The Steady State
@steadystatevets.bsky.social
360+ Veterans of the U.S. National Security Community. Promoting rule of law, democracy, and a positive role for the U.S. in the world. Check us out at www.thesteadystate.org, and on Substack at https://substack.com/@steadystate1?utm_source=global-search
A question for discussion (and for Gen. Marks) — especially for vets:
If you were ordered to stop a ship in the Caribbean believed to be carrying drugs, board it and execute its crew — purely as a hypothetical raised by recent DoD interdiction videos — would you follow that order?
If you were ordered to stop a ship in the Caribbean believed to be carrying drugs, board it and execute its crew — purely as a hypothetical raised by recent DoD interdiction videos — would you follow that order?
‘An Insult to Our Chain of Command’: Retired General Rips Democrats’ Illegal Orders Video on CNN Mediaite
www.mediaite.com
‘An Insult to Our Chain of Command’: Retired General Rips Democrats’ Illegal Orders Video on CNN
twp.ai
November 25, 2025 at 5:08 PM
A question for discussion (and for Gen. Marks) — especially for vets:
If you were ordered to stop a ship in the Caribbean believed to be carrying drugs, board it and execute its crew — purely as a hypothetical raised by recent DoD interdiction videos — would you follow that order?
If you were ordered to stop a ship in the Caribbean believed to be carrying drugs, board it and execute its crew — purely as a hypothetical raised by recent DoD interdiction videos — would you follow that order?
A question for discussion — especially for vets:
If you were ordered to stop a ship in the Caribbean believed to be carrying drugs, board it, and execute its crew — purely as a hypothetical raised by recent DoD interdiction videos — would you follow that order?
What would guide your decision?
If you were ordered to stop a ship in the Caribbean believed to be carrying drugs, board it, and execute its crew — purely as a hypothetical raised by recent DoD interdiction videos — would you follow that order?
What would guide your decision?
November 25, 2025 at 4:07 PM
A question for discussion — especially for vets:
If you were ordered to stop a ship in the Caribbean believed to be carrying drugs, board it, and execute its crew — purely as a hypothetical raised by recent DoD interdiction videos — would you follow that order?
What would guide your decision?
If you were ordered to stop a ship in the Caribbean believed to be carrying drugs, board it, and execute its crew — purely as a hypothetical raised by recent DoD interdiction videos — would you follow that order?
What would guide your decision?
When the top civilian leadership at DoD is openly mocking and prejudging a potential case on social media, that’s not “good order and discipline.” It’s the opposite. It creates the appearance of unlawful command influence before any facts are even established.
#SteadyState #holdfast
#SteadyState #holdfast
November 25, 2025 at 3:13 PM
When the top civilian leadership at DoD is openly mocking and prejudging a potential case on social media, that’s not “good order and discipline.” It’s the opposite. It creates the appearance of unlawful command influence before any facts are even established.
#SteadyState #holdfast
#SteadyState #holdfast
Hey, GOP...this one is for you. If you can read it, make time to think and then maybe find a backbone to stand tall. Up to you to be an adult who can think for yourself, right?
Congress has the constitutional duty to make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces (Article I, Section 8, Clause 14). It enacted the UCMJ, which specifies that service members must obey only “lawful” orders and,
November 25, 2025 at 1:27 PM
The “deep state psyop” narrative is a defensive reaction, not some big discovery — it’s panic wrapped in conspiracy. Here, Newsmax also falsely claims the Smith–Mundt Act lets the government run psychological operations on Americans. It doesn’t.
November 25, 2025 at 1:04 PM
The “deep state psyop” narrative is a defensive reaction, not some big discovery — it’s panic wrapped in conspiracy. Here, Newsmax also falsely claims the Smith–Mundt Act lets the government run psychological operations on Americans. It doesn’t.
Fox is now claiming that Rep. Slotkin is a CIA asset in a “destabilization op,” controlled by “deep state handlers,” because she reminded service members to follow the law. They even suggest she’s unwitting of her own “mission,”
November 25, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Fox is now claiming that Rep. Slotkin is a CIA asset in a “destabilization op,” controlled by “deep state handlers,” because she reminded service members to follow the law. They even suggest she’s unwitting of her own “mission,”
Congress has the constitutional duty to make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces (Article I, Section 8, Clause 14). It enacted the UCMJ, which specifies that service members must obey only “lawful” orders and,
November 25, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Congress has the constitutional duty to make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces (Article I, Section 8, Clause 14). It enacted the UCMJ, which specifies that service members must obey only “lawful” orders and,
The State Department exists to conduct foreign policy, not wage domestic culture-war battles. Using its official account to attack DEI & transgender Americans represents a significant deviation from the Department’s core mission and a dangerous politicization of U.S. foreign-policy machinery.
November 25, 2025 at 12:25 PM
The State Department exists to conduct foreign policy, not wage domestic culture-war battles. Using its official account to attack DEI & transgender Americans represents a significant deviation from the Department’s core mission and a dangerous politicization of U.S. foreign-policy machinery.
James Comey says his case reflects the heartbreaking state of the Justice Department under Trump and praises the career officials who refused to be part of the travesty. #holdfast #SteadyState
open.substack.com/pub/jamescom...
open.substack.com/pub/jamescom...
On the Case Dismissal
Former government person, author, teacher, father, grandfather. Tall and really quite funny.
open.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:12 PM
James Comey says his case reflects the heartbreaking state of the Justice Department under Trump and praises the career officials who refused to be part of the travesty. #holdfast #SteadyState
open.substack.com/pub/jamescom...
open.substack.com/pub/jamescom...
Reposted by The Steady State
November 24, 2025 at 5:51 PM
TSS's Executive Director, Steven Cash goes live on Tik Tok to answer some questions. Was "Russia gate" a hoax? What is the current state of government agencies? Why are people so calm despite everything happening? Who decides whether an order is lawful? #holdfast
youtu.be/RmFMeHM-4hQ?...
youtu.be/RmFMeHM-4hQ?...
2025 11 24 TikTokLive
YouTube video by The Steady State
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 9:17 PM
TSS's Executive Director, Steven Cash goes live on Tik Tok to answer some questions. Was "Russia gate" a hoax? What is the current state of government agencies? Why are people so calm despite everything happening? Who decides whether an order is lawful? #holdfast
youtu.be/RmFMeHM-4hQ?...
youtu.be/RmFMeHM-4hQ?...
Witkoff says Putin is “not a bad guy.” Trump says the war started because the 2020 election was “stolen.” Both erase Russia’s responsibility and recast a foreign aggressor as a partner while portraying others as the “real” problem. That’s authoritarian framing—not U.S. national-security leadership.
Tucker Carlson: What do you think of Putin?
Witkoff: I liked him. I thought he was straight up with me…I don't regard Putin as a bad guy.
Witkoff: I liked him. I thought he was straight up with me…I don't regard Putin as a bad guy.
November 24, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Witkoff says Putin is “not a bad guy.” Trump says the war started because the 2020 election was “stolen.” Both erase Russia’s responsibility and recast a foreign aggressor as a partner while portraying others as the “real” problem. That’s authoritarian framing—not U.S. national-security leadership.
Calling them the “Seditious Six” & branding their statements “despicable” before review is textbook definition of prejudgment. No panel, judge, or reviewing authority can claim neutrality once the SECDEF declares the accused guilty. This looks like the procedures used in dictatorships, not the US.
November 24, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Calling them the “Seditious Six” & branding their statements “despicable” before review is textbook definition of prejudgment. No panel, judge, or reviewing authority can claim neutrality once the SECDEF declares the accused guilty. This looks like the procedures used in dictatorships, not the US.
Reposted by The Steady State
Posting a meme of himself as a king with opponents kneeling isn’t a joke when it comes from someone calling for elected officials to be jailed. It reflects a mindset that sees political power as personal authority, not constitutional duty.
November 24, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Posting a meme of himself as a king with opponents kneeling isn’t a joke when it comes from someone calling for elected officials to be jailed. It reflects a mindset that sees political power as personal authority, not constitutional duty.
Trump’s effort to weaponize the justice system just hit a legal wall. It’s a reminder that even as he tries to bend the law into a tool for punishing his opponents, some institutional guardrails still hold. #holdfast #SteadyState
BREAKING: A federal judge has thrown out the criminal indictment of James Comey, ruling that Trump-installed prosecutor Lindsey Halligan was illegally appointed and had no lawful authority to bring the case. The court found her actions violated federal law and the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.
November 24, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Trump’s effort to weaponize the justice system just hit a legal wall. It’s a reminder that even as he tries to bend the law into a tool for punishing his opponents, some institutional guardrails still hold. #holdfast #SteadyState
Posting a meme of himself as a king with opponents kneeling isn’t a joke when it comes from someone calling for elected officials to be jailed. It reflects a mindset that sees political power as personal authority, not constitutional duty.
November 24, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Posting a meme of himself as a king with opponents kneeling isn’t a joke when it comes from someone calling for elected officials to be jailed. It reflects a mindset that sees political power as personal authority, not constitutional duty.
“The Justice Department purge has now eclipsed 5,000 employees since January, including resignations, firings and retirements.”
www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-j...
www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-j...
"Quite frankly I was pissed off!" Growing online page chronicles Trump Justice Dept. resignation letters
Amid a wave of departures from the Justice Department, some of its former officials are curating a public online display of the farewell messages of ousted employees.
www.cbsnews.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:45 PM
“The Justice Department purge has now eclipsed 5,000 employees since January, including resignations, firings and retirements.”
www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-j...
www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-j...
Trump is amplifying QAnon-coded imagery: “Tick Tock,” “Nothing Can Stop What Is Coming,” and “Time to Obliterate the Deep State.” These aren’t random. They’re cues tied to promises of mass arrests and deep-state purges, the kind of messaging used to rally his most extreme supporters.
November 24, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Trump is amplifying QAnon-coded imagery: “Tick Tock,” “Nothing Can Stop What Is Coming,” and “Time to Obliterate the Deep State.” These aren’t random. They’re cues tied to promises of mass arrests and deep-state purges, the kind of messaging used to rally his most extreme supporters.
NSL4A announced that two of its members testified before the New York City Council Committee on Governmental Operations, State & Federal Legislation, warning of dangerous federal overreach and the growing misuse of the National Guard in U.S. cities.
www.nsl4a.org/nsl4a-announ...
www.nsl4a.org/nsl4a-announ...
NSL4A Leaders Warn NYC Council of Alarming Federal Overreach and Improper National Guard Use — National Security Leaders for America
Retired Brigadier General Loree Sutton and former DoD official Jason Forrester testify at New York City Council hearing on “Protecting New York City from Federal Overreach.”
www.nsl4a.org
November 24, 2025 at 12:39 PM
NSL4A announced that two of its members testified before the New York City Council Committee on Governmental Operations, State & Federal Legislation, warning of dangerous federal overreach and the growing misuse of the National Guard in U.S. cities.
www.nsl4a.org/nsl4a-announ...
www.nsl4a.org/nsl4a-announ...
Trump shared a QAnon slogan—“the military is the only way”—and imagery calling for “military tribunals.” Combined with calling for the execution of Members of Congress, this is an extraordinary authoritarian escalation and a grave threat to constitutional rule.
November 24, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Trump shared a QAnon slogan—“the military is the only way”—and imagery calling for “military tribunals.” Combined with calling for the execution of Members of Congress, this is an extraordinary authoritarian escalation and a grave threat to constitutional rule.
Trump is now amplifying posts calling Members of Congress “traitors,” “communists,” and “domestic terrorists.” His amplification of “get all those traitorous sons of bitches” is an escalation that increases the real-world risk to the people he is targeting. This is how political violence is primed.
November 24, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Trump is now amplifying posts calling Members of Congress “traitors,” “communists,” and “domestic terrorists.” His amplification of “get all those traitorous sons of bitches” is an escalation that increases the real-world risk to the people he is targeting. This is how political violence is primed.
Trump’s rapid escalation—from calling Members of Congress “traitors” to urging supporters to “focus all energy” on unfounded claims of election fraud—fits an authoritarian pattern: when power feels threatened, the response is to inflame fear, erode democratic processes, and frame dissent as criminal
November 24, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Trump’s rapid escalation—from calling Members of Congress “traitors” to urging supporters to “focus all energy” on unfounded claims of election fraud—fits an authoritarian pattern: when power feels threatened, the response is to inflame fear, erode democratic processes, and frame dissent as criminal
Beck—and now Trump—are proving exactly why the Members’ message was needed. The Members told troops to follow the law and refuse unlawful orders; Beck calls that illegal, even though the statute he cites prohibits urging service members to violate any law, including the duty to refuse illegal orders
November 24, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Beck—and now Trump—are proving exactly why the Members’ message was needed. The Members told troops to follow the law and refuse unlawful orders; Beck calls that illegal, even though the statute he cites prohibits urging service members to violate any law, including the duty to refuse illegal orders
Asking Soldiers to Obey the UCMJ Isn’t a Crime; But Trump Thinks it is. open.substack.com/pub/steadyst... "This is about... conditioning the public to accept extreme reprisals as normal…The danger isn’t the lawmakers...The danger is Trump telling the military the Constitution no longer applies.”
Asking Soldiers to Obey the UCMJ Isn’t a Crime; But Trump Thinks it is.
Steady State | by Bruce G. Berton and Charles A. Ray
open.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Asking Soldiers to Obey the UCMJ Isn’t a Crime; But Trump Thinks it is. open.substack.com/pub/steadyst... "This is about... conditioning the public to accept extreme reprisals as normal…The danger isn’t the lawmakers...The danger is Trump telling the military the Constitution no longer applies.”
substack.com/@steadystate...
A “must read” by Steady State’s own Bill Piekney!
"...the key to politics is timing...This opportunity mustn’t be squandered through inaction or faint effort; the United States has arrived at that point in...history that the founders feared and knew could spell its end."
A “must read” by Steady State’s own Bill Piekney!
"...the key to politics is timing...This opportunity mustn’t be squandered through inaction or faint effort; the United States has arrived at that point in...history that the founders feared and knew could spell its end."
The Steady State (@steadystate1)
A “must read” by Steady State’s own Bill Piekney!
It is said that the key to politics is timing. There is clearly a stirring within the country, for a variety of very legitimate reasons, that is tel...
substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:44 PM
substack.com/@steadystate...
A “must read” by Steady State’s own Bill Piekney!
"...the key to politics is timing...This opportunity mustn’t be squandered through inaction or faint effort; the United States has arrived at that point in...history that the founders feared and knew could spell its end."
A “must read” by Steady State’s own Bill Piekney!
"...the key to politics is timing...This opportunity mustn’t be squandered through inaction or faint effort; the United States has arrived at that point in...history that the founders feared and knew could spell its end."