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D.C. National Guard Chief Fired Days Before Trump Inauguration: "The Timing Is Extremely Unusual"
zerohedge ^ | Jan 13, 2017 4:50 | Tyler Durden

Posted on 01/13/2017 7:39:55 PM PST by UMCRevMom@aol.com

"It doesn't make sense to can the general in the middle of an active deployment," rages D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) after Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz, who heads the D.C. National Guard and is an integral part of overseeing the inauguration, has been ordered removed from command effective Jan. 20, 12:01 p.m., just as Donald Trump is sworn in as president.

As The Washington Post reports, Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz's departure will come in the midst of the presidential ceremony, classified as a national special security event — and while thousands of his troops are deployed to help protect the nation's capital during an inauguration he has spent months helping to plan.

"The timing is extremely unusual," Schwartz said in an interview Friday morning, confirming a memo announcing his ouster that was obtained by The Washington Post.

During the inauguration, Schwartz would command not only the members of the D.C. guard but also an additional 5,000 unarmed troops sent in from across the country to help. He also would oversee military air support protecting the nation's capital during the inauguration.

"My troops will be on the street," Schwartz, who turned 65 in October, said, "I'll see them off but I won’t be able to welcome them back to the armory." He said that he would "never plan to leave a mission in the middle of a battle."

Schwartz, who was appointed to head the guard by President George W. Bush in 2008, maintained the position through President Obama's two terms. He said his orders came from the Pentagon but that he doesn't know who made the decision.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) blasted the decision to remove Schwartz, especially on Inauguration Day.

"It doesn't make sense to can the general in the middle of an active deployment," Mendelson said. He added that Schwartz’s sudden departure would be a long-term loss for the District. "He's been really very good at working with the community and my impression was that he was good for the Guard."

Unlike in states, where the governor appoints the National Guard commander, in the District that duty falls to the president.

Schwartz said that he has not been told why he was asked to step down. "I'm a soldier," he said, noting that he was following orders and has no regrets. "I'm a presidential appointee, therefore the president has the power to remove me."

Is this just another part of Obama's "smooth" transition? Or is something even MORE sinister at work here, since we already know that anti-Trump activists are planning "the biggest protest in US history" on the day of the inauguration?

* * *

As we noted previously, radical leftists are planning to make January 20th the most chaotic Inauguration Day in American history. Their stated goal is to "disrupt" the Inauguration festivities as much as possible, and they are planning a wide range of "actions" to achieve that stated goal. Some of the more moderate groups are using terms such as "civil resistance" and "civil disobedience", but others are openly talking about "blockades", jumping barricades, throwing projectiles and "citywide paralysis". My hope is that all of their efforts will turn out to be a big flop, but it is important to understand that these groups are well funded, highly organized and extremely motivated. The election of Donald Trump has been perhaps the single most galvanizing moment for the radical left in modern American history, and they are working very hard to turn January 20th into a major political statement.

In fact, just recently one activist group took out a full page ad in the New York Times…

Thousands of activists, journalists, scientists, entertainers, and other prominent voices took out a full-page call to action in the New York Times on Wednesday making clear their rejection of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence with the simple message: “No!”

"Stop the Trump/Pence regime before it starts! In the name of humanity we refuse to accept a fascist America!" the ad states, followed by a list of signatories that includes scholar Cornel West; author Alice Walker; Chase Iron Eyes of the Standing Rock Sioux; educator Bill Ayers; poet Saul Williams; CNN‘s Marc Lamont Hill; Carl Dix of the Communist Party USA; and numerous others.

The ad pointed people to refusefascism.org, and it asserted that Trump must be stopped whether he was legitimately elected or not…

Trump promises to inflict repression and suffering on people in this country, to deport millions, to increase violence up to the use of nuclear weapons on people across the globe, and to inflict catastrophes upon the planet itself. He has assembled a cabinet of Christian fundamentalist fanatics, war mongers, racists, science deniers. NO! His regime must not be allowed to consolidate. We REFUSE to accept a Fascist America!

If you go to refusefascism.org, you will discover that the protests that they are organizing in Washington D.C. will begin on January 14th. They say that they want to "stop the Trump-Pence regime before it starts", and they hope to have protests going "every day and every night" without interruption through at least January 20th.

Another group that plans to kick things off on January 14th is DisruptJ20. Of course that is short for "Disrupt January 20th". If you go to their official website, you will find a long slate of events that have already been scheduled.

According to Legba Carrefour, a spokesperson for DisruptJ20, one of the goals of the group is to block major transportation routes into and throughout our nation's capital. And he is not shy about the fact that they literally want to "shut down the Inauguration"…

"We are planning to shut down the inauguration, that's the short of it," he says. "We're pretty literal about that, we are trying to create citywide paralysis on a level that I don't think has been seen in D.C. before. We're trying to shut down pretty much every ingress into the city as well as every checkpoint around the actual inauguration parade route."

If Carrefour and his fellow conspirators are able to actually accomplish that, it truly would be unprecedented.

And while DisruptJ20 is not publicly advocating violence, they are not exactly discouraging it either…

Carrefour says DisruptJ20 has no publicly announced plans to jump barricades along the inauguration parade route or throw projectiles at the new president, but that autonomous direct actions are encouraged.

"I can't comment on specific stuff we're doing like that, mostly because that would be illegal. But, yeah, it will get pretty crazy, I expect," he says. "'Have fun!' I say."

After the rioting that we have seen in Baltimore, Ferguson, Charlotte and many other communities around the nation in recent years, I hope that authorities are taking these threats quite seriously.

Once Donald Trump won the election, many conservatives seemed to think that the war was won. But the truth of the matter is that many on the left were completely blindsided by Trump's surprise victory, and now that they are fully awake they are gearing up for battle like never before.

And these protests are not going to end on January 20th. In fact, abortion advocates are hoping to get close to a million women into Washington D.C. on the day following the Inauguration to protest for abortion rights. Filmmaker Michael Moore is hoping that this march will be the beginning of "100 days of resistance" against Trump's presidency…

Filmmaker and liberal icon Michael Moore has announced his plans to attend the Women's March on Washington to protest Donald Trump's inauguration later this month and has called for sore loser liberals to go further — by staging protests acts of resistance through the first 100 days of Trump's presidency.

In an appearance, this weekend on MSNBC's The Last Word, the 62-year-old Trumpland and Fahrenheit 9/11 director made a "call to arms" to those opposed to Trump's presidency to join the Women's March on Washington scheduled for January 21, the day after the presidential inauguration.

"It's important that everybody go there," Moore told MSNBC's Ari Melber.

Of course it is easy to imagine how all of this could spiral wildly out of control. If Trump cracks down on these protests really hard in an attempt to restore law and order, that could end up sparking a dramatic backlash against his "police state tactics". And if the protests become even bigger and more violent, Trump could respond by cracking down even more harshly.

Let us hope for some really cold weather in D.C. at the end of January so that as many troublemakers as possible get discouraged and stay home. Violent protests, blockades and riots aren't going to solve anything, and they could easily open fresh wounds in a nation that is becoming more divided with each passing day.


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To: Reno89519

How many times is this going to be posted today and yesterday?!

733? 644? 512?


41 posted on 01/13/2017 8:52:17 PM PST by 867V309 (Lock Her Up)
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To: Steve_Seattle

These people are so crazy, you could be right. Soros funded and unrepentant terrorist-type Bill Ayers as one of the organizers. I hope the FBI has undercover agents, and this time they get to put him in Jail and throw away the key.


42 posted on 01/13/2017 8:53:51 PM PST by greeneyes
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To: Steve_Seattle
I'll try again....

https://twitter.com/JamesOKeefeIII?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

James O'Keefe ‏@JamesOKeefeIII 9h9 hours ago

What @Project_Veritas found was so egregious, we notified counter terrorism LEOs. Release planned for MONDAY!
#tcot

O'Keefe's Project Veritas has video of rioters planning to riot badly, it was something of a sting operation, I believe. His sites and twitter feed are useful to check periodically. He is a brave and intelligent man.

43 posted on 01/13/2017 8:54:01 PM PST by little jeremiah (Half the truth is often a great lie. B. Franklin)
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To: sten

I wish he would do this. His entire campaign was different from every other politician. This would be icing on the cake.

We would support you, Mr. Trump! Just get sworn in privately and let those protesters in the street look absurd.


44 posted on 01/13/2017 9:00:37 PM PST by Cedar
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To: Reno89519

You know you don’t have to read them all.. or even comment.


45 posted on 01/13/2017 9:13:17 PM PST by defal33
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To: Terry Mross

Did you read that obama fired him. How do you know he is doing a good job? Just curious :)


46 posted on 01/13/2017 9:14:37 PM PST by dp0622 (The only thing an upper crust conservative hates more than a liberal is a middle class conservative)
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To: Steve_Seattle

They’re pushing it. It’s like a psychotic ex-wife who unexpectedly lost their ass in the divorce. How does one deal with a woman scorned?


47 posted on 01/13/2017 9:16:02 PM PST by txhurl (Break's over, kids, back to WAR.)
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To: Cedar

“I wish he would do this. His entire campaign was different from every other politician. This would be icing on the cake.

We would support you, Mr. Trump! Just get sworn in privately and let those protesters in the street look absurd.”

I love this idea except I am so looking forward to watching the swearing in and parade!


48 posted on 01/13/2017 9:16:59 PM PST by Notasoccermom
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To: Notasoccermom

I just want him safe!


49 posted on 01/13/2017 9:29:18 PM PST by Cedar
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com

Pay no attention to them. Especially when just repeating themselves to get attention. I don’t understand why there are those who call people out for posting a story just because they didn’t know it already was. Who cares?! Just skim over the new post.


50 posted on 01/13/2017 11:09:37 PM PST by kelly4c
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com

Obama is taking a Marxist’s revenge on anyone who is dedicated to protecting our country. Just look at how many senior military officers he has had sacked or downgraded, esp. from Centcom and SouthCom. He has effeminized the Navy so that it is now known as “The Queens’ Navy.

The Air Force is more interested in gender than defender.

It is no longer the U.S. Flag that flies. It is the rainbow flag of the leftist fags on government buildings, in schools, and in the streets. (I have nothing against gay people. It is the extremists among them who are doing their fellow genderists a grave disservice, but that’s how the lunatic Left acts).

The Dept. of Justice leadership is as political corrupt as any in the history of the U.S. The rot extends to most of the heads of departments and agencies from the FBI, CIA, HUD, DHS, HHS, Agriculture, Interior, esp. the EPA, Energy and even NASA.

Obama can, after 8 years of working to undermine and destroy America, proudly say, “Yes I did”!


51 posted on 01/13/2017 11:41:38 PM PST by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com

It’s OK - I never saw it before. Thanks.


52 posted on 01/14/2017 1:41:12 AM PST by SaveFerris (Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for ... some have unwittingly entertained angels)
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To: Abby4116

Ah, OK. Good info.


53 posted on 01/14/2017 1:42:21 AM PST by SaveFerris (Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for ... some have unwittingly entertained angels)
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To: MadMax, the Grinning Reaper

54 posted on 01/14/2017 1:44:06 AM PST by SaveFerris (Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for ... some have unwittingly entertained angels)
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com

It’s not in this article but the one I read earlier had a speculation that the new transition team may not have been aware of this automatic resignation and may just be a clerical oversight. It being a holiday weekend it may not be corrected officially until Tuesday.

Then again maybe this particular person has something in his history that warrants letting him go; even at an odd time like this.

I say give it some time then we will know for sure.


55 posted on 01/14/2017 2:08:26 AM PST by Boomer (You can't shame a fascist leftist (liberal) because they don't understand the concept of honor.)
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To: Be Careful

He’s a Presidential appointee. Appointed by Bush in 2008. Like all political appointee’s he submits his resignation every four years. Obama never accepted it - Trump did.

Being retired Military I think 9 years in the same position is long enough.


56 posted on 01/14/2017 2:11:47 AM PST by PeteB570 ( Islam is the sea in which the Terrorist Shark swims. The deeper the sea the larger the shark.)
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To: Steve_Seattle

“The issue was confused by an early WaPo article that apparently left out some key facts. As I understand it now, the general - who serves directly under the president - submitted a pro-forma resignation, effective January 20th, 2017, because of the upcoming change in administrations. The Obama administration rejected his resignation, but it was apparently then accepted at the request of the Trump transition team.”

If this is correct, (source?) It makes total sense. IF, this is due to the Trump administration, then they would have had a transition replacement/placeholder involved in every aspect of this guy’s job for Jan 20th, ready to take over instantly.

Instead of repeating (not to you personally) this article over and over, how about some facts/sources?


57 posted on 01/14/2017 5:51:04 AM PST by faucetman (Just the facts, ma'am, Just the facts)
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To: Terry Mross

“If he is appointed by the president how can the DOD fire him without the sitting president’s permission?”

At 12:01 pm Donald J. Trump will be the sitting president, not Obozo.


58 posted on 01/14/2017 5:53:46 AM PST by faucetman (Just the facts, ma'am, Just the facts)
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com

If the far left riots in DC, looting & burning, who stands to lose the most? DC is the Liberal’s capitol. It is populated overwhelmingly by Liberals.

If they burn it to the ground, who cares? It will be Liberal businesses, homes, & institutions that go up in smoke. Only the monuments to freedom & democracy & the Smithsonian are worth protecting. The White House is tainted by corruption & Congress is an asylum for the criminally insane.

And what better time to move DC to the center of the country - say, Podunk, Oklahoma or Kansas.

I do hope the inauguration goes on without violence & disruption, but if that is not the case, I hope law enforcement comes down hard on protesters/terrorists. And if Obama has fired the man in charge of keeping the event safe & secure, then I can think of no city better deserving of Leftist chaos than Washington, DC.

One more thing: If the Left does trash DC, then President Trump should refuse to clean up the mess, refuse to pay for any clean up, tweeting the Left that they made the mess, they can clean it up, or leave it as a monument to their depravity. Send the bill to George Soros & Barack Obama.


59 posted on 01/14/2017 6:40:42 AM PST by Mister Da (The mark of a wise man is not what he knows, but what he knows he doesn't know!)
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To: Reno89519

Anwar Sadat had armed guards at a parade.


60 posted on 01/14/2017 6:46:00 AM PST by PghBaldy (12/14 - 930am -rampage begins... 12/15 - 1030am - Obama's advance team scouts photo-op locations.)
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