The Austin story just gets weirder:
Doctors for Defense secretary disclose illness that has kept him hospitalized
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin underwent surgery for prostate cancer on Dec. 22 and suffered from complications, which resulted in his hospitalization.Read in USA TODAY: https://apple.news/AKBR8WA-hQ3mYJ2cspRN5Ug
Anyone who knows anything about prostate surgery knows that, while it’s not as traumatic as it used to be, it’s not a walk in the park—in the sense that there’s a definite recuperative period that would absent the patient from work. There’s no possible way that this could have not been known to those who worked with Austin. Well, he could have taken two or three weeks off, but normally a SecDef in a highly charged international situation would be expected to explain his absence and arrange for continuity of decision making. How could this not have been done? And then getting rushed to the ICU? DoD must be a total clown show, which isn’t so surprising.
Next puzzle: Where did Hamas learn its tunneling skills? Could it have been in … Brooklyn?
Is it possible that the Lubavitchers either learned tunneling skills from, or subcontracted the work to, Hamas? Either way, it seems like a positive sign of inter-religious cooperation. Or maybe the predilection for tunneling on the part of each group operates independently. In the genes?
Mark, here's a sign that your posts (even brief ones like this) are really good: I come back to them days later. Here is a follow-up on Sec. Austin.
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3637155/austin-continues-recovery/
According to the official story:
1/1 Austin was admitted to Walter Reed's intensive care unit on the evening of Jan. 1, after experiencing severe pain following an elective medical procedure carried out at the same hospital on Dec. 22.
1/2 On Jan. 2, certain authorities were transferred to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks. Members of Austin and Hicks' staff were notified that the transfer of authority had occurred through normal email notification procedures.
1/3 The Russians claim that Jan 3, Austin was killed on the Ukraine.
1/4.1 On Jan. 4, Hicks is notified that Austin is hospitalized (by Austin's chief of staff). "Austin's chief of staff had been out sick with the flu, which caused the delay in notification." It's not like it's an important detail that Hicks is on or anything.
1/4.2 Once notified of the hospitalization, Hicks "immediately engaged on drafting a public statement and congressional outreach," alongside Austin's chief of staff.
1/4.3 Also on Jan 4, Austin leaves the intensive care unit.
1/5.1 January 5, Congress and the press are actually notified.
1/5.2 Austin resumed his full duties as secretary on the evening of Jan. 5.
The thing that makes the most sense is Austin leaving the service of his country on January 3, as the Russians say, and entering The Great Beyond on Jan 4. Otherwise, the Jan 2-4 gap makes absolutely no sense.
Austin's chief of staff was too sick with the flu to call Hicks and tell her that she is the acting secretary? Really? And Hicks was having too much fun on holiday to check her emails? Really?
We used to laugh at the Soviets for these levels of incompetency and/or bullshit. Now, it is us.
The metastatic, bureaucratic DoD IS a total clown show and was destined to become such as soon as it was created post WW2. The separate War Department / Navy Department was a better organizational structure that should not have been changed. The creation of the USAF post WW2, and lately the utterly stupid Space Force are two other idiotic ideas. During my years with the Texas Air National Guard the mission of my unit was support of Army and Marine Corps grunts.