#Chairman of Joint Chiefs

[deadpresidents]

"Twenty men have served as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs since the position was created after World War II. Until Milley, none had been forced to confront the possibility that a President would try to foment or provoke a coup in order to illegally remain in office. A plain reading of the record shows that in the chaotic period before and after the 2020 election, Milley did as much, or more, than any other American to defend the constitutional order, to prevent the military from being deployed against the American people, and to forestall the eruption of wars with America's nuclear-armed adversaries. Along the way, Milley deflected Trump's exhortations to have the U.S. military ignore, and even on occasion commit, war crimes. Milley and other military officers deserve praise for protecting democracy, but their actions should also cause deep unease. In the American system, it is the voters, the courts, and Congress that are meant to serve as checks on a President's behavior, not the generals."

[taiwantalk]

https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1707797970152804569?s=20

[minnesotafollower]

President Biden’s Inspiring Praise of John McCain and Criticism of Donald Trump  and MAGA 

On September 28, 2023, President Joe Biden was in Tempe, Arizona to  announce a major federal grant to the state of Arizona to help design and build a new McCain National Library at Arizona State University. The President’s remarks on that occasion honored his deceased friend, John McCain, followed by the President’s blistering attack on Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again (MAGA)…

[oldpoet56]

A Few Things For Us To Consider ( #1284 )

A Few Things For Us To Consider ( #1284 ) 1.) Repetitive excellence only comes from repetitive exercise of the event! 2.) Education teaches us just how little that we do know! 3.) The fruit of the truth is worthy of the exercise that is required to obtain it! 4.) Every single morning we have two choices if we awake, to be evil, or to be Holy! 5.) A little bit of some alcoholic drinks or some…

[xtruss]

Analysis: What Israel Can Teach the U.S. About Confronting a Constitutional Crisis

Sometimes you not only need to vote—you also need to vote with your feet.

— By Aaron David Miller and Daniel Miller | Foreign Policy | March 18, 2023

A protester waves an Israeli flag during a massive protest against the government's judicial overhaul plan on March 11 in Tel Aviv, Israel (Illegally Occupied Palestine). Amir Levy/Getty Images

Over the past four months, in an extraordinary display of national resolve and resistance, millions of Israelis have rallied in the streets to protest their government’s efforts to revolutionize the judiciary. Because Israel does not have a written constitution or bicameral parliament, these so-called reforms, if enacted, would eviscerate an independent judiciary, remove the one check and balance standing in the way of unbridled government power, and fundamentally undermine Israel’s democratic system.

In a recent conversation with the author, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak noted that the behavior of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government during the current crisis evoked thoughts of the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.

Can the United States learn anything from Israel in its own efforts to stop democratic backsliding and combat a future constitutional crisis in the event, for example, that a president seeks to hold on to power, overturn the results of a free and fair election, and threaten the very essence of constitutional government?

At first glance, the sheer size of the United States and fundamental differences between the two countries’ political cultures and governance systems might appear to render comparisons moot, if not irrelevant. But a closer look reveals important takeaways from Israel’s situation that are worth considering. If Israelis succeed in checking this judicial juggernaut, and even if they don’t, there are lessons for Americans should U.S. liberal democracy be seriously threatened.

The biggest takeaway from what has been happening in Israel has to do with the size, tactics, and endurance of the protests themselves. For months, the world has watched Israelis engage in sustained, massive, nonviolent protests and civil disobedience in cities and towns across the country, drawing participants from nearly all sectors of society.

The scale, scope, and composition of these demonstrations are unprecedented in the country’s history. Hundreds of thousands regularly attend the protests, which are largely grassroots demonstrations, locally organized with former officials and intellectuals recruited to speak. On April 1, close to 450,000 Israelis took to the streets. That is close to 5 percent of the population, roughly equivalent to 17 million Americans. A recent poll showed that 20 percent of all Israelis have protested at one time or another against the judicial coup.

Given the vast disparity in size, replicating this kind of sustained protest movement is no easy matter. As a point of comparison, the Women’s March on Washington on Jan. 21, 2017, drew between 1 and 1.6 percent of the U.S. population. But that doesn’t mean this is impossible. Indeed, the Black Lives Matter protests that took place in the United States in the summer of 2020 were largely spontaneous and may have included as many as 26 million—and perhaps more—protesters in total.

Size is critical, but so is the character of demonstrations. The essential element is nonviolence. As Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan have demonstrated in studying civil resistance movements that occurred between 1900-2006, using nonviolent tactics—which can include protests, boycotts, and civil disobedience—enhances a movement’s domestic and international legitimacy, increases its bargaining power, and lessens the government’s efforts to delegitimize it. Although the vast majority of Black Lives Matter protests were peaceful (despite the false or misleading media and government claims to the contrary), there were acts of violence, looting, and rioting. Any future protest movement in the United States must shun this kind of destructive behavior.

The Israeli movement’s endurance and persistence has also been an asset. The struggle for democracy is not a 100-yard dash—as demonstrated in other countries, such as Serbia. In Israel’s case, the perception that the so-called judicial reform wasn’t just some technical adjustment to the political system, but rather a fundamental threat to Israelis’ way of life, sustained the protests. The profound anger and mistrust toward the Netanyahu government further catalyzed Israelis from virtually all sectors of society to turn out in the streets.

A second essential part of the response to the judicial legislation in Israel has been the active participation of military reservists who have signed petitions, participated in protests, and boycotted their formal and volunteer reserve duty. These reservists play a critical role in both intelligence and air force operations that are key to the current security challenges Israel faces.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is the most respected institution in the country. In fact, what led Netanyahu to pause the judicial legislation was the surge of protests that followed his (since rescinded) decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Gallant had publicly called for a halt to the judicial overhaul, arguing that it was jeopardizing Israel’s security. Adding to the pressure, a host of former IDF chiefs of staff, commanders, and former directors of Mossad have publicly opposed the judicial legislation. And even active, lower-level Mossad employees have been given permission to participate in the protests.

Such actions by former and current government officials are precisely what is needed to imbue the protests with additional legitimacy and to amplify the seriousness of the moment. Active members of IDF units have not refused to serve, and we’re not recommending that active U.S. military units join the protests. Indeed, given the U.S. tradition of the subordination of military to civilian authority, uniformed military would be hard-pressed to intervene in a political crisis.

Still, before the November 2020 election, when then-U.S. President Donald Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power pending the results, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley issued a public statement that the military had no role in an election and would “obey the lawful orders of our civilian leadership.” And senior military officials might well publicly remind the U.S. military—as the Joint Chiefs of Staff did in the wake of the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021—that their mission is to defend the U.S. Constitution.

At the same time, civil servants from throughout the federal government should consider joining the protests and have their organizational representatives (the American Foreign Service Association at the Department of State, for example), issue statements in support. These employees need not resign, at least at first, but they should make clear their nonpartisan opposition to efforts to undermine the rule of law and constitutional norms. The nonpartisan nature of these actions would be reinforced if they involved not just federal employees in Washington, but also the much larger workforce throughout the country. Furthermore, calls to protest could also involve state employees, particularly if the constitutional crisis stemmed from state action.

Third is the importance of strikes. The Histadrut—Israel’s largest trade union, with an estimated 800,000 members—called for a general strike that followed more limited strikes in the preceding months. That decision shut down departures from Ben Gurion Airport. Israel’s research universities and medical facilities (all public hospitals and community clinics) also called to strike, in addition to the closing of banks, businesses, and restaurants (including the ever-popular McDonald’s).

These tactics worked in Israel because, along with other measures (such as closing highways through acts of civil disobedience), they communicated to government ministers and Knesset members that unless they reassessed the situation, the country would shut down, with grave economic and political consequences. The tech sector had already begun to express major concerns that judicial reform as envisioned by the Netanyahu government could turn Israel’s image as a start-up nation into one of a shut-down nation, raising risks that foreign investment might be curtailed and Israeli entrepreneurs might decide to move out of the country.

To be sure, the same tactics could not be so easily deployed in the United States. First, 25 percent of Israeli workers are in a union, compared to 10 percent in the United States. Second, shutting down a country the size of the United States would simply be impossible (although such a strategy might have more success in a small enough state). Additionally, it is unclear if such strikes would help or hurt the opposition politically, particularly in light of the fact that COVID-19 school closures and other lockdown measures were fraught. But strikes should be explored and studied as possible tools. In the summer of 2020, tens of thousands of U.S. workers participated in a “Strike for Black Lives.”

Furthermore, taking a page from the sports strikes in the wake of the 2020 police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, there are more creative measures to explore in place of or in conjunction with traditional worker strikes. Sports leagues at both the college and professional level might suspend games until the crisis was resolved. If individual leagues were unwilling to participate, their stars could—and many likely would. What better way to cause a sustained, nationwide conversation about a specific topic that punctures all information bubbles than by forcing the cancellation of college football games, or the NBA playoffs, the World Series, or even the Super Bowl? In recent years, sports figures have increasingly become involved in politics, including ones from places you might not expect.

Similar strategies could be considered in the realm of Hollywood, the music industry, and other areas where Americans have a shared cultural appreciation and imbue their idols with the recognition and respect once enjoyed by political leaders. To avoid the appearance that these measures were partisan or political, these actions would need buy-in from actors, singers, entertainers, and writers from across the political spectrum, including from those who have always stayed above the political fray or who belong to the opposing political parties.

Fourth is the importance of respected political leaders, both current and former, joining the response to a severe political crisis. In Israel, former prime ministers have participated in the protest movement, including Barak and Ehud Olmert, as well as foreign and justice ministers such as Tzipi Livni. Former U.S. presidents have generally avoided this kind of participation, but in a severe crisis one can imagine former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, as well as other former senior officials from across the political spectrum, speaking out and participating in demonstrations.

Leadership extends beyond mere symbolism. Israeli opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid made calls for a general strike, among other involvement by elected officials. Similar kinds of bipartisan leadership from those in the U.S. House and Senate would be important to amplify the message of the protests and provide legitimacy. And of course, if the constitutional crisis originated from Congress itself, elected representatives could use their authority to shut it down. In this case, the protesters and other stakeholders, such as businesses, should view their opposition as a way to lobby Congress, including by promising to withhold financial backing to any member who participates in the unconstitutional scheme. There were similar actions in the wake of Jan. 6.

It would also be imperative for leaders to come from outside government, including from media organizations that represent a broad spectrum of U.S. politics. Given the United States’ problem with misinformation, this would be essential to accurately portray what was happening on the ground, including dispelling any untruths—for example, the notions that the protests had turned violent or that they were simply partisan reflections of one political party or another.

Finally, perhaps the most important lesson of all is to look for ways to motivate the public with an inclusive national response that transcends party and partisan affiliation. The reason the Israeli protests have been so effective is that even in a society rent by so many divisions, Israelis have gone into the streets because they believe deeply that their very way of life—the character of their society, and the image they have of Israel as an open, tolerant, and democratic polity with all its weaknesses, including and especially the Israeli occupation—is fundamentally threatened. As journalist Gal Beckerman has written, Israeli protesters have wrapped themselves in their flag—the most visible symbol of the protests. And this is something, according to Beckerman, that Americans should take to heart.

It is important to emphasize, though, that most Palestinians—including both those who are Israeli citizens (roughly 2 million out of a total population of 9.7 million) and those under Israel’s occupation and control—see the protests as an effort to protect Israeli Jewish democracy, not a movement to extend equal rights or statehood to them. Arab political parties in Israel have backed the protests, but the majority of Palestinian citizens of Israel, even while they have a great deal to lose should the judicial legislation pass, feel the demonstrations don’t address their needs, including equal rights and rising crime.

But without holding the line against a government whose objectives include de facto if not de jure annexation of the West Bank, continued second-class citizenship for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and enabling violence against Palestinians—as seen in the settler rampages through the West Bank town of Huwara—there will be no chance for peace, an end of the occupation, or statehood for the Palestinians.

And while we remain gloomy about any chance in the near term for an equitable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this protest movement has imbued Israel with a new energy and dynamism. It has created a focus on democracy, rights, and equality that hasn’t been seen in years and that could, under the right leadership, drive home the message that the preservation of Israel as a Jewish democratic state depends on ending the Israeli occupation and extending equal rights not just in principle but in practice to Palestinian citizens of Israel. One can at least hope so.

For the United States, the greatest challenge would be finding a way to wrap a movement in the U.S. flag and identify a broader set of unifying purposes that creates the biggest tent under which millions of Americans could rally. In today’s perniciously partisan environment, this would be hard—some might say impossible. To quote the historian Henry Adams, politics in the United States has become a “systematic organization of hatreds.” Without a written constitution, Israelis have turned to their Declaration of Independence as a source of inspiration, even as a set of principles for a future constitution. Perhaps the United States could do the same, turning to the basic founding principles that have shaped the country’s self-government.

The United States is perhaps the only nation in history founded on an idea: self-government in the interest of securing life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Fundamentally, no matter the differences between Americans, what makes the United States special is its ability to self- correct, reinvent itself, and make progress toward guaranteeing opportunity, equality, and dignity for all. A truly national protest movement must be grounded in this dream and the aspiration of making it more accessible to everyone. We are hopeful and inspired by the younger generations in the United States today—by their commitment to making the country a better place for all Americans, and by how they would rise to meet the challenge if the United States were truly tested.

Of course, the best way to avoid illiberal backsliding, let alone a constitutional crisis, is to vote for candidates who respect the rule of law, abide by the Constitution, and adhere to democratic norms and standards. Once authoritarians entrench themselves in power, they can use their authority to remain there. But sometimes you not only need to vote—you also need to vote with your feet.

Some of this may seem naive and Panglossian. But the fight for U.S. democracy has always mixed the pragmatic and the aspirational. What has happened in Israel these many months has shown the power that people possess to safeguard their democracy when threatened. It’s not an easy conversation to have. But it’s worth having now because the stakes are so very high, and sadly, the dangers to the United States’ own democratic system are all too real.

— Aaron David Miller is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former U.S. State Department Middle East analyst and negotiator in Republican and Democratic administrations. He is the author of The End of Greatness: Why America Can’t Have (and Doesn’t Want) Another Great President.

— Daniel Miller is a Lawyer and Activist. Since 2016, he has engaged in various forms of Pro-democracy work and has written for the Washington Post, CNN, Daily Beast, and New York Daily News on democracy issues.

[bikerpoliticalreport]

Trump: Leaked Bedminster Audio an ‘Exoneration’

 Former President Donald Trump is speaking out against CNN’s release of audio it obtained of him speaking with associates at his Bedminster golf club in July 2021 about a military document concerning Iran, saying the report exonerates him in the federal charges he is facing in connection to classified documents kept at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

   “The Deranged Special Prosecutor, Jack Smith, working in conjunction with the DOJ & FBI, illegally leaked and ‘spun’ a tape and transcript of me which is actually an exoneration, rather than what they would have you believe,” Trump said on his Truth Social page Monday night after the audio aired on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360.”

   “This continuing Witch Hunt is another ELECTION INTERFERENCE Scam. They are cheaters and thugs!” he wrote.

   The recording included details from a conversation special counsel Jack Smith used in his indictment accusing the former president of mishandling classified information, as well as some commentary that was not included in the indictment.

   The network has not said how it obtained the recording, and Smith’s office and the Department of Justice have not commented on the leak.

   The tape was said to have come from a July 2021 interview Trump gave to people who were working on the memoir of Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff. According to Smith’s indictment, a writer, a publisher, and two of Trump’s staff members were present and shown classified information about a plan of attack on Iran.

   At the time, Trump was reportedly angry about an article from the New Yorker concerning arguments that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley had made against a strike on Iran, and his concerns that Trump would escalate the situation.

   Smith’s office declined to comment to CNN about the audio release, but Trump’s campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, said in a statement that the tape “provides context proving, once again, that President Trump did nothing wrong at all.”

   Trump further railed against the indictment against him and about Smith early Tuesday, posting in an all-caps message on Truth Social a call for someone to “please explain to the deranged, Trump-hating Jack Smith, his family, and his friends, that as president of the United States, I come under the Presidential Records Act, as affirmed by the Clinton socks case, not by this psychos’ fantasy of the never used before Espionage Act of 1917.”

   He added that “Smith should be looking at crooked Joe Bidden [sic] and all of the crimes that he has perpetrated on the American public, including the millions & millions of dollars he extorted from foreign countries!”

   Most of the audio’s contents include conversation included in Smith’s indictment but also include the sounds of papers being shuffled.

   In the tape, Trump is also heard saying that he has a “big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him. They presented me this – this is off the record but – they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him.

   “This was done by the military and given to me,” Trump continues, before noting that the document remained classified.

   “See as president I could have declassified it,” Trump says. “Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.”

   “Now we have a problem,” a staffer responds, to which Trump is heard saying, “Isn’t that interesting.”

   In the indictment, there are ellipses in places where the recording shows Trump and his aide talking about Clinton’s emails and her former aide Anthony Weiner, whose laptop led the CIA to reopen its investigation into her handling of classified information before the 2016 presidential election.

   Last week, during an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier, Trump denied having classified documents with him during the meeting, reports The New York Times.

   “That was a massive amount of papers and everything else talking about Iran and other things. And it may have been held up or may not, but that was not a document. I didn’t have a document per se,” he said. “There was nothing to declassify. These were newspaper stories, magazine stories, and articles.”

   The audio release comes as the information continues to grow concerning President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

   Last week, photos of Hunter Biden on his abandoned laptop show him at his father’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, on the day he included his father’s name in a 2017 WhatsApp message to threaten a Chinese business associate.

   The investigation is also continuing into allegations that several members of the president’s family were receiving bank transfer payments from foreign entities, with the House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., investigating alleged influence peddling schemes by Joe Biden and his family.

[chuck-glisson]

Hey General Mark Milley, with regards to YOUR COMMENTS regarding that Ukraine should seek a "Diplomatic" solution[ie "Surrender"], I have TWO things to say;

[1] It is NOT "Your Job" to play "Politics

[2] SHUT THE FUCK UP!

[izooks]

From: JoJoFromJerz

Dear Ma & Pa MAGA,

You say that Donald Trump “loves our troops.”

So, I want to know why that is.

Is it because he received 5 deferments from the draft for military service during the Vietnam War?

Is it because he demeaned a POW, attacked a Gold Star family and told a military widow that her deceased husband “knew what he had signed up for.”

Was it the time he downplayed the traumatic head injuries suffered by our troops after a missile attack as “not real” because they weren’t ‘missing hands and limbs.’

Is it due to all the years he tried to slash benefits for our veterans, the time he said he didn’t want to be seen with war-wounded amputees, and to keep them forever out of his sight, or the time he called our fallen heroes of war “suckers” and “losers”?

Is it the all the times he called our military leaders “dumb” and “overrated” while calling terrorists like the Taliban & Hezbollah “very smart”?

Was it the time he demanded the flags after McCain’s death be returned to full mast, or the time he demanded that a ship bearing his name be blocked from view?

Was it when he stole, hid and lied about our national security secrets, potentially imperiling countless men & women in uniform all over the world?

Or was it when he suggested that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff deserved to be executed?

Maybe it was when he asked Gen. John Kelly (who lost his son in combat) at Arlington National Cemetery, why anyone would sign up for service because as far as he saw it, there was “nothing in it for them.”

Perhaps it was hearing him say that as President he would allow our adversary to attack the same allies this county’s Greatest Generation fought beside and died defending?

Or was it when he insulted Nikki Haley’s husband for currently serving our country overseas?

Which of those things was it that made you believe he loved our troops?

Because I’d really love to know.

[zvaigzdelasas]

Now, seven months later, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tells "CBS News Sunday Morning" the balloon wasn't spying. "The intelligence community, their assessment – and it's a high-confidence assessment – [is] that there was no intelligence collection by that balloon," he said.[...]

The balloon had been headed toward Hawaii, but the winds at 60,000 feet apparently took over. "Those winds are very high," Milley said. "The particular motor on that aircraft can't go against those winds at that altitude."

Wow that almost sounds like exactly what the Chinese government (evil communists, will eat you and your babies) said on day 1 and have said ever since. Which can only mean.....

How did they know & what are they hiding 🧐🧐🧐🧐

[17 Sep 23]

[progressivepower]

In response to Donald Trump, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, GEN. MARK MILLEY, U.S.A. RET.) saI’d what EVERYONE who’s ever served should be saying right now: “We don’t take an oath to a king or queen or tyrant...We don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator. We take an oath to the Constitution!” http://dlvr.it/T8cy87

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

“Former Trump White House chief of staff John Kelly is blasting his onetime boss over disparaging remarks he says the then-president repeatedly made about service members and veterans and for what he called Trump's untruthfulness about his positions on various groups as well as on abortion.

In a statement to CNN published Monday, Kelly delivered a scathing criticism of former President Donald Trump while confirming reporting in The Atlantic in 2020 that detailed the comments he made during his presidency.

"A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them,'" Kelly said of Trump. "A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family — for all Gold Star families — on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.”

The Atlantic reported that Trump privately made damning statements against U.S. service members and veterans, such as the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who had been a Vietnam prisoner of war, and former President George H.W. Bush, who was shot down as a Navy pilot in World War II. During a visit to France in 2018 for the centennial anniversary of the end of World War I, Trump also reportedly called Marines who died at Belleau Wood “suckers” and fallen soldiers at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery “losers.”

Kelly also slammed Trump as someone "who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women. A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about."

He continued, “A person who cavalierly suggests that a selfless warrior who has served his country for 40 years in peacetime and war should lose his life for treason — in expectation that someone will take action,” an apparent reference to Trump's recent statements about Army Gen. Mark Milley, who just retired as the chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff. “A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.”

“There is nothing more that can be said,” Kelly added. “God help us.”

[maturemenoftvandfilms]

Mark Milley Former US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Damn… this is the first time seeing Mark since he left the Joint Chiefs of Staff and he still looks hot as fuck.

Letting his hair grow. Open shirt revealing he has a thick neck and he might be hairless. And I tell though those pants he has thick calves. Which I love. And bet he still has that thick ass.

That's husband material. Dare I say trophy husband material.

[mydaddywiki]

Mark Milley

Height: 5'8" (1.73 m) Physique: Husky Build

Mark Alexander Milley (born June 20, 1958) is a retired United States Army general who last served as the 20th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2019, to September 30, 2023. He previously served as the 39th chief of staff of the Army from August 14, 2015, to August 9, 2019, and held multiple command and staff positions in eight divisions and special forces throughout his military career.

Nice and manly, when I first saw him, he looks like he would be a filthy whore in bed. Some one that'll give you a hard, almost angry fuck in the sack and have you cumming hands free. Then hear about some his policies he’s thinking of and I think bottom. And not a power bottom. I think sub bottom. But still a filthy in bed.

Now that he’s retired, maybe I could get shot at that ass. Sure he’s married with two children, but he's married to a nurse. Nursing is the #1 jobs for T.H.O.Ts. Plus there's a lot of whoring in the military.

[ohtobeleah]

Father, Son & The Holy Shit // Jake Seresin

Prologue: [Father, Son & Suck My Dick Seresin.] At a funeral that couldn’t have come soon enough, you relive what could possibly be described as the most devastating tragedy of your entire life. Jake Hangman Seresin.

Warnings: Jake Seresin x Bradshaw!reader. Age Gap. Funeral gathering. Angst! Dark & Mature themes. 18+ Minors do not engage.

Author Note: Thankyou @seresinsaint for encouraging me to be a little fucked up.

-> Masterlist

You never thought this day would come. In your mind, it was ten years overdue. Tens years long long overdue. But even though you’d been praying for this day to come—willing it into existence, it still felt so surreal. 

Commander Jake Hangman Seresin was dead. And you couldn’t wait for the soil to set so you could dance on top of his grave. 

There was not an ounce of you that felt a single bit of remorse. But regardless, you trailed behind your father, now Admiral Bradley Rooster Bradshaw. Chief of naval operations and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

“Where’s dad?” Tilly, your ten year old asked softly as she looked up at you and asked as politely as she possibly could. Dressed in a black dress that matched your own, she was the spitting image of you. Only she had those sinful emerald eyes. 

You could tell your dad was on the lookout for him too, knowing that it had been just shy of three years since the two of you were in a room together. He was usually the middle man, the mediator in all this. Today was going to be interesting. 

“He’s around here somewhere baby.” You paused in your stride as you made it to the bottom of the hill at Wayne Richards Memorial Cemetery. You couldn’t do this, you thought you could but you just couldn’t. “Dad—“ You choked out and Rooster turned on his heels to see how not okay you were. “Can you take Tilly up to Kian please? I—I just need a minute.” He didn’t need to ask if you were alright, he knew you weren’t—but this day wasn’t about you. 

It was about Jake Seresin. 

“Come on Tilly girl, let's give your mum some space for five, your Dads gonna want you to stamp grandpa’s wings in.” Nothing about that sentence was fucking normal. Nothing about your family dynamic was fucking normal. But you let your dad, Rooster—lead your daughter up the grassy hill towards the funeral gathering. 

Turns out Commander Seresin was a pretty loved guy. But that love didn’t run through your veins. No way no how. The only reason you agreed to attend was to see it for yourself. That he was dead and buried and couldn’t mess your life up anymore than he already had. You had so much going for yourself, you were a good person with a bright future. 

Except for the past ten years you’d been in and out of rehabilitation and AA meetings that it all just fell through your fingertips. You were, however, a good mother. 

“Fuck this.” You sighed and you lit a cigarette, holding it between your lips as you flicked your lighter and lit a flame that soon enough, ignited the cancer stick you prayed would give you some sort of incurable disease that would ultimately take you out of this hell. Knowing your luck you’d live a long and fruitful life—oh how god placed his strongest battles on his weakest soldiers shoulders. 

“Those things’ll kill you, you know.” You heard a familiar voice creeping up behind you as you stood at the bottom of the hill, watching car after car attend the funeral of a man that ruined your fucking life. 

They’d never know. 

“Unfortunately, I’m not that lucky.” You sighed as you blew a plume of smoke up and away from the face of a man you knew hated your very existence. He gestured for the cigarette between your fingers, reluctantly you handed it to him. Thinking he was going to take a puff. 

Kian Seresin brought the cigarette up to his lips, turned to look at you—before he dropped it to the grass below and crushed it with his shoe. A shoe that was damn near as black as your soul. 

“Ass—“ 

“Tilly doesn’t need you full of carcinogens.” He hissed. Placing his hands into the front pockets of his slacks. You simply took another cigarette from your purse and lit it all the same. “Y/n—“ You kept eye contact the entire time. “For fuck sake.” Kian sighed, he hated you smoking—always had. 

“Free country Kian.” You shrugged. “How you holding up anyway?” You didn’t care. You hadn’t cared about Kian in years, the same way he didn’t care about you. For Tilly you remained passive. You co-parented enough to make it believable that the two of you could stand together alone in a room without blowing each other’s brains out. But that’s exactly why you didn’t spend time together. 

Because you both would. 

“As well as I can be.” He replied. You knew it was coming. He always had a need to remind you. It was his thing, your therapist told you that it was a coping mechanism—to throw all the blame on you. “You know, for a guy who’s girlfriend fucked his dad.” Ah. Yep. There it was. 

“Good one, never heard that one before.” You snapped back. Walking with Kian up towards where he’d lay his father to rest. “I thought you of all people would be pretty chuffed he kicked the bucket.” 

“I am.” Kian replied as he played with his suit jacket. “Guy cost me more money in therapy than he could ever repay.” That was probably the one thing the two of you ever agreed upon. “But uh, even after all these years I still stay up thinking about it.” You knew what Kian was referring to because the same thing kept you up. It had kept you up for ten years and would keep you up for a lifetime more. “Do you think he knew?” 

“I think he liked to think he knew for sure, but I don’t think we’ll ever find out.” None of this was fair. Your life could be defined into two categories. Pre the Seresins and post the Seresins. Only there would never be a day where you were free of them. You’d be forever tied to the Seresin family. Your daughter Tilly stood to inherit a hell of a lot of money and assets in the wake of Jake's death. “Only the worms know now.” 

For two people who couldn’t stand one another—you and Kian always did a pretty good job keeping up appearances. You both knew eyes were always on the pair of you, so that’s exactly why you’d both agreed it was best to not see each other. It was for the benefit of your daughter. 

“Dad!” Tilly cooed as she ran up to you and Kian, he crouched and placed a single knee into the grass as he held her tight. “I’ve missed you—“ She nuzzled into his shoulder and for a moment Bradley remembered what it was like when you were that young—when your mother would meet him at the doc post deployment and you’d come running up to him. 

“I missed you too, Bugalugs.” Kian mumbled back as he held his daughter, or rather, assumed daughter. The timeline was that blurred the two of you would never really know for sure: 

If Tilly Bug Seresin was Jake Seresins daughter or if she was in fact Kians. 

Regardless—Kian loved her as his own. He always hoped she was. 

“Kian—“ Bradley shook Kians hand with a firm grip, he always had a soft spot for the kid in all of this. “Sorry this family gathering couldn’t be under more positive circumstances.” Without a beat, Kian had you wishing you hadn’t taken a drag of your cigarette when you had. 

“Nothing more positive than donating garbage back to Mother Earth, Admiral.” He didn’t miss a single beat. Rooster was just as taken aback as you were—the dig at her grandfather went straight over Tilly’s head. “Shall we?” He smiled your way. Pressing a hand to the small of your back as you coughed and tried to regain your composure. 

This was going to be a long, but overdue, funeral.

Just like you thought it would be, it was. You sat with your ex, the hopeful father of your daughter and his family that never knew just how messed up things had gotten. Your dad, Admiral Bradshaw stood at attention with the rest of the Dagger Squad that had been like a found family to Jake. You recognised all of them. They couldn’t look at you. They knew. They all knew and as they looked at your daughter as she stamped the wings into Jake's coffin they wanted to just die. 

“Aim!” You held your breath for the gun fire that followed soon after. “Fire!” 

“Aim!” Jake didn’t deserve this honorable send off. “Fire!” But he was loved, oh so loved by his family and friends and colleagues alike. 

“Aim!” You were probably the only person in attendance that wished this day had come sooner. “Fire!” But you settled for today. 

“I’d like to invite Commander Seresins family to say their final goodbyes—“ It was the moment you had been waiting for. The reason you had told your dad you’d come to the funeral. To have the last laugh. One by one you watched members of the Seresin family, including your daughter and her dad say their goodbyes. They dropped a mix of white and yellow chrysanthemums onto the top of the casket you’d dreamed about viewing. One by one your turn was nearing, in the moment you almost choked up—but you’d waited ten years for this moment, you weren’t going to waste it. 

As you placed a single flower on top of Jake Hangman Seresin coffin, you smirked just enough to stifle a maniacal laugh. Leaning in, you kissed the top of the coffin and whispered just loud enough that you would be the only person living to hear the last words ever spoken to Jake Seresin. The piece of shit he was. 

“You aren’t even good enough for the worms—“ You paused, this was it. Your final goodbye. You felt a weight lifting from your shoulder as you looked to the sky, feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin for what felt like the first time in ten years. “Fuck you, Seresin.” You tapped the wings your daughter had smacked into the coffin. 

“Rot in hell.” 

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