Chaos Wing: The Trump Show’s Second Season Begins I
During the year 193, following the assassination of the reviled and venal emperor Commodus, the Roman empire underwent a rapid succession of five emperors in that year.[i] This period that is marked as the moment the Roman empire began to decay and eventually collapse. Rome and the Praetorian guard, the ancient equivalent of the present-day permanent regime, were plagued by paranoia, societal and political decay, corruption, and military overreach that led to the once mighty Roman empire and deformity after deformity was made emperor. Commodus was a cretinous dolt, interested more in going to brothels and having Herculean statues of himself constructed than the job of governing. He also fought in fixed gladiator fights, and crowds would watch as he skewered exotic animals. According to ancient records, one day Commodus killed 100 lions. He changed the name of legions and institutions to his own name.
Eventually, Commodus’ inner circle grew sick of his corruption and decadence, and conspirators poisoned his food and later strangled him in his bath. Pertinax was made emperor afterwards, however, he soon clashed with the Praetorian Guard, refusing to pay their donativum, a gift of money paid to Roman legions and elites, and was subsequently killed and replaced. The position of emperor was sold to the highest bidder, sparking a power struggle that ended with the rule of Septimius Severus purging all his opponents who sought the throne, starting the Severan Dynasty.
The Praetorian Guard may have been disgusted and embarrassed by the antics of Commodus, as we and the permanent regime are by Donald Trump, but killing Commodus and replacing him did not restore Rome, nor did it reverse the decay and decadence that Commodus embodied, just like some of his predecessors did, like Caligula. We saw a similar move by the permanent regime after the election of Trump in 2016, where his administration was hampered by the Russiagate hoax, a fraudulent conspiracy concocted by the Clinton campaign and the bowels of the security state to depose Trump, and when that failed, he was impeached twice, and J6 was aggravated to criminalize Trump and his supporters.[ii]
Although Trump’s assassins failed, much to the chagrin of the chattering class, who beckoned Trump’s assassination, notably when Melanie Griffiths posed for a magazine cover holding a mock up of Trump’s decapitated head, it was only a matter of time before the rhetoric on Trump and his movement drove someone to try and take him out.[iii] With the Democrats in the political abyss, Trump and his brand of phony populism will probably be in the White House for at least another decade, perhaps longer.
As Paul Kennedy argues in his book on the rise and fall of great powers, the economic and military might of empires throughout history are intrinsically linked and to acquire the wealth necessary to maintain large and advanced armies, an adequate military force is required.[iv] However, when empires allocate too much wealth to maintaining a mighty military, decline is inevitable, and paranoia about the rise of other great powers leads to more resources spent on innovations in defense and the funneling of arms and funds to military adventurism around the world. The empire begins to waste its military on insignificant conflicts, desperate to retain its supremacy. Alfred McCoy refers to this as ‘micro-militarism’.[v] For the British empire, the micro-militarism that ignited its decline was the Suez crisis. For America, this was the invasion of Iraq in 2003. McCoy writes that “As their power wanes, empires often plunge into micro-military misadventures in a foolhardy bid to recover their fading imperial power.”[vi] Think tanks and pundits tell us that Russia invaded Ukraine to regain its former imperial glory. We are told that China is still reeling from its decades of humiliation during the last century, where it was invaded and carved up among all the imperial powers at the time, from Japan to Great Britain. This analysis is mere projection. The permanent regime cannot imagine a world where the US is not the dominant superpower. Instead of spending on infrastructure or the multiple cruises afflicting the American people, the Washington establishment is attempting to maintain strained and rotting empire. As Michael Parenti argues, the American republic is being impoverished to feed the empire.
Trump’s new government department, DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, promises to slash government blubber and waste. Trump has already signed some executive orders that impact the federal workforce. There is now a hiring freeze, a demand that federal employees return to in-person work, a removal of DEI standards from hiring to focus on merit and competency, and an order “restoring accountability for career senior executives”.[vii] Further, Trump revoked the security clearances for all 51 former intelligence officials who signed the phony letter that alleged Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the hallmarks of Russian disinformation.”[viii] He also revoked secret service protection for former officials Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, who Trump excoriated in a statement to reporters, calling him a “very dumb person”[ix]
The promise of DOGE is likely false. It is doubtful that they will reduce the defense budget or investigate the State Department losing billions of dollars or the Pentagon failing its 7th audit in a row, assuring us that it would have its books cleaned up by 2028.[x] The Pentagon has a ballooning budget of 824 billion dollars that it cannot fully account for.[xi] It also does not have records for about 63% of its 3.8 trillion dollars in assets.[xii] Until 2018, the Department of Defense was not audited once, even after the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 required federal agencies to pass a private sector audit.[xiii] Some have noted that the task of auditing the Pentagon is difficult because most of their assets are fluid and global, not fixed or static. Krystin E. Jones at CSIS points this out, writing that “Many assets are in motion, prepositioned in foreign countries, continuously getting upgraded or modified, and can often be destroyed during the conduct of operations.”[xiv] Given the vastness of the US military presence around the globe, it is likely that the extent of the Pentagon’s spending around the world will be forever unknown. We can only speculate what has been spent since the fall of the Soviet Union and America’s time as the ‘sole superpower’. On top of this is the CIA’s secret budget, or ‘black budget’, as it’s called. Part of Edward Snowden’s leaks revealed the annual budget of the US intelligence agencies, of which the CIA is allocated the most.[xv] The total budget of the security state was estimated to be about 52.6 billion dollars.[xvi]
The Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949, which established the agency, allows the CIA to secretly fund intelligence operations around the world and to take actions outside government processes or procedures.[xvii] Given what the Church Committee exposed in 1975, the millions of dollars that the CIA spent building secret prisons, ‘blacksites’, in countries like Morocco, Jordan, and Poland, for the Bush regimes torture program during the war on terror, and the myriad attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro, it is disturbing to wonder what they have been doing since the Church Committee that we are not aware of. The CIA is a paramilitary organization that should be abolished. If DOGE is serious about cutting wasteful spending, this would be a priority, however, Musk has contracts with the CIA and/or the Pentagon, as do Peter Thiel (Palantir), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), and Sam Altman (Open AI).[xviii] Even if DOGE fends itself against the legal challenges it faces, which alleges that since DOGE has not been established through Congress, it must be deemed a “federal advisory committee”, which would require it to make all its meetings public, have fair representation, and to file a charter with Congress.[xix] However, some, like Sam Hammond, argue that DOGE is not an official committee, but that it is “a branding exercise, a shorthand for Trump’s government reform efforts,”[xx] Whether or not the lawsuit against DOGE succeeds, it is clear that Musk, despite pleas from some in the Senate and Congress, like Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Ro Khanna, will not take on the wasteful defense budget or the black budgets of the security state.[xxi] The Republic will continue to be starved to fund the military and by proxy, defense contractors and arms companies. Parenti writes of this looting, “As in Rome of old and in every empire since, the center is bled in order to fortify the periphery. The lives and treasure of the people are squandered so that patricians might pursue their far-off plunder.”[xxii] In the case of the Trump regime, the far-off plunder may not be limited to Earth, as Trump declared in his inaugural address that the US will “pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars,”, and that they will plant an American flag on Mars.[xxiii] This fantastical idea may appeal to American exceptionalists, but this signals that US imperialism will not relent under Trump. DOGE will likely do little more than shuffle papers around. Though Musk has identified some wasteful defense spending, like the F-35 project, which has been going on for 23 years and has cost approximately 1.7 trillion dollars, and he called the builders of the F-35 fighter jets “idiots”.[xxiv]
Of course, it is time to cease the construction of more military installations abroad, and to conduct a review of every military base the US has around the world and to at least have a debate about where bases can be shut down. This should also be applied to CIA blacksites and installations, like drone bases. Ending US occupation in Syria, Iraq, and ending the slush fund to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan would save billions instantly. Although Trump just suspended all foreign aid for 90 days, the Pentagon announced that this suspension excludes some aid, like aid to Israel.[xxv] If US defense spending cannot be accounted for, then how can we be confident that the military is effective or trustworthy? It is no wonder many Americans harbor disdain and distrust for US institutions. At least under Trump and appointees like Tulsi Gabbard, more people may question the humanity and transparency of the US military and the security state.
Conclusion
Many of the issues that people will have with the incoming Trump regime, which are valid, the Biden regime has either set precedents or continued traditions that violate the constitution or US law. Already, Trump has pardoned everyone involved in J6, around 1500 people, including those charged with seditious conspiracy. He has also pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht. Musk has apparently done a Nazi salute, which is indefensible and moronic, but the idea that this is some signal that Trump will impose a white supremacist dictatorship modelled after Adolf Hitler, is absurd and contemptible. The mass of credentialed historians who are trying to assure us that yes, Trump and Musk are openly Nazis, is pathetic and exposes the rot of the Washington establishment.
While the Republican party is not a truly populist party, even under Trump’s leadership, as he is still beholden to oligarchs, the Democratic party is in tatters. It has completed the transition it started under Clinton, where it went from the party of the working class to the party of college graduates, professionals, and experts. In these first few days, Trump has already done some horrible actions, and sent some signals that more horror is on the way, however, he has done some positive actions, like pardoning Ulbricht and the J6 defendants, gutting DEI, pausing all offshore wind leases, which were a threat to the North Atlantic right whale, and ordering the declassification of documents related to the assassinations of MLK Jr., Robert Kennedy and John F. Kennedy.[xxvi] This is no defense of Trump, as his presidency is destined to be terrible overall, but these are genuine accomplishments. He may be more disciplined and serious than he was during his first term, but that will not make the task of dismantling the permanent regime any easier. It is obvious that he and his coterie of oligarchs, arms titans, Wall Street scum, and buffoons intend to further the permanent regime, not to destroy it. His circle relies on the system as much as Biden and his regime did. While it is a relief that Biden’s clique of despots, puritans, and dullards are gone, we now have a new band of maniacs to watch. The chaos wing is here.
[i] Chrystal, Paul. Emperors of Rome: The Monsters. Pen and Sword, 2018., Elliott, Simon. Pertinax. Greenhill Books, 2020. and Gibbon, Edward, and Hans-Friedrich Mueller. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. New York: Modern Library, 2003.
[ii] Bowden, John. “FBI Agent in Texts: ‘We’ll Stop’ Trump from Becoming President.” The Hill, June 14, 2018. https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/392284-fbi-agent-in-texts-well-stop-trump-from-becoming-president/. and Stanley, Jay. “Do U.S. Politicians Need to Fear Our Intelligence Agencies? | ACLU.” American Civil Liberties Union, January 6, 2017. https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/do-us-politicians-need-fear-our-intelligence.
[iii] BBC. “Kathy Griffin: CNN Drops Comic after ‘Sick’ Trump Stunt.” BBC News, May 31, 2017, sec. US & Canada. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40108959.
[iv] Kennedy, Paul. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Vintage, 2010.
[v] McCoy, Alfred W. “Micro-Militarism and Decline of Democracy.” Progressive.org, June 13, 2018. https://progressive.org/latest/micro-militarism-and-decline-of-democracy-McCoy-180613/.
[vi] McCoy. “Micro-Militarism and Decline of Democracy.”
[vii] Ingle, Davis. “Hiring Freeze – the White House.” The White House, January 20, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/hiring-freeze/., “Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions within the Federal Workforce – the White House.” The White House, January 21, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/restoring-accountability-to-policy-influencing-positions-within-the-federal-workforce/., and White House. “Return to In-Person Work – the White House.” The White House, January 20, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/return-to-in-person-work/.
[viii] Lillis, Katie Bo. “Trump Revokes Security Clearances of Former Officials Who Signed Hunter Biden Laptop Letter with Executive Action.” CNN, January 21, 2025. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/20/politics/trump-revokes-security-clearances-former-officials-hunter-biden-laptop-letter/index.html.
[ix] Collins, Kaitlan. “Trump Terminates John Bolton’s Security Detail within Hours of Taking Office.” CNN, January 21, 2025. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/21/politics/john-bolton-security-detail-trump/index.html.
[x] Pabst, Stavroula. “‘Humiliated’: Pentagon Fails 7th Audit in a Row.” Responsible Statecraft, November 18, 2024. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/pentagon-fails-audit/.
[xi] Hartung, William. “The Low Hanging DOGE Fruit at the Pentagon for Elon and Vivek.” Responsible Statecraft, December 3, 2024. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/elon-musk-doge-pentagon/.
[xii] Gledhill, Julia. “Pentagon Can’t Account for 63% of Nearly $4 Trillion in Assets | Responsible Statecraft.” responsiblestatecraft.org, December 4, 2023. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/pentagon-audit-2666415734/.
[xiii] Conyers, John Jr. “Text – H.R.5687 – 101st Congress (1989-1990): Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990.” Congress.gov, 2025. https://www.congress.gov/bill/101st-congress/house-bill/5687/text.
[xiv] Jones, Kristyn E. “Fixing the DOD’s Audit Problem.” Csis.org, 2025. https://www.csis.org/analysis/fixing-dods-audit-problem.
[xv] BBC. “US Intelligence Agencies’ ‘Black Budget’ Detailed.” BBC News, August 30, 2013, sec. US & Canada. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-23903310. and Gellman, Barton, and Greg Miller. “‘Black Budget’ Summary Details U.S. Spy Network’s Successes, Failures and Objectives.” Washington Post, August 29, 2013, sec. National Security.
[xvi] Gellman, Barton and Miller. “‘Black Budget’ Summary Details U.S. Spy Network’s Successes, Failures and Objectives.”
[xvii] Central Intelligence Agency. “The Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949, 20 June 1949 | National Security Archive.” nsarchive.gwu.edu, June 20, 1949. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/28656-document-12-central-intelligence-agency-act-1949-20-june-1949.
[xviii] Clifton, Eli. “Meet Peter Thiel’s Military Industrial Candidate.” Responsible Statecraft, July 15, 2021. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/07/15/meet-peter-thiels-military-industrial-candidate/., DiBenedetto, Chase. “OpenAI One Step Closer to the Pentagon Thanks to Partnership with Defense Startup.” Mashable, December 5, 2024. https://mashable.com/article/open-ai-military-technology-pentagon-partnership., Konkel, Frank. “The Details about the CIA’s Deal with Amazon.” The Atlantic. The Atlantic, July 17, 2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/07/the-details-about-the-cias-deal-with-amazon/374632/., McLaughlin, Jenna. “Peter Thiel’s CIA-Backed Data Mining Company Wins Court Battle against the U.S. Army.” The Intercept, October 31, 2016. https://theintercept.com/2016/10/31/peter-thiels-cia-backed-data-mining-company-wins-court-battle-against-the-u-s-army/. and Pulkkinen, Levi. “From Books to Bullets: Inside Amazon’s Push to ‘Defend’ America.” the Guardian. The Guardian, January 31, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/31/amazon-defense-cloud-computing-pentagon-jeff-bezos.
[xix] Goldsmith, Eloise. “Public Interest Law Firm to Sue DOGE within Minutes of Trump’s Swearing in | Common Dreams.” Common Dreams, January 20, 2025. https://www.commondreams.org/news/doge-faca-lawsuit.
[xx] Helmore, Edward. “Trump and Elon Musk’s ‘Doge’ Violates Federal Transparency Rules, Suit Claims.” the Guardian. The Guardian, January 20, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/20/elon-musk-doge-lawsuit.
[xxi] Dress, Brad. “Progressives Align with DOGE on Defense Cuts: ‘Let’s Play Ball.’” The Hill, December 8, 2024. https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5027391-elon-musk-doge-defense-budget/. and
[xxii] Parenti, Michael. Against Empire. City Lights Books, 2021.
[xxiii] Lambert, Jonathan. “It’s America’s ‘Manifest Destiny’ to Plant a Flag on Mars, Trump Says.” NPR, January 20, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/g-s1-43861/mars-nasa-manifest-destiny-trump-inauguration.
[xxiv] Grazier, Dan. “Has the Pentagon Learned from the F-35 Debacle?” POGO, June 8, 2023. https://www.pogo.org/analysis/has-the-pentagon-learned-from-the-f-35-debacle. and Hambling, David. “Elon Musk Calls F-35 Builders ‘Idiots’, Favors Drone Swarms.” Forbes, November 26, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2024/11/26/elon-musk-calls-f-35-builders-idiots-favors-drone-swarms/.
[xxv] Bateman, Tom. “US Issues Pause on Foreign Aid, Leaked Memo Says.” BBC, January 25, 2025. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce9nx5k7lv0o. and Ingle. “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid – the White House.” The White House, January 21, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/reevaluating-and-realigning-united-states-foreign-aid/
[xxvi] Geraghty, Jim. “Trump Saves the Whales.” National Review, January 20, 2025. https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/trump-saves-the-whales/., Guardian Staff. “Trump Pardons Ross Ulbricht, Founder of Silk Road Drug Marketplace.” the Guardian. The Guardian, January 22, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/21/ross-ulbricht-silk-road-trump-pardon., Ingle. “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing – the White House.” The White House, January 21, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/., “Granting Pardons and Commutation of Sentences for Certain Offenses Relating to the Events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 – the White House.” The White House, January 21, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/granting-pardons-and-commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-states-capitol-on-january-6-2021/., and White House. “Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy – the White House.” The White House, January 23, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/declassification-of-records-concerning-the-assassinations-of-president-john-f-kennedy/.
References
Bateman, Tom. “US Issues Pause on Foreign Aid, Leaked Memo Says.” BBC, January 25, 2025. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce9nx5k7lv0o.
BBC. “Kathy Griffin: CNN Drops Comic after ‘Sick’ Trump Stunt.” BBC News, May 31, 2017, sec. US & Canada. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40108959.
———. “US Intelligence Agencies’ ‘Black Budget’ Detailed.” BBC News, August 30, 2013, sec. US & Canada. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-23903310.
Bowden, John. “FBI Agent in Texts: ‘We’ll Stop’ Trump from Becoming President.” The Hill, June 14, 2018. https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/392284-fbi-agent-in-texts-well-stop-trump-from-becoming-president/.
Central Intelligence Agency. “The Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949, 20 June 1949 | National Security Archive.” nsarchive.gwu.edu, June 20, 1949. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/28656-document-12-central-intelligence-agency-act-1949-20-june-1949.
Chrystal, Paul. Emperors of Rome: The Monsters. Pen and Sword, 2018.
Clifton, Eli. “Meet Peter Thiel’s Military Industrial Candidate.” Responsible Statecraft, July 15, 2021. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/07/15/meet-peter-thiels-military-industrial-candidate/.
Collins, Kaitlan. “Trump Terminates John Bolton’s Security Detail within Hours of Taking Office.” CNN, January 21, 2025. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/21/politics/john-bolton-security-detail-trump/index.html.
Conyers, John Jr. “Text – H.R.5687 – 101st Congress (1989-1990): Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990.” Congress.gov, 2025. https://www.congress.gov/bill/101st-congress/house-bill/5687/text.
DiBenedetto, Chase. “OpenAI One Step Closer to the Pentagon Thanks to Partnership with Defense Startup.” Mashable, December 5, 2024. https://mashable.com/article/open-ai-military-technology-pentagon-partnership.
Dress, Brad. “Progressives Align with DOGE on Defense Cuts: ‘Let’s Play Ball.’” The Hill, December 8, 2024. https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5027391-elon-musk-doge-defense-budget/.
Elliott, Simon. Pertinax. Greenhill Books, 2020.
Gellman, Barton, and Greg Miller. “‘Black Budget’ Summary Details U.S. Spy Network’s Successes, Failures and Objectives.” Washington Post, August 29, 2013, sec. National Security. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/black-budget-summary-details-us-spy-networks-successes-failures-and-objectives/2013/08/29/7e57bb78-10ab-11e3-8cdd-bcdc09410972_story.html.
Geraghty, Jim. “Trump Saves the Whales.” National Review, January 20, 2025. https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/trump-saves-the-whales/.
Gibbon, Edward, and Hans-Friedrich Mueller. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. New York: Modern Library, 2003.
Gledhill, Julia. “Pentagon Can’t Account for 63% of Nearly $4 Trillion in Assets | Responsible Statecraft.” responsiblestatecraft.org, December 4, 2023. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/pentagon-audit-2666415734/.
Goldsmith, Eloise. “Public Interest Law Firm to Sue DOGE within Minutes of Trump’s Swearing in | Common Dreams.” Common Dreams, January 20, 2025. https://www.commondreams.org/news/doge-faca-lawsuit.
Grazier, Dan. “Has the Pentagon Learned from the F-35 Debacle?” POGO, June 8, 2023. https://www.pogo.org/analysis/has-the-pentagon-learned-from-the-f-35-debacle.
Guardian Staff. “Trump Pardons Ross Ulbricht, Founder of Silk Road Drug Marketplace.” the Guardian. The Guardian, January 22, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/21/ross-ulbricht-silk-road-trump-pardon.
Hagstrom, Anders. “Elon Musk’s SpaceX Deepening Ties to US Intelligence, Military Agencies.” Fox Business, February 20, 2024. https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/elon-musks-spacex-deepening-ties-us-intelligence-military-agencies.
Hambling, David. “Elon Musk Calls F-35 Builders ‘Idiots’, Favors Drone Swarms.” Forbes, November 26, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2024/11/26/elon-musk-calls-f-35-builders-idiots-favors-drone-swarms/.
Hartung, William. “The Low Hanging DOGE Fruit at the Pentagon for Elon and Vivek.” Responsible Statecraft, December 3, 2024. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/elon-musk-doge-pentagon/.
Helmore, Edward. “Trump and Elon Musk’s ‘Doge’ Violates Federal Transparency Rules, Suit Claims.” the Guardian. The Guardian, January 20, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/20/elon-musk-doge-lawsuit.
Ingle, Davis. “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing – the White House.” The White House, January 21, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/.
———. “Granting Pardons and Commutation of Sentences for Certain Offenses Relating to the Events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 – the White House.” The White House, January 21, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/granting-pardons-and-commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-states-capitol-on-january-6-2021/.
———. “Hiring Freeze – the White House.” The White House, January 20, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/hiring-freeze/.
———. “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid – the White House.” The White House, January 21, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/reevaluating-and-realigning-united-states-foreign-aid/.
———. “Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions within the Federal Workforce – the White House.” The White House, January 21, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/restoring-accountability-to-policy-influencing-positions-within-the-federal-workforce/.
Jones, Kristyn E. “Fixing the DOD’s Audit Problem.” Csis.org, 2025. https://www.csis.org/analysis/fixing-dods-audit-problem.
Kennedy, Paul. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Vintage, 2010.
Konkel, Frank. “The Details about the CIA’s Deal with Amazon.” The Atlantic. The Atlantic, July 17, 2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/07/the-details-about-the-cias-deal-with-amazon/374632/.
Lambert, Jonathan. “It’s America’s ‘Manifest Destiny’ to Plant a Flag on Mars, Trump Says.” NPR, January 20, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/g-s1-43861/mars-nasa-manifest-destiny-trump-inauguration.
Lillis, Katie Bo. “Trump Revokes Security Clearances of Former Officials Who Signed Hunter Biden Laptop Letter with Executive Action.” CNN, January 21, 2025. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/20/politics/trump-revokes-security-clearances-former-officials-hunter-biden-laptop-letter/index.html.
McCoy, Alfred W. “Micro-Militarism and Decline of Democracy.” Progressive.org, June 13, 2018. https://progressive.org/latest/micro-militarism-and-decline-of-democracy-McCoy-180613/.
McLaughlin, Jenna. “Peter Thiel’s CIA-Backed Data Mining Company Wins Court Battle against the U.S. Army.” The Intercept, October 31, 2016. https://theintercept.com/2016/10/31/peter-thiels-cia-backed-data-mining-company-wins-court-battle-against-the-u-s-army/.
Pabst, Stavroula. “‘Humiliated’: Pentagon Fails 7th Audit in a Row.” Responsible Statecraft, November 18, 2024. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/pentagon-fails-audit/.
Parenti, Michael. Against Empire. City Lights Books, 2021.
Pulkkinen, Levi. “From Books to Bullets: Inside Amazon’s Push to ‘Defend’ America.” the Guardian. The Guardian, January 31, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/31/amazon-defense-cloud-computing-pentagon-jeff-bezos.
Stanley, Jay. “Do U.S. Politicians Need to Fear Our Intelligence Agencies? | ACLU.” American Civil Liberties Union, January 6, 2017. https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/do-us-politicians-need-fear-our-intelligence.
White House. “Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy – the White House.” The White House, January 23, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/declassification-of-records-concerning-the-assassinations-of-president-john-f-kennedy/.
———. “Return to In-Person Work – the White House.” The White House, January 20, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/return-to-in-person-work/.
Not Without Incident: Questioning Big Brother's Platitudes 
Leave a comment