209 Comments
User's avatar
Michael Otter's avatar

My total support for those sailors and all of our people in uniform. May they all return safely.

Let's send Trunp and Hegseth out on a ship for 250+ days with all of the issues we see on the USS Abraham Lincoln and see how long they last and feel.

Stephen Brady's avatar

As long as tRump and Hegseth are in the deepest, darkest brig available the whole time. Just imagine what recruitment is going to be from here on out - is anyone going to want to serve in a military whose leadership despises and disdains the people who do the actual work?

Liz R's avatar

Recruitment is way down. Critical positions are unfilled.

Stephen Brady's avatar

We are less safe in every possible way since January 20, 2025!

Liz R's avatar

It will take years to recover; enlistments will stay below requirements until legitimate leadership is restored. That leaves us vulnerable in any hostile action. In my most paranoid moments, I wonder if that is exactly what trump has in mind.

Stephen Brady's avatar

I'm pretty sure his Daddy Vlad told him exactly what to do to accomplish this.

Charlie's avatar

It's certainly what someone has in mind, but this goes even beyond what Putin or Xi would have dreamt up.

Anon's avatar

Charlie - Don’t forget North Korea. According to T the two are in love.

Charlie's avatar

That's so last year, though!

J. Eric Maginnis's avatar

And they deserve each other.

Jennifer Dyke's avatar

Indeed. So, if recruitment drops way down, how close are we to reinstating the draft? The Vietnam protests will look like child's play compared to what will happen now under the crappy conditions we're all having to live under, let alone what our troops are going through! Plus, not every young guy is falling for Hegseth's "he-man-testosterone" BS!

Anon's avatar

Stephen - I wonder the same thing about not only the enlisted but also the National Guard recruiting. It’s not what any of them signed up for. Fight a war for our country, allies and our freedom if necessary - yes. Fighting for a vanity project - no.

Jude's avatar

I agree with you in spirit. But, at the risk of being picky, I hope you're excluding ICE (and rogue cops) when you use the phrase "all of our people in uniform." I take your comment to refer to people in the Navy, Air Force, Army, and National Guard.

Liz R's avatar

Agree. Nazi ICE thugs are trumps thugs. And, btw, they have all the funding, supplies and torture devices they want.

crazy cat lady's avatar

oh, wait until they are given cattle prods.

Jude's avatar

They've got 'em now -- in the form of electric gloves. This fact is right at the top of my Things to be Scared and Furious About.

Anon's avatar

Jude - I am outraged about the gloves and many people are only thinking about when they are using them in public settings. I imagine they will definitely be used in the detainment camps and other private settings too.

Jude's avatar

Oh, God, I know. I thought of that too. Behind the scenes a lot of those goons will be using those damn' gloves "just for fun." Somehow, somehow we've got to stop them. "We" meaning humans, I guess. I sure don't know how to do it.

Mari Wilson's avatar

I assure you he isn't including the Gestapo factions.

Anon's avatar

Jude - Not picky at all. I appreciate your distinction. They all have different skill sets. ICE and rogue cops are in a category all to themselves and should not be allowed to wear a uniform. But, if I can also be picky without offending you, don’t forget the Coast Guard.

Jude's avatar

Oh, gosh, yes, the Coast Guard, for sure! Thank you. :-)

Gordon Hoffman's avatar

America needs to get a professional defense secretary instead of the news caster one they have now.

Ellen Snyder's avatar

do you mean the news caster who is saying they need to be given testosterone?? WTAF

Markopolis Balhaus's avatar

Hegseth is a putrid lizard. Have another drink Pete.

James Hollister's avatar

Ditto for a professional president.

Gordon Hoffman's avatar

And a press secretary that can tell the people what's really going on. Her lies have been amazing.

Anon's avatar

Gordon - Amazing how she was all in on telling lies until she learned that T doesn’t care about her life. She was deemed expendable and left on the decoy plane. No one will (probably) be able to convince me that her leaving doesn’t coincide with that. Wish all the others who sold their souls would realize that he will only save himself. If they didn’t see it after what happened on J6 then they are fools.

Jennifer Dyke's avatar

I sincerely don't recall hearing our troops being treated so abominably. I know there are many tough times for troops during combat (besides the obvious horrors of war) that cause interruption in staples or equipment that sustain our troops, but what is happening in Iran is not, so far as I know, major combat. Why are these sailors being so utterly neglected?! This is beyond shameful and cruel, but then those two qualities are rife in the Trump regime, aren't they?

Debbie Johnson's avatar

I agree. Our military should be treated with the utmost respect. Look at the way this Trump administration is treating and caring for the people of America. It seems they only care about lining their own pockets.

Jennifer Dyke's avatar

Yes, Debbie, you're absolutely correct! That's part of the reason why Trump wanted to get elected again. First, to stay out of jail and second, to grift, rape and pillage in every way possible, all to the detriment of the American people and the utter destruction of our country!

Jeanne C's avatar

I try to think of something positive to keep me from going nuts! Today's positive is: Thank God we got a break between his 2 terms; the continuity would have killed off a lot more of us!

Anon's avatar

Jeanne - As a pessimist I appreciate your optimism. :)

Anon's avatar

Jennifer - I keep asking my maga father in law if this is what he thinks America First means. I get crickets.

Linda Lee Williams's avatar

Agree, but I must inject a small dose of reality. The two LSDs my husband served on from 1968 to 1972 were not without issues. The ships lacked adequate facilities for 300 sailors + 330 marines. My husband said the heads were always a mess and there were cockroaches in the food! Of course, you had to wait hours in line to eat. My husband alway came home much thinner after a deployment.🤷‍♂️

Anon's avatar

Linda Lee - You have a point. My father was extremely thin all through Vietnam but he has made up for it tenfold since he came home.

Anon's avatar

Jennifer - Back during the Iraq/Afghanistan war I would send massive care packages and they might have been delayed in the beginning but by the third month or so they were received without delays. No excuse for what is happening now other than utter idiocy from the top brass since they fired all the ones with skills and experience. They didn’t plan ahead because it was supposed to be over in two weeks. It’s been a Really Long two weeks. They were told repeatedly not to do this but they ignored the intelligence.

Candace Bartsch's avatar

I hurt for the sailors on the Lincoln. I'm praying for them and their families 🙏🥲

Ellen Brown's avatar

This is a disgrace. And Hegseth saying no one cares more about our service people than he does, is a bigger disgrace. His actions prove otherwise. These men and women are being asked to support a war most Americans don’t understand. They volunteer. I never knew it was possible to not feed our service men and women. I thought that was something that only happened in North Korea or Russia. Our commander in chief not only doesn’t know/comprehend what is happening, but doesn’t care. Midterms matter more than ever. Ensuring the results stand will be the toughest challenge we have faced.

Markopolis Balhaus's avatar

Hegseth is one of most disgraceful creatures ever. He is always talking about being a man and being tough. Maybe he should start being a man himself, before slinging his garbage around.

Liz R's avatar

Men who are tough, are men, have honor and compassion, do not go around telling everyone how manly and tough they are.

crazy cat lady's avatar

exactly, and those who are constantly bragging about how tough they are are actually those who feel inferior.

Markopolis Balhaus's avatar

Damn right they don't. Hegseth makes me sick. What a creep. Just like his boss.

Ed's avatar

A real leader would fly out to the ship and see what is really happening, but that would be too much to expect from this weakling.

Anon's avatar

Markopolis - He cares more about if his hair and makeup is right so he looks good in his photos and videos. The Incel group eats it up.

Ellen Brown's avatar

Perhaps instead of measuring testosterone, our efforts should be focused on feeding our troops.

Jude's avatar

Re: "Hegseth saying no one cares more about our service people than he does" -- reminds me of Trump saying nobody cares more about women than he does. Both see the objects of their affections as tools to use without any regard for their humanity.

Markopolis Balhaus's avatar

The only thing Hegseth cares about is his bottle of booze.

Ellen Brown's avatar

He is a comic book character. A pathetic one at that.

Anon's avatar

Ellen - If Hegseth actually cared about his troops he wouldn’t allow T to build his pathetic Arch monument where he is planning to. That right there tells you everything you need to know about T and Pistol Pete. VoteVets has been in their face since the plans were revealed and they won’t even listen to the vets.

Katie Beacock's avatar

Hegseth has brought disgrace to the Pentagon! Enough is enough!

Stephen Brady's avatar

He is just the mindless boob cheerleading this idiotic war of choice. The Orange Imbecile who started it deserves - but will never get Impeachment, Removal, and imprisonment!

Anon's avatar

Katie - I remember when they were up in arms about Austin. They have no right to say anything after this.

Kari Gunderson's avatar

The crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln deserves better than this. This goes to show how completely out of touch tRUMP and Hegseth are to the lack of humanity and attention this has received up until now. There needs to be more oversight hearings and Hegseth needs to be held accountable. He should be the first one on the chopping block and be sent back to Faux Entertainment.

Liz R's avatar

All our troops everywhere deserve to be treated to the best possible level of care and respect. And National Guard troops need to stop being called up for endless overseas assignments that the toddler-in-chief dreamed up.

Charlie's avatar

And the NG should get to go back to real life instead of gardening in DC, because Shitler is paranoid that someone is going to attack him.

Markopolis Balhaus's avatar

Absolutely Liz. I am so angry, I just want to explode.

Jane DeLong's avatar

One of yr best pieces Adam. You are the type of courageous leader that we need. Thank you and all the others for yr service.

It's Come To This's avatar

These people and their families know all about hardships, adversity, sudden deployments, missed birthdays and anniversaries, low wages, cramped quarters, stress under fire. Talk about patriots who implicitly get the concept of service.

Can you imagine just how bad it was (and is) for THEM to complain out loud? This contemptible administration of stupid, preening fuckups couldn't give a rat's ass about those who actually serve. It just treats them like props for a backdrop photo. Disgusting.

Jude's avatar

Just gotta say I *love* this phrase regarding the current administration: "stupid, preening fuckups." Yep, every last one of 'em. But Hegseth may well be the star stupid, preening fuckup -- straight from "central casting," as Trump has bragged.

crazy cat lady's avatar

and they view everyone as disposable.

Liz R's avatar

Exactly. They get the sacrifices they have to make. It must be excruciatingly bad. And their mail is not getting through? I suspect censorship; there is no reason otherwise.

Constance Story's avatar

Don't forget that while our sailors and marines are out of soap, toothpaste, deoderant, medicine in the sick bay and are subsisting on rice and spam the drunk hegseth spent a whopping $6.9 million dollars in September 2025 on lobster, crab legs, ribeye steaks and luxury furnishings for his Pentagon office and dining room. My source? Fox News channel 11 Los Angeles, 3/11/26

Liz R's avatar

Hegseth needs to be put under the brig and forgotten.

Michelle Price's avatar

These crew members have my utmost respect. This administration is treating them like livestock. Hegseth is a disgrace to the uniform.

Charlie's avatar

He is a disgrace to everything he has ever been associated with!

Cat Hufnagle's avatar

How valid is the article today using Iranian news of 7 sailors died on the Lincoln due to a fight? Rather sad I would believe Iran over Hegseth. But, I have never believed alcoholics. Nothing is in the news about these deaths.

Muzzygirl111's avatar

I am blown away by people who think they know better, people who think our soldiers should”man up” are people to afraid to join, they sit on their perch and pass judgement. How DARE they!! Trump has almost 1 billion dollars for his vanity projects yet he claims the military needs 1.5 trillion dollars. This lunatic empty minded man is a dangerous disgraced to the men and women who serve. He’s made 140 million dollars in his complaint against ABC and CBS. He’s a traitor and a criminal and a liar. His empty brain is not worth the time to hear him lie. That’s the only thing he’s good at. Lie lying and a liar. Period. The corruption is rampant and his respect for the military is nonexistent, after all he’s called them suckers and losers, he still feels like that. As long as he’s not close to the fighting he doesn’t care about those who are!

Jude's avatar

Right *on*, Adam. You've made this story much more real to me. I can imagine what it would be like to be on that ship now. And I love that term "keyboard warriors."

I'll be forwarding this to friends.

Markopolis Balhaus's avatar

Those "keyboard warriors" need to log out of their video game and get a job. This is a great article. Thanks Adam.

wises496@gmail.com's avatar

They're going to San Diego, right? I hope the folks there welcome them home with fanfare! Maybe gifts and free dinners etc! They need to know we appreciate them and are sorry for what happened.

Linda Lee Williams's avatar

Hope your idea spreads and grows!

Emma G's avatar

100%. My dad is 8 months older than Trump. Enlisted, with his parents having to sign, when he was 17. While Trump was cheating on his SAT, my dad was acing boot camp in Great Lakes and on his way to San Diego. He was on a naval ship in the middle of the Pacific when I was born. He served so others didn't have to. Trump should have some damned respect.