Don’t Give Up the Ship

This week, the USS Abraham Lincoln is scheduled to return to San Diego after a near-record 10+ month deployment during which we heard reports of suicide attempts, food shortages, plumbing problems, deteriorating mental health and overall abysmal conditions. “First and foremost, it's absolutely not normal,” former Secretary of the U.S. Navy Carlos Del Toro said. “And it's a disaster over there at the Pentagon, or as you may put it, Senator, it's a shit show, quite frankly. And it's very, very tragic.” Del Toro joined us to do a deep dive on the war in Iran, from deployments to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz—or Strait of Trump if you go with Jon Tester’s preference. Del Toro discusses what he sees as missing strategy and where our operational readiness stands after a newly announced plan to cut 20% of U.S. military generals and admirals, a depletion of munitions, and damage to our bases in the Middle East. We also talk about potential military action in Cuba, concerns about the South China Sea, and the recent call from President Trump for Iran to attack Los Angeles or San Diego. “I wonder how the Republicans in Orange County, California are feeling right now. About their president, commander-in-chief saying basically let him drop a nuke on Los Angeles and San Diego,” Del Toro questioned. “It's not a good feeling. I don't think we've ever seen anything like this.” “This is incredible bullshit that this guy is presenting, and people are buying it,” Tester added. “People are cheering when he says we should bomb fucking Los Angeles. Are you kidding me? This is just total insanity. Total insanity.”