Fred Geisler
@fredgei.bsky.social
Former 71L20, current 2A/sustainability/collapse nerd. Ukraine is fighting the war I enlisted to fight. Egalitarian, not authoritarian.
Reposted by Fred Geisler
the thing is that blowing up drug boats is just murder. no law licenses it. it is just war crimes. but to say out loud what the penalty for committing them is puts us in the position of accusing high government officials of capital crimes.
it is critically important to be able to say the obvious.
it is critically important to be able to say the obvious.
December 5, 2025 at 7:21 AM
the thing is that blowing up drug boats is just murder. no law licenses it. it is just war crimes. but to say out loud what the penalty for committing them is puts us in the position of accusing high government officials of capital crimes.
it is critically important to be able to say the obvious.
it is critically important to be able to say the obvious.
Reposted by Fred Geisler
The air campaign over Yemen wasn’t a failure of execution; it was a failure of strategy. Biden and Trump both bet on airpower to coerce the Houthis, despite decades of evidence that it can’t force political change. Tactical success, strategic futility. My latest⬇️
Bombing Because You Can: Yemen
Part V: Another Victim to Robert Pape?
secretaryrofdefenserock.substack.com
December 3, 2025 at 10:17 PM
The air campaign over Yemen wasn’t a failure of execution; it was a failure of strategy. Biden and Trump both bet on airpower to coerce the Houthis, despite decades of evidence that it can’t force political change. Tactical success, strategic futility. My latest⬇️
When pushback about legality results in an unplanned retirement.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shocked official Washington in mid-October when he announced that the four-star head of U.S. military operations in the Caribbean was retiring less than a year into his tenure./1
December 4, 2025 at 3:16 PM
When pushback about legality results in an unplanned retirement.
Reposted by Fred Geisler
Historian here it’s Hannah Arendt’s death anniversary and she was of course prescient.
December 4, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Historian here it’s Hannah Arendt’s death anniversary and she was of course prescient.
Reposted by Fred Geisler
I’ve never been a fan of the drone “double-tap” utilized in AFG/PAK, Iraq, and other places for all the familiar reasons. The boat strikes are worse; as clear a violation of LOAC as exists. There isn’t even the false justification of “the people coming to the strike site are also legit targets.”
December 2, 2025 at 7:50 PM
I’ve never been a fan of the drone “double-tap” utilized in AFG/PAK, Iraq, and other places for all the familiar reasons. The boat strikes are worse; as clear a violation of LOAC as exists. There isn’t even the false justification of “the people coming to the strike site are also legit targets.”
Reposted by Fred Geisler
I said this four months ago and I — along with others — have been saying it for years before that and now it seems that what we expected to happen is actually happening and people with stars on their chests who absolutely should’ve known better are going to learn the fucking hard way.
I hate talk of the military being “apolitical” because it’s not true and it allows leaders to shirk their actual political responsibilities. “This order is likely unconstitutional but we’re going to obey it because we don’t want to seem political.” Bitch, that’s still a POLITICAL choice! Own it!
December 2, 2025 at 3:36 AM
I said this four months ago and I — along with others — have been saying it for years before that and now it seems that what we expected to happen is actually happening and people with stars on their chests who absolutely should’ve known better are going to learn the fucking hard way.
Reposted by Fred Geisler
This is my "Dutch Auction" theory of authoritarianism.
It's no coincidence, for example, that the Wannsee Conference, where the Nazi top leadership signed off on the Final Solution, took place just after the military tide turned outside Moscow, and the U.S. declared war on Germany.
It's no coincidence, for example, that the Wannsee Conference, where the Nazi top leadership signed off on the Final Solution, took place just after the military tide turned outside Moscow, and the U.S. declared war on Germany.
The most dangerous moment in every authoritarian regime is when it realizes that its power has crested and is now falling. This is when they realize that if they are to achieve their maximalist ambitions, now they have to throw the dice — because no matter how bad the odds, their odds are best now.
December 2, 2025 at 12:36 PM
This is my "Dutch Auction" theory of authoritarianism.
It's no coincidence, for example, that the Wannsee Conference, where the Nazi top leadership signed off on the Final Solution, took place just after the military tide turned outside Moscow, and the U.S. declared war on Germany.
It's no coincidence, for example, that the Wannsee Conference, where the Nazi top leadership signed off on the Final Solution, took place just after the military tide turned outside Moscow, and the U.S. declared war on Germany.
Reposted by Fred Geisler
a good and thoughtful read here, in which a "strategist" (read: dumbass O-4) gets taken behind the woodshed
My latest this AM with @warontherocks.bsky.social. Of note: "[Military officers] will be active participants with choices to make about the degree to which they continue to serve civilians intent on undermining the liberal values enshrined in the Constitution."
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warontherocks.com/2025/12/the-...
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warontherocks.com/2025/12/the-...
The Soldier in the Illiberal State is a Professional Dead End
The American political system today is indeed in crisis. Government function is in doubt, the administration has politicized and weaponized a previously
warontherocks.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:54 PM
a good and thoughtful read here, in which a "strategist" (read: dumbass O-4) gets taken behind the woodshed
Reposted by Fred Geisler
"a single person of this demographic may have committed a crime, therefore we must punish the entire demographic" is a policy response you may recognize from fascist governments dedicated to ethnic cleansing elsewhere.
November 27, 2025 at 5:52 AM
"a single person of this demographic may have committed a crime, therefore we must punish the entire demographic" is a policy response you may recognize from fascist governments dedicated to ethnic cleansing elsewhere.
Reposted by Fred Geisler
Heartbreaking: the person you campaigned and championed to get elected does exactly what he said he would do
Joe Rogan and Theo Von slam DHS for using Von's image in a video promoting deportation:
"I was like, oh my God, what the fuck are they doing? That's not how you envision the government."
"They were making, like, deportation hype videos with trap beats and shit. What are we doing? It's idiocracy."
"I was like, oh my God, what the fuck are they doing? That's not how you envision the government."
"They were making, like, deportation hype videos with trap beats and shit. What are we doing? It's idiocracy."
November 19, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Heartbreaking: the person you campaigned and championed to get elected does exactly what he said he would do
Reposted by Fred Geisler
Reposted by Fred Geisler
Reposted by Fred Geisler
Lol. I’ve been saying this exact thing for fucking years. Russia has been bailing trump out since he went bankrupt in 89. This isn’t the only payment they made. Lots of condos in trump towers sold to Russians over the years. Lots. In N. Miami especially. This story is so much deeper than people know
The Kremlin disguised a nearly $100 mn payment to Trump in the form of a brokered real estate deal... and both Jeffrey Epstein and William Pulte were involved in the deal. That's very interesting.
November 13, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Lol. I’ve been saying this exact thing for fucking years. Russia has been bailing trump out since he went bankrupt in 89. This isn’t the only payment they made. Lots of condos in trump towers sold to Russians over the years. Lots. In N. Miami especially. This story is so much deeper than people know
Reposted by Fred Geisler
Never forget that the only country in NATO history which triggered NATO article 5 is USA after a bunch of Arab terrorists took down some buildings in New York.
Now when Europe is in existential threat by former Soviets, the USA is throwing us bones and expecting gratitude.
EU need to step up.
Now when Europe is in existential threat by former Soviets, the USA is throwing us bones and expecting gratitude.
EU need to step up.
November 11, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Never forget that the only country in NATO history which triggered NATO article 5 is USA after a bunch of Arab terrorists took down some buildings in New York.
Now when Europe is in existential threat by former Soviets, the USA is throwing us bones and expecting gratitude.
EU need to step up.
Now when Europe is in existential threat by former Soviets, the USA is throwing us bones and expecting gratitude.
EU need to step up.
When you're cherry picking the few metrics that kinda sorta support your claim
They’ve laid off so many people that the government is now getting its economic data from DoorDash.
November 12, 2025 at 6:53 PM
When you're cherry picking the few metrics that kinda sorta support your claim
Secretary Whiskeyleaks' Army career was essentially over, when the Army chose not to give him a company command. He has blamed the presence of officers who were not white conservative Christian males for his failure to excel. And one of his priorities has been a group punishment revenge tour.
So something this article mentions that I want to footstomp for folks that don’t work with the military: it’s an “up or out” institution where if you don’t get promoted, your career is over. To get promoted you need to have specific types of jobs on your record. This move effectively ends her career
The first woman to serve with the elite SEAL Team Six as a troop commander has had her orders revoked just days before she was supposed to take over a new command.
November 12, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Secretary Whiskeyleaks' Army career was essentially over, when the Army chose not to give him a company command. He has blamed the presence of officers who were not white conservative Christian males for his failure to excel. And one of his priorities has been a group punishment revenge tour.
Reposted by Fred Geisler
So something this article mentions that I want to footstomp for folks that don’t work with the military: it’s an “up or out” institution where if you don’t get promoted, your career is over. To get promoted you need to have specific types of jobs on your record. This move effectively ends her career
The first woman to serve with the elite SEAL Team Six as a troop commander has had her orders revoked just days before she was supposed to take over a new command.
Pentagon Pete Accused of Ousting Hero Who Was First Female in SEAL Team Six
The Navy captain’s orders were revoked just days before she was supposed to take over a new command.
trib.al
November 12, 2025 at 1:35 PM
So something this article mentions that I want to footstomp for folks that don’t work with the military: it’s an “up or out” institution where if you don’t get promoted, your career is over. To get promoted you need to have specific types of jobs on your record. This move effectively ends her career
Reposted by Fred Geisler
Our leading news organizations turned a cache of ultimately-innocuous emails into a scandal-coded weeklong series of front page stories leading into the 2016 election. If they do not cover the "emails from notorious pedophile implication the President" emails with the same fervor, it's curious!
November 12, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Our leading news organizations turned a cache of ultimately-innocuous emails into a scandal-coded weeklong series of front page stories leading into the 2016 election. If they do not cover the "emails from notorious pedophile implication the President" emails with the same fervor, it's curious!
Reposted by Fred Geisler
Before there was Veterans Day, there was Armistice Day. We shouldn't have changed it. When we rattle sabers and hold human life cheaply, I think about this dedication from my Great Grandfather's WWI unit history. Armistice Day was as much of a warning as it was a celebration.
Lest we forget.
Lest we forget.
November 11, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Before there was Veterans Day, there was Armistice Day. We shouldn't have changed it. When we rattle sabers and hold human life cheaply, I think about this dedication from my Great Grandfather's WWI unit history. Armistice Day was as much of a warning as it was a celebration.
Lest we forget.
Lest we forget.
Reposted by Fred Geisler
1. Last week, we reported on WSU certifying an anti-trans SPLC-designated hate group to teach medicine.
Now, S. Baum has uncovered that the Michigan State Medical Society has certified anti-trans hate group Genspect to teach medical workers.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Now, S. Baum has uncovered that the Michigan State Medical Society has certified anti-trans hate group Genspect to teach medical workers.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Michigan State Medical Society Greenlights Anti-Trans Hate Group Genspect to Teach Trans Medicine
Anti-trans rhetoric—sponsored by Moms for Liberty, and brought to you by Genspect—could be coming to a clinician near you via CME.
www.erininthemorning.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:52 PM
1. Last week, we reported on WSU certifying an anti-trans SPLC-designated hate group to teach medicine.
Now, S. Baum has uncovered that the Michigan State Medical Society has certified anti-trans hate group Genspect to teach medical workers.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Now, S. Baum has uncovered that the Michigan State Medical Society has certified anti-trans hate group Genspect to teach medical workers.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Reposted by Fred Geisler
Tbh It would be really embarrassing to have a whole infamous spy agency and then be defeated in military operations by a reporter. Zero offense or Bellingcat.
Russian state media are today alleging that a Bellingcat reporter was involved in an attempt to hijack a Russian fighter plane.
We would like to make clear that Bellingcat had absolutely no involvement in the alleged activities and the accusations towards us are entirely false.
We would like to make clear that Bellingcat had absolutely no involvement in the alleged activities and the accusations towards us are entirely false.
November 11, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Tbh It would be really embarrassing to have a whole infamous spy agency and then be defeated in military operations by a reporter. Zero offense or Bellingcat.
Reposted by Fred Geisler
These figures are in nominal terms, which is absolutely wild. Half the things listed here got cheaper or stayed the same *even without adjusting for inflation*.
Pretty much all affordability discourse could benefit from just posting this chart.
If you're in the better off America, all the luxury goods you want in excess are for the most part much cheaper. If you're in the poorer America, most of the shit you need to live/grow is more expensive.
If you're in the better off America, all the luxury goods you want in excess are for the most part much cheaper. If you're in the poorer America, most of the shit you need to live/grow is more expensive.
November 10, 2025 at 8:39 PM
These figures are in nominal terms, which is absolutely wild. Half the things listed here got cheaper or stayed the same *even without adjusting for inflation*.
Reposted by Fred Geisler
18,000 released emails from Jeffrey Epstein’s personal Yahoo account confirm that prosecutors opened a money-laundering investigation running parallel to the #Epstein rape trafficking.
It was shut down by US officials to prevent exposure of major institutions and individuals. #OpDeathEaters #3E 🧵
It was shut down by US officials to prevent exposure of major institutions and individuals. #OpDeathEaters #3E 🧵
The Epstein Money Laundering Coverup
Eighteen thousand emails from Jeffrey Epstein’s Yahoo account reveal a 2007 federal money-laundering investigation.
spookyconnections.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
18,000 released emails from Jeffrey Epstein’s personal Yahoo account confirm that prosecutors opened a money-laundering investigation running parallel to the #Epstein rape trafficking.
It was shut down by US officials to prevent exposure of major institutions and individuals. #OpDeathEaters #3E 🧵
It was shut down by US officials to prevent exposure of major institutions and individuals. #OpDeathEaters #3E 🧵
Reposted by Fred Geisler
Tell me more about ‘Sleepy Joe.’
November 7, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Tell me more about ‘Sleepy Joe.’