Milt Bearden

30-Year veteran of CIA, author, “The Black Tulip & The Main Enemy “, Yale Veterans Association, UT Austin.

[Milt Bearden @BeardenMilt]

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[Milt Bearden @BeardenMilt]

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[Milt Bearden @BeardenMilt]

Skull & Bones

I don’t have a dog in the US Senate fight in Maine, though I might be inclined to suggest that it is time for Susan Collins to retire to a comfortable cabin in Bar Harbor and write her memoirs. She has served ably and deserves a rest.

But I do have some thoughts on the current outrage over her challenger, Graham Platner’s, choice of tattoos. Specifically, I'm referring to the skull and bones tattoo on his chest that he claims he picked up as a “drunken marine in Croatia”. The outrage centers on the apparent belief that the skull and bones symbol can only represent the Schutzstaffel, the notorious, evil, so-called Protection Squad of Hitler’s third Reich.

Fair enough, but there was at least 250 years of history of the skull and bones before Heinrich Himmler misappropriated it for Hitler's Germany.

The skull and bones first appeared as a flag on early 18th century pirate vessels, both English and French, in the Atlantic and the Caribbean. The French pirate flag was known as the. Joli Rouge, a red flag with skull and bones and a sword. The name was quickly anglicized by British sailors into the Jolly, Roger, and eventually all pirate ships seem to be flying the Jolly Roger skull and bones flag, threatening no mercy or no quarter.

In early 1950s America kids with loosely formed bicycle gangs would have any number of little home-made flags flying from the carrier over the rear fender, often as not crudely drawn Jolly Roger flags. As those kids graduated from bicycles to cars, soon enough they formed car clubs with bumper plaques; here again, you’d often see the skull and bones with names like the Rodders, or Aces, or whatever, only limited by the imagination. It might be notable that the use of the Jolly Roger flags by these 1950’s kids did not at the time seem to aggravate their mostly World War II vet dads.

It might plausibly seem, then, that the skull and bones has had broader implications within the American culture than its decade long use by Heinrich Himler. As a matter of fact, in 2005, a United States naval vessel. DDG 100, an Arleigh Burke class destroyer, named after Rear Admiral, Isaac C. Kidd, who died aboard the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor in 1941, was christened the USS Kidd. Admiral Kidd during his Annapolis days was nicknamed “Cap Kidd” after the infamous Caribbean pirate of the same name. The USS Kidd was the only US Naval vessel allowed to fly the Jolly Roger flag, reportedly at the request of admiral Kidd’s widow at the christening of the first naval vessel named the USS Kidd in 1946.

So, the question here is, are we to believe Graham Platner when he says he got the tattoo when he was probably more than a little drunk one night in Croatia because he thought it “looked cool” and not because he thought it was the symbol of Himmler’s SS, Maybe. He wouldn’t be the first American that thought the skull and bones looked cool.

(Note: I do not have a skull and bones tattoo! )

[Milt Bearden @BeardenMilt]

I don’t have a dog in the US Senate fight in Maine, though I might be inclined to suggest that it is time for Susan Collins to retire to a comfortable cabin in Bar Harbor and write her memoirs. She has served ably and deserves a rest.
But I do have some thoughts on the current outrage over her challenger, Graham Platner’s, choice of tattoos. Specifically, I'm referring to the skull and bones tattoo on his chest that he claims he picked up as a “drunken marine in Croatia”. The outrage centers on the apparent belief that the skull and bones symbolcan only represent the Schutzstaffel, the notorious, evil, so-called Protection Squad of Hitler’s third Reich.
Fair enough, but there was at least 250 years of history of the skull and bones before Heinrich Himmler misappropriated it for Hitler's Germany.
The skull and bones first appeared as a flag on early 18th century pirate vessels, both English and French, in the Atlantic and the Caribbean. The French pirate flag was known as the. Joli Rouge, a red flag with skull and bones and a sword. The name was quickly anglicized by British sailors into the Jolly, Roger, and eventually all pirate ships seem to be flying the Jolly Roger skull and bones flag, threatening no mercy or no quarter.
In early 1950s America kids with loosely formed bicycle gangs would have any number of little home-made flags flying from the carrier over the rear fender, often as not crudely drawn Jolly Roger flags. As those kids graduated from bicycles to cars, soon enough they formed car clubs with bumper plaques; here again,you’d often see the skull and bones with names like the Rodders, or Aces, or whatever, only limited by the imagination. It might be notable that the use of the Jolly Roger flags by these 1950’s kids did not at the time seem to aggravate their mostly World War II vet dads.
It might plausibly seem, then, that the skull and bones has hadbroader implications within the American culture than its decade long use by Heinrich Himler. As a matter of fact, in 2005, a United States naval vessel. DDG 100, an Arleigh Burke class destroyer, named after Rear Admiral, Isaac C. Kidd, who died aboard the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor in 1941, was christened the USS Kidd. Admiral Kidd during his Annapolis days was nicknamed “Cap Kidd” after the infamous Caribbean pirate of the same name. The USS Kidd was the only US Naval vessel allowed to fly the Jolly Roger flag, reportedly at the request of admiral Kidd’s widow at the christening of the first naval vessel named the USS Kidd in 1946.
So, the question here is, are we to believe Graham Platner when he says he got the tattoo when he was probably more than a little drunk one night in Croatia because he thought it “looked cool”and not because he thought it was the symbol of Himmler’s SS, Maybe. He wouldn’t be the first American that thought the skull and bones looked cool.
(Note: I do not have a skull and bones tattoo! )

[Milt Bearden @BeardenMilt]

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[Milt Bearden @BeardenMilt]

Check out here my wife’s excellent book on entertaining both as a host and a guest.
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[Milt Bearden @BeardenMilt]

https://t.co/QZqpd0EkIb

[Occupy Democrats @OccupyDemocrats]

Here is President Obama's Iran deal vs. Trump's Iran ceasefire.

Under President Obama:

•The Strait of Hormuz was open because it was never closed.

•Limitations were placed on Iran's uranium enrichment.

•Iran agreed not to to make nuclear weapons.

•International inspectors were permitted into Iran to confirm full compliance.
Under Trump's ceasefire:

•The Strait of Hormuz will open but under direct Iranian control, possibly with a $2 million fee extracted from each vessel passing through. That toll would be split between Iran and Oman. The Strait was only closed because Trump started his war.

•Iran does not have to guarantee a limit on uranium enrichment.

•Iran does not guarantee that it will never develop nuclear weapons and there will be no international inspectors.

And those are just the top line items for Trump's ceasefire. He also stated that Iran's "10 point proposal" is a "workable basis on which to negotiate."

If Trump ratifies that proposal he will have to:
•Lift all primary and secondary sanctions on Iran.
•Withdraw the U.S. military entirely from the Middle East.
•End all attacks on Iran and its allies.
•Release frozen Iranian assets.

Any way you analyze this ceasefire, it amounts to a massive victory for Iran. They weathered the illegal attacks, the threats of nuclear genocide, and emerged on the other side grinning.

To point out the obvious here, Obama accomplished far more than Trump — all without a bloodshed. Obama didn't blow up a school full of little girls, commit mass war crimes against the Iranian people, or cause the deaths of American soldiers in a war of aggression.

Only one of these men understands the art of the deal and he never wrote a book about it.

Please like and share!

[Occupy Democrats @OccupyDemocrats]

BREAKING: Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling reveals that top military officers are considering disobeying Trump's "horribly immoral and illegal" orders to bomb Iran's civilian infrastructure.

A full-blown military rebellion may be brewing...

"I've trained for forty years as a soldier and as a commander," Hertling said on MS Now. "And when you're an officer in the United States Army, you're loyal to a couple of things. You're primarily loyal to the Constitution. You are also loyal to your superiors if they give, as you said, lawful orders."

If Trump proceeds with his threat to bomb civilian infrastructure like power plants and bridges or follows through on his pronouncement that "a whole civilization will die tonight," they would constitute the most unlawful orders imaginable. If, as he seems to be implying, Trump launches a nuclear strike on Iran, it would be the greatest crime in human history. The entire U.S. military would be honor-bound to reject the orders.

"When they start giving unlawful orders, you find a way to push back on them and to make sure they adjust their approach," said Hertling. "But you also are loyal to the soldiers that are under your command. So those three loyalties sometimes are conflicting."

"So I'm sure there's a lot of military commanders right now, a lot of senior officers who are saying to themselves, 'I can't obey an unlawful order,'" said Hertling. "I can't do things that I know are absolutely wrong."

It's worth noting that Hertling is no minor figure. He previously served as the Commanding General of the United States Army Europe and the Seventh Army. His distinguished career speaks for itself and lends a profound gravity to his assessments.

"But they also feel like they have to provide support for their soldiers who don't just get to quit," he continued. "They have to stay in the military and potentially see an uprising in all of these things. So the senior military officials are in a real quandary one this one because they know they can't do some of the things that the president is asking them to do."

"They have a Secretary of Defense who has continually said lethality is better than legality or words to that effect," said Hertling. "So it's really causing some dynamics within those who are thinking soldiers, saying 'How do I continue to serve my Constitution and live by the rules that are in law and still conduct these kinds of actions which are horribly immoral and illegal."

This is the position that our deeply evil president has placed our brave service men and women in. They're torn between their duty to obey their commander-in-chief and the knowledge that he has revealed himself to be a genocidal psychopath in the grips of dementia. They must side with the Constitution, the American people, and the world by rejecting any unlawful orders that Trump might deliver. The future of our planet depends upon it.

Please ❤️ and share to urge the military to reject unlawful order!

[Milt Bearden @BeardenMilt]

@Jennnyyyyyy Oops. 28

[Milt Bearden @BeardenMilt]

@Jennnyyyyyy 38

[Roshan Rinaldi @Roshan_Rinaldi]

The White House deleted this embarrassing video. So whatever you do- * DON'T REPOST IT. * Donald wouldn't like it if you hit "repost."

Trump: We can't take care of daycare. We're a big country. We're fighting wars. It's not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these things.

[Occupy Democrats @OccupyDemocrats]

BREAKING: “SHOULD WE KEEP HER?” Trump throws loyal liar Leavitt under the bus and blames her for his awful approval ratings!

In a truly nasty moment, Donald Trump publicly humiliated his own Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during a rambling Oval Office rant about “bad press” yesterday.

While issuing his usual complaint that his negative press coverage is somewhere in the 90th percentile, Trump turned on Leavitt and said:

“Maybe Karoline's doing a poor job, I don't know … You're doing a terrible job. Should we keep her? I think we’ll keep her.”

Oomph! This is classic Trump, the same man who once made wildly inappropriate “it’s those lips, the way they move” comments and relied on her to lie for him every single day is now casually threatening to discard her like yesterday’s trash the moment he feels slightly she’s not selling his fiction well enough.

Leavitt has been one of his most loyal defenders, bending over backwards to spin all his disasters. But as soon as Trump wants a scapegoat for his terrible press, he throws her under the bus in public for everyone to see.

This is how Trump treats the people closest to him. He holds them at bay until they’re no longer useful, then humiliated and discarded without a second thought.

If you can’t decide whether watching Trump publicly shame and threaten to fire Karoline Leavitt service disgusts or amuses you, please like and share.

[Occupy Democrats @OccupyDemocrats]

BREAKING: Trump spits in the face of our troops by announcing that he's going to award himself the Congressional Medal of Honor — our nation's most sacred military decoration.

This draft-dodging coward has hit a disgusting new low...

"I rebuilt the military my first time. I said, why would it take four years? He said, well, I would. So I decided to go to Iraq," a visibly sweaty Trump rambled during an appearance in Georgia. "And I flew to Iraq."

"I was extremely brave, in fact so brave I wanted to give myself the Congressional Medal of Honor. I said to... I said to my people, am I allowed to give myself the Congressional Medal of Honor? And, you know, I've given out so many to guys that are seriously brave," he said.

"I mean, they come in with the arms are missing, their legs are missing, their stories are so unbelievable... And I said, that's a little stretch if I gave myself one of them," he continued. "But it's one of those things. Someday I'm going to try! I'm going to test the law. I'm going to say, let's give it a shot!"

"Maybe I'll win in court after everyone sues me, after radical left lunatics sue me. Now, watch the fake news, you know, I'm having fun," Trump went on. "The fake news will say 'Donald Trump wants to give himself the Congressional Medal of Honor. But he was rebuffed by the audience who stood up and booed the hell out of him.' So they say that kind of stuff. It's amazing."

When Trump says that he's going to do something profoundly immoral and unprecedented like this, it's best to take him at his word. He's clearly given this profound breach decorum some thought, as evidenced by him gaming out the legal hurtles that he'd face.

This is the same man who lobbied for the Nobel Peace Prize, was denied it for obvious reasons, and then accepted someone else's. He's a deeply petty man driven by external validation and ego. Giving himself the Medal of Honor despite him evading the Vietnam War by claiming "bone spurs" would be perfectly in keeping with odious past behavior.

Please ❤️ and share if you staunchly oppose Trump awarding himself the Medal of Honor!

[Nick Knudsen 🇺🇸 @NickKnudsenUS]

BREAKING:

Both the White House & RNCC have lashed out at the creators of this ad.

It must have struck a nerve.

Maybe they don't like being outed as fascists.

You know what to do: SPREAD THIS EVERYWHERE!

[Stand Up For Truth 🇺🇸 @StandUpForFact]

🚨BREAKING: Elon Musk has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for protecting Free Speech.

Simple poll. Please be honest! As of today, how much do you still trust this man?

A. 100 % B. 75%
C. 50% D. 25%
E. 0%

MAKE THIS GO VIRAL ON 𝕏. LET’S GO 👏

[Joe G @EastEndJoe]

This picture is worth 10,000 words.

[Protect Kamala Harris ✊ @DisavowTrump20]

This is Bruce Fischer, husband of GOP Senator Deb Fischer. He refused to shake Vice President Harris's hand while his wife was being sworn in for another term.

RETWEET if you think Bruce Fischer is a weak coward!

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Exciting times ahead!