944, made the startling claim that Western welfare state democracies, having defeated fascism, were moving inexorably in the fascist direction.
Hayek identified fascism as a phenomenon of the left, a cousin of socialism and progressivism. And he warned, “The rise of fascism and Nazism was not a reaction against the socialist trends of the preceding period but a necessary outcome of those tendencies.” While Hayek’s book was written in a pedantic, measured tone, appealing to progressives to learn from one who had witnessed firsthand the rise of fascism in Europe, progressive scholars immediately set about reviling Hayek, with one, Herman Finer, accusing him of displaying a “thoroughly Hitlerian contempt for the democratic man.” (Read more from “Left’s ‘Big Lie’ About Trump and GOP Explodes” HERE)
Mr Priebus told CNN he resigned on Thursday after talking with Mr Trump.
“The president wanted to go in a different direction,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, adding that he thought Gen Kelly was “a brilliant pick”. (Read more from “POTUS Names a New Chief of Staff” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/U.S._Southern_Command_Commander_Gen._John_F._Kelly_briefs_the_media_on_the_current_state_of_USSOUTHCOM_affairs_2.jpg28324256Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-07-28 21:54:392017-07-28 21:54:39POTUS Names a New Chief of Staff
Attorney General Jeff Sessions says he’s hurt by President Donald Trump’s recent criticism, but he’s confident he made the right decision recusing himself from the Russia investigation.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that aired Thursday night, Sessions vowed to continue his work as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.
“I’m confident I made the right decision, a decision that’s consistent for the rule of law,” Sessions said. “An attorney general who doesn’t follow the law isn’t very effective in leading the Department of Justice.”
In recent days, Trump has faced mounting criticism from Republicans and conservatives for attacking Sessions, one of his most loyal supporters and a staunch ally on a range of policy goals. (For more from the author of “What Jeff Sessions Thinks About Trump’s Attacks” please click HERE)
A retired Navy SEAL who came out as a transgender ‘woman’ after retiring in 2011 urged President Donald Trump to say to his face that he is not worthy of serving in the U.S. military.
“Let’s meet face to face and you tell me I’m not worthy,” Kristin Beck told Business Insider Wednesday. “Transgender doesn’t matter. Do your service.”
Beck served 20 years in the Navy SEALs with SEAL Teams 1, 5 and the elite Team 6. Beck was deployed 13 times, including stints abroad in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The SEAL veteran received multiple military awards and decorations, including a Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat and the Bronze Star award for valor.
“I was defending individual liberty,” Beck said. “I defended for Republicans. I defended for Democrats. I defended for everyone.”
Beck’s statement came in response to Trump’s announcement Wednesday that the U.S. government will not allow transgender individuals “to serve in any capacity” in the U.S. armed forces.
“After consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military,” Trump said in a series of tweets.
“Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail,” the president said.
But Beck said the cost of providing medical services to transgender service members is “negligible.”
“You’re talking about .000001% of the military budget,” Beck said.
“They care more about the airplane or the tank than they care about people,” Beck said. “They don’t care about people. They don’t care about human beings.”
Beck said any issues that would arise due to transgender service members would be a result of incompetent leadership more than anything else.
“A very professional unit with great leadership wouldn’t have a problem,” Beck said. “I can have a Muslim serving right beside Jerry Falwell, and we’re not going to have a problem. It’s a leadership issue, not a transgender issue.”
Beck publicly came out as transgender in 2013 after retiring from the Navy in 2011.
The naval veteran told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in a June 2013 interview that “no one ever met the real me” during 20 years of military service. (For more from the author of “Retired Trans Navy SEAL Challenges Trump” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/people-1316373_960_720.jpg713960Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-07-26 21:36:492017-07-26 21:36:49Retired Trans Navy SEAL Challenges Trump
The mayor of Los Angeles vowed on Wednesday not to comply with the Trump administration’s order to notify the Department of Homeland Security before releasing illegal aliens from custody.
“Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday that sanctuary cities must give federal immigration authorities access to jails and alert them when someone facing deportation will be released from custody, in order to receive certain law enforcement grants,” Fox News reported.
Democrat Mayor Eric Garcetti told BuzzFeed that his government will not comply with the order.
“We will not change what we are doing and our values are not for sale,” Garcetti said Wednesday. “This decision was more of the kind of ideological rhetoric that actually makes us less safe.”
The mayor further contended, “What they’re asking the city to do is in violation of the Constitution.”
Garcetti’s argument regarding why the DOJ’s policy is unconstitutional was not included in the story.
The federal government has the enumerated power to craft the country’s immigration laws, and it can withhold grant money if those seeking it are not in compliance with the grant’s parameters.
In March, Garcetti issued an executive order barring local government officials from assisting federal immigration officers.
Additionally, in 2014 the Los Angeles Police Department stated it would not honor detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The order further bars LA employees from granting any immigration agent access to a city facility not open to the public unless legally required to do so.
In a statement on Tuesday, Sessions contended that sanctuary city policies like those employed by Los Angeles are dangerous.
“So-called sanctuary policies make all of us less safe because they intentionally undermine our laws and protect illegal aliens who have committed crimes,” the attorney general said.
“These policies also encourage illegal immigration and even human trafficking by perpetuating the lie that in certain cities, illegal aliens can live outside the law … We must encourage these `sanctuary’ jurisdictions to change their policies and partner with federal law enforcement to remove criminals.” (For more from the author of “Los Angeles Mayor Defies Trump Administration’s Immigration Policy” please click HERE)
President Donald Trump sent out a series of tweets on Wednesday stating that the U.S. “will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” Immediately after these tweets politicians, organizations and political commentators began tweeting out certain numbers of how many transgender people are serving or have served in the military . . .
The number of trans people serving in the military is unclear. There have been two major studies on the number, with each study purporting different figures . . .
California Rep. Mark Takano tweeted out that Trump was attacking “15,ooo trans service members.” Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ rights organization, also tweeted the 15,000 figure. The Anti-Defamation League’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted that “150K transgender Americans have bravely served USA.” . . .
The Williams Institute study from 2014 estimated “that approximately 15,500 transgender individuals are serving on active duty or in the Guard or Reserve forces.” The study suggests that “8,800 transgender individuals are currently on active duty.”
A study in 2016 from the RAND Corporation, sponsored by the secretary of defense, estimates that “the number of transgender individuals currently serving in the active component of the U.S. military at between 1,320 and 6,630 out of a total of about 1.3 million service members.” This number accounts for 0.1-0.5 percent of those serving in active military according to the RAND Corporation. (Read more from “FACT CHECK: Are 15,000 Trans People Serving in the US Military?” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/16147369183_bea68ff990_b.jpg6811024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-07-26 21:27:442017-07-26 21:27:44FACT CHECK: Are 15,000 Trans People Serving in the US Military?
It’s a “gag rule” that mental-health professionals have followed for 44 years: It’s unethical for psychiatrists to “diagnose” politicians or public figures based solely on that person’s public actions or statements, without conducting an actual in-person examination.
But now that Donald Trump is president, a national psychology organization has given psychoanalysts the green light to publicly comment on Trump’s mental health. And the move could usher in a flood of mental-health “experts” on TV news programs claiming the president is unstable or even unfit to serve in the White House.
Without ever having examined Trump, psychological professionals already have called the president “psychotic,” “narcissistic,” “paranoid,” “hypomanic,” “emotionally unstable,” “delusional” and “psychologically isolated” and claimed he has a “dangerous mental illness.” One physician suggested Trump could be suffering from an untreated sexually transmitted disease known as neurosyphilis.
Some mental health “experts” have even gone so far as to call conservatism a mental illness, claiming prominent Republicans have shown signs of denial, delusion, hallucination, disordered thinking, anger, anti-social behavior, sexual preoccupation, grandiosity, general oddness and paranoia.
And in what appears to be one of the left’s latest lines of attack against the president, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have already proposed creation of an 11-member panel that could oust Trump for being mentally or physically unfit for office. (Read more from “Crazy Talk: Psychs Crack up Over ‘Psychotic’, ‘Paranoid’ Trump” HERE)
