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The Trump revenge train keeps chugging along

Published on 33 Comments on The Trump revenge train keeps chugging along

Revenge, revenge, revenge:

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton, a known target of Iranian assassins, confirms President Trump has ordered his USSS protection withdrawn.

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— Steve Herman 📡 (@newsguy.bsky.social) January 21, 2025 at 12:38 PM

For all I know, Bolton doesn't need Secret Service protection anymore. But that hardly matters. It's obvious Trump didn't do this on the advice of professionals after careful consideration. He did it because Bolton has said mean things about him.

It's revenge, but it's also a message to everyone else. I have the power to hurt you in ways you can't imagine. Be careful.

33 thoughts on “The Trump revenge train keeps chugging along”

      1. Solar

        Some relevant rewording:

        "I'm not a fan of ......, but people's lives should't be at risk for having worked with with the mob."

        Everyone knew who they were getting in bed with, and yet still did it either for fame, money, idiological alignment, or all of the above. Can't cry now that they might be in danger for doing so.

        1. aldoushickman

          Well, except this guy (apparently, or at least arguably) isn't at risk for having worked with Trump/the mob; he's at risk because the Iranians have it in for him. His protection is being removed because Trump is angry with him.

          Now, you could argue that the Iranians only have it in for him because he had the opportunity, while working for Trump, to do things that angered the Iranians. But the risk is coming from Trump punishing him for his subsquent criticisms of the Trump administration.

          1. Solar

            So lieutenant B deciding to work for mobster T, took actions against rival gang I, which caused gang I to put a hit on him. Now mobster T is pissed at lieutenant B and decided he will no longer protect him.

            It still boils down to Bolton willingly working for Trump and getting on board with his lunacy until it was no longer convenient for him, and now that putting him at risk.

            He made his bed, let him lie in it.

            1. MF

              Interesting to see how the left considers the Iranians to be no worse than Trump. So much for patriotism, loving your country, and opposing its enemies.

              John Bolton served our nation and was under threat because he hurt our enemies.

              If Bolton is no longer under threat then his protection should have been removed (the Biden administration removed protection from some of his colleagues) but that should have been done through a non-political process.

              This is also a great example of how Trump can be his own worst enemy. If next month Bolton is killed by someone who is angry about his government service Trump will (rightly) take the blame. Why the heck would Trump want to touch this with a ten foot pole and take that risk?!?

              1. KenSchulz

                Because he’s stupid? One of the executive orders he signed mandates that flags be flown full staff on Inauguration Day. This can’t benefit him (he’s had all the inaugurations to which he’s entitled), but there’s a nonzero probability that it could bite him, should he die in the month preceding January 20th, 2029.

                1. Batchman

                  ... there’s a nonzero probability that it could bite him, should he die in the month preceding January 20th, 2029.

                  But he won't know about it, so why should he care?

              2. Solar

                "So much for patriotism, loving your country, and opposing its enemies."

                Trump is an enemy of the US. Every action of his has done nothing but weaken the US, isolate it from allies, strengthen its enemies, and overall turn the US into a 3rd world sithole country. The fact that despite that you morons still voted for him just confirms that you don't give a damn about the US, so spare me the pearl clutching.

            2. aldoushickman

              This is getting attenuated, but it's a bit more like Lieutenant B--a beligerent asshole who we don't like, with a moustache--deciding to work for shady businessman T, who took actions that pissed off Entity I (which is maybe another shady business in this analogy? Or something), and then Lieutenant B quits the business of T, and then publicly criticizes T as being incompetent, stupid, and dangerously unfit for elected office (true statements, and showing admirable backbone that is sadly lacking in many other quarters). Meanwhile, Entity I threatens Lieutenant B, and so the police commissioner orders that a couple of unis will provide protection for B.

              Then, T becomes the mayor, and immediately orders the police to stop providing protection for B.

              See? It doesn't matter (a) why B is being threatened by Entity I, or (b) whether or not we like B personally. The proximate cause of the protection-stripping is because B had the temerity to criticize T. Responding by saying "Well, I never liked B anyway, and he's just getting what he deserves or something" misses the entire point: we do not want protection for threatened people to depend on whether or not they show obeisance to T.

    3. d34df4n

      I cannot believe I'm defending John Bolton, but I don't think he went to work for Trump in order to help Trump advance his idiotic agenda. It seemed like he thought he was going to work for a Republican president and he'd get to do normal (also awful) Republican stuff. He's incredibly hawkish on national security, but at least he was always on our side - and understood that Putin and company are definitely not. My disagreements with him are standard policy differences, but I know he's not planning to fuck over our allies and grovel at the feet of our enemies. I suspect he regrets ever working in that maladministration.

      1. SeanT

        I will not wish ill or bodily harm on Bolton, but H. R. McMaster was in that role for over a year when Bolton took over. It was already clear who Trump was in 2018. And for all I know bolton was ok with that because he wanted to end the Iran deal, which he did.

        1. FrankM

          This. Bolton went riding on the back of the tiger because he thought he could control him to do the things he wanted. It always turns out the same.

  3. FrankM

    First they came for the Communists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Communist
    Then they came for the Socialists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Socialist
    Then they came for the trade unionists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a trade unionist
    Then they came for the Jews
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Jew
    Then they came for me
    And there was no one left
    To speak out for me

    -Martin Niemöller

    1. iamr4man

      I understand what you are saying and don’t disagree but at the moment I have to say I’m more concerned for the safety of Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde than I am for John Bolton.

  4. Doctor Jay

    If I were to wish ill - bodily harm or death - on someone because we had policy differences - differences that person pursued through legal channels at the behest of legally elected officials, and confirmed by the Senate, If I were to wish that, it would make me just as bad as Trump.

    There is a difficult question here: How does one fight Trump without becoming just as bad as Trump.

    To me, a more general form of this question is the primary question of The Lord of the Rings. And yes, I am a nerd.

    1. aldoushickman

      A nerd with good taste.

      I find myself thinking a lot these days about the realization of one Master Samwise:

      "For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."

      Helpful wisdom for making it across Gorgoroth; maybe helpful wisdom for getting through 2025 (to 2029?) as well.

    2. Martin Stett

      "He who looks into the abyss realizes that there's nothing looking back at him and that all he sees is his own character, Ricky. You understand, bud? The abyss. The Shit abyss."

  8. bebopman

    Hate Bolton. But I’m not crazy about inviting Iranian assassins to come on over and kill any American, just because we failed to prevent him from doing the damage that he did. Iran is not our cleanup crew.

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