Illinois Governor Pritzker
 

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lzytqbqrpc2b

Pritzker: "In any other country, if federal agents fired upon journalists & protesters when unprovoked what would we call it? If officials marched down streets harassing civilians & demanding their papers, what would we say? I don't think we'd have trouble calling it what it is: authoritarianism"

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) Sep 29, 2025 at 1:24 PM

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lzyttzlpbn2k

Pritzker: "For Donald Trump and the MAGAs in Congress, this is not about fighting crime or public safety ... this is about consolidating power in Donald Trump's hands. What he plans to do with that power now or during the 2026 elections should worry all of us."

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) Sep 29, 2025 at 1:26 PM

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lzytx7plfz2q

Pritzker: "People of Illinois, we need your help. Get our your cell phones, record and narrate what you see. Put it on social media. Peacefully ask for badge numbers and identification. Speak up for your neighbors. We need to let the world know that this is happening and that we won't stand for it."

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) Sep 29, 2025 at 1:28 PM

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-settlement-youtube-big-tech-account-suspension-10801305

 

Donnie with another victory.

On 9/26/2025 at 1:17 PM, MissPhoenixGirl92 said:

And what's going to happen when the entire U.S. government wipes us all out? How do we even stand a chance against the military that is in lockstep with the government as well as the Supreme Court and the billionaire oligarchs controlling things behind the scenes. 

 

On 9/26/2025 at 4:48 PM, JaneAusten said:

Who said the military is in lockstep? We don't really know what will happen there. REmember how many of our military are people from underserved communities. And honestly how many of these people would be willing to turn against their own people.  I'd say ICE is more likely to turn than the actual military.  But we'll see. There is a reason these people are wearing masks and it's not because they know what they are doing is legal.

Trump and Hegseth just had a meeting at the Pentagon with all the leaders from all the branches of the military -- and  commanded the military  to declare war on cities.

Update from The Guardian live blog on US politics:
Trump says 'straightening out' US cities will be 'a major part for some of the people in this room'
He criticizes Democrat-led cities like San Francisco, Chicago, New York and LA. “They’re very unsafe places and we’re going to straighten them out one by one.” “And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That’s a war too. It’s a war from within.

Trump tells military generals 'we're under invasion from within'
“We’re under invasion from within, no different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways, because they don’t wear uniforms,” Trump says.

Trump suggets 'dangerous cities' should be used 'as training grounds' for the military and national guard
“I told Pete [Hegseth], we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military, national guard, but military, because we’re going into Chicago very soon, that’s a big city with an incompetent governor,” the president says.

Edited September 30Sep 30 by janea4old

Aaron Rupar did video clips and quotes from the horrid meeting at the Pentagon.

Posting here just the text of the bsky posts because I don't want to post videos of Trump and Hegseth.  And also some bsky comments that replied to what is happening

 

‪Aaron Rupar‬ ‪@atrupar.com‬
Hegseth: "We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy. We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement."

comment from katie spalding ‪@supermathskid.bsky.social‬
The headline surely is "Hegseth announces war crimes to be encouraged" 

 

‪Aaron Rupar‬  ‪@atrupar.com‬
Hegseth: "We are overhauling an inspector general process that has been weaponized, putting complainers and poor performers in the driver seat. We are doing the same with the equal opportunity policies. No more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complains ... no more walking on eggshells."

comment from Will Stancil ‪@whstancil.bsky.social‬
The headline here is “Hegseth announces changes that will protect domestic abusers in the military.” Even though this is incontestably true, no news organization will use this headline, because telling the truth is deemed impermissible if the truth hurts the right too much

 

Aaron Rupar ‪@atrupar.com‬
Hegseth: "A few months ago I was at the White House when President Trump announced his liberation day for America's trade policy. It was a landmark day. Well, today is another liberation day. The liberation of America's warriors ... you kill people and break things for a living."


Aaron Rupar‬  ‪@atrupar.com‬
Trump to generals: "Last month, I signed an executive order to provide training for a quick reaction force that can help quell civil disturbances. This is gonna be a big thing for the people in this room, because it's the enemy from within & we have to handle it before it gets out of control"

Edited September 30Sep 30 by janea4old

‪Aaron Rupar‬  ‪@atrupar.com‬
Hegseth: "Any place where tried & true physical standards were altered, especially since 15 when combat arms standards were changed to ensure females could qualify, must be returned to their original standard. Other standards have been manipulated to hit racial quotas, which is just as unacceptable"

Aaron Rupar ‪@atrupar.com‬
Hegseth: "For too long we've promoted too many uniformed leaders for the wrong reasons -- based on their race, gender quotas, historic so-called 'firsts'...we've weeded out so-called 'toxic leaders' under guise of double blind psychology assessments. We became the 'woke department.' But not anymore"
 

Aaron Rupar‬ ‪@atrupar.com‬
Hegseth: "No more dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship ... we are done with that sh!t."

 

‪Aaron Rupar‬  ‪@atrupar.com‬
Hegseth: "Today, at my direction, each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat MOS, for every designated combat arms position, returns to the highest male standard only."

Edited September 30Sep 30 by janea4old

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/30/pete-hegseth-war-diversity-efforts-military

Hegseth’s address focused on military culture and philosophical doctrine. Decrying “the insane fallacy that diversity is our strength”, Hegseth said he had chosen to fire previous generals because they had been personally invested in progressive ideas about diversity.

“It’s nearly impossible to change a culture with the same people helped create or even benefited from that culture,” he said, adding that he expects others to leave. “If the words that you hear today make your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign.”

--
I can't find the quote but Tr*mp declared that there won't be any restraint by the military/police/Guard/whoever anymore...  
when there are protesters who spit at police or who throw bricks at police cars.  Trump said if any protester does that, then the cops/troops have full permission to do get out of their cars and "do whatever you want" to attack the the protesters violently.

Edited September 30Sep 30 by janea4old

My thoughts...

Every time someone anywhere says "but they can't do that" ....  Yeah I know the Constitution says they can't.  But they don't care.  They do it anyways.

They want us to cower and submit.

I'm still trying to find inner strength and not succumb to the fear they want us to feel. 

I'm an older person, and my parents were older when I was born. 
My dad served in World War II --
his older brother served in World War I.
My dad served because he didn't want the n@zis to win.
He used to talk about surviving the McCarthy era.
We had friends from all over the world in many cultures/races/religions in our home because we believed the USA should be about love. My dad was a high ranking military officer who said wanted the military to uplift people, not oppress them.

I have to hold onto his memory of surviving two world wars and the McCarthy era, and keeping his sense of humor and continuing to help people all his life.

Edited September 30Sep 30 by janea4old

I feel sick reading those quotes. Sick and disgusted.

I think this Hegseth debacle is going backfire terribly. There's no normal person who would look at that revolting display and have it increase their support for this administration. It was a gross, perverse, shameful spectacle that nobody would try to defend. The only people impressed by this are the hardcore magats. 

9 minutes ago, marceline said:

I think this Hegseth debacle is going backfire terribly. There's no normal person who would look at that revolting display and have it increase their support for this administration. It was a gross, perverse, shameful spectacle that nobody would try to defend. The only people impressed by this are the hardcore magats. 

Unfortunately, those are the people who run the country and own the press. They will eat this up. And anyone who doesn't will nod and move along, as always. I haven't seen it getting much attention aside from people who are having a few laughs at him going on about Nordics.

2 hours ago, marceline said:

I think this Hegseth debacle is going backfire terribly. 

I do too, but the key is media coverage. From what I've seen the big outlets have largely sanitized/sanewashed it so far, which is now commonplace for most of the papers and networks of record. Maybe that will change, but the Times lede was very, very soft.

Which is why it's also important for Dem messaging to focus on it vs. pivoting to health care. If you put it out there 24-7 and message on it relentlessly as opposed to letting it fall out of the news, a lot of very stupid people in this country just think it didn't happen or can't have happened the way someone said. We learned that from last year.

Wow, this is powerful stuff from Lawrence O'Donnell. He doesn't hold back at all. Will Brendan Carr threaten MSNBC now to get him fired to placate Trump? Or maybe there are too many long words in there for Trump to understand what O'Donnell is saying about him?

 

On 9/30/2025 at 10:20 AM, I Am A Swede said:

I feel sick reading those quotes. Sick and disgusted.

 

found another from the same horrific meeting of Hegseth and Tr*mp with all the generals and admirals on Sept. 30, 2025


‪Aaron Rupar‬ ‪@atrupar.com‬
Hegseth: "We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy. We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement."

comment from Jacob T. Levy ‪@jacobtlevy.bsky.social‬
Reminder that support for war crimes on TV was Hegseth's only qualification for the job; it's the only reason Trump knew he existed.
Secretary of War Crimes is the job he was auditioning for during his career as a drunken talking head on Fox.