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What the Defense Secretary Austin Scandal Reveals About the Secretive Biden Administration

Posted on Friday, January 12, 2024
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by Tammy Bruce
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It’s bad enough that there are so many clashes happening around the world, but we’ve had to add in the fact that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin disappeared for days without anyone in the chain of command being alerted.

We now know that Secretary Austin has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was hospitalized for a surgery to address the condition, for which he was put under general anesthesia. Days later, he developed an infection and severe pain requiring him to be transported by ambulance back to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

As of this column, he remains in the hospital and is reported to be in “good condition.” That’s good news, but in the process, some very serious issues regarding our government and the Biden administration have been revealed.

Now, the inspector general of the Department of Defense has announced an investigation into exactly what happened that allowed Austin’s hospitalization and incapacitation to be hidden from the White House, the president, the NSA, and even his own second in command, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks. She had been handling the duties of the secretary of defense for at least two days from her vacation spot in Puerto Rico. Reports are that even she was kept in the dark about why she had been delegated the responsibility. This new DoD watchdog investigation joins congressional investigations already underway.

The statement from the DoD watchdog, however, gives us a hint about how this dangerous turn of everts will be minimized. In a memo announcing the investigation, they write: “The objective of the review is to examine the roles, processes, procedures, responsibilities, and actions related to the Secretary of Defense’s hospitalization in December 2023 – January 2024, and assess whether the DoD’s policies and procedures are sufficient to ensure timely and appropriate notifications and the effective transition of authorities as may be warranted due to health-based or other unavailability of senior leadership…” 

“Policies and procedures.” Got it. For this to be discussed as some sort of problem involving regulations and rulebooks is absurd. The country is not ten weeks old, we’ve been doing this now for almost 250 years. Are we supposed to believe that somebody just didn’t get the right memo and didn’t understand that it would be important for the Secretary of Defense, who is in a vital position regarding the chain of command on issues of war, the military, and the national security of the nation, to alert the president of the United States about his incapacitation?

Hardly.

Just today we have learned, finally, that the United states, in concert with the United Kingdom, have unleashed major strikes against the Hoothi, the Iranian proxy terrorist group in Yemen. They are responsible for several strikes against shipping in the Red Sea. That global shipping lane has now been frozen due to the untenable situation.

All of the investigations looking into the inexplicable suppression about Austin’s situation, must at some point not just address the how of the secrecy surrounding Austin’s condition and abilities, but the why of it. Former defense secretary and White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta was asked about the situation, and made an interesting observation: “There’s been a gradual deterioration here with regards to the role of the Cabinet. Because so much authority is centralized in the White House these days, the Cabinet really only comes together usually for a press briefing by the president.” He also noted that the Biden administration “dodged a bullet because if something had happened in that gap that was created, that could’ve been a serious event.”

What this sounds like to me is that everything is being run and micromanaged from the White House, and the cabinet is a bunch of cardboard cutouts propped up to placate the press and the American people.

Moreover, during a time of the war between our major ally Israel and Iranian proxy terrorist group Hamas, as Houthi terrorists were attacking our ships and troops, and our troops in the region were under constant assault resulting in dozens wounded, neither the president or anyone at the NSA had been contact with Austin for days. Meaning the secretary of defense was not a factor in major global military events, and no one noticed. This speaks to Panetta’s remark about “deterioration.”

In some ways, this was inevitable from an administration that behaved secretly from the beginning as President Biden’s own campaign in 2020 was managed from the basement, hidden from the media. Has the Biden administration’s reliance on secrecy, obfuscation, lies, and gaslighting, become the corporate culture of our government?

There is a reason why we elect people, and that is to make sure that we have representation in our republic, but also so that we can hold people accountable for what transpires under their watch. When an anonymous group of bureaucrats makes decisions involving life and death, whether it be about war or the erasure of the southern border, and all the other innumerable issues directly affecting our lives as citizens, we have the right to know who has done these things and then to reward or punish them for their success or failure.

The Austin scandal is not about him exclusively, but the inevitable result of a culture of groupthink and deterioration infecting the Biden administration while allowing our country and the world to collapse into chaos. There is no real cabinet as the bureaucratic state, faceless and unaccountable, appears to be running this country into the ground. Thank goodness we at least have the chance in November to say enough is enough.

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Dan W.
Dan W.
8 months ago

It is stunning that someone who has been in the chain of command for as long as Secretary Austin, failed to disclose his pending absence to those both above and below him including to the President.

Regardless of Secretary Austin’s medical condition, this failure is a fireable offense. He should be fired immediately.

PaulE
PaulE
8 months ago

I’m sure Secretary Austin’s security detail reported to their superiors that the Secretary was in route to the hospital, as well as when he arrived and was checked in by the hospital staff. Standard operating procedure for any high value asset being protected. Whether those persons next in-line to Austin knew what needed to be done afterwards or reported that information up the chain of command is obviously where the focus of any investigation should be. However, as they would simply open up a much bigger can of worms and shine a bright light on the true extent of systemic incompetency of this administration, I for one don’t see any investigation going there. What we will instead get is your standard issue “sweep the whole thing under the rug as fast as possible” type show. All with the hope that the issue fades from the public’s attention in a few weeks.

Given the fact that the upper tiers of management / command of most areas of our federal government were selected and put in place for their allegiance to the Democrat Party and its leftist ideology by those actually running the show, minimal core competencies were probably never real high on the list of priorities. As such, this sort of thing was bound to happen at some point.

The fact that Old Joe may have been totally unaware of what is going on simply speaks to the fact that he doesn’t run things anyway, and as such there is probably a lot of things that no one bothers to inform him of as he doesn’t make the decisions. Is this a dangerous way to run an administration, especially when this administration has created so many crisis events around the world in the past three years? Sure, but this is what we have at this point. Elections, even manipulated ones, do come with real-world, serious consequences. Things like this with Austin are bound to happen at some point.

Both our allies and our enemies are well aware of how weak and disorganized we have become on the world stage. Our allies have all acted accordingly protect themselves, as best is possible, with us now being a unreliable and inconsistent partner. Weakness and appeasement usually does that. Our enemies have of course also taken full advantage of the situation to their benefit as well multiple times already, and we still have at least a year to go.

Socratic Thought
Socratic Thought
8 months ago

A familiar scenario:
1.     There’s a “woke” approved minority hire to a government post.
2.     That same hire screws up royally and/or is highly corrupt.
3.     Establishment race-hustlers & their MSM toadies circle the wagons.
4.     Race Card is played endlessly
5.     Nothing changes.
6.     Soros smiles. Rinse and repeat.

Terry Brinker
Terry Brinker
8 months ago

This administration has made a total mockery of the Presidency and its cabinet. Austin needs to resign. Neither Joe nor Austin are making the decisions regarding the military. So who is running the military?

David Millikan
David Millikan
8 months ago

Excellent article. Where’s the outrage from the Fascist liberals and FAKE news? This was a total breech of National Security and Dictator Beijing biden thinks it was okay for the Secretary of Defense to just DISAPPEAR for DAYS.
Also the ISP making the article jump doesn’t stop the FACTS that the Secretary of Defense left his Post which is DESERTION and DERELICT of DUTY.

Rick K
Rick K
8 months ago

I’m retired Air Force. As soon as I heard about the depth of this debacle I emailed Biden, Harris, both of my senators and my representative snd simply stated that Lloyd Austin must go. Either through firing or by him taking the honorable way out and resigning.
In the intervening few days it has become evident that Austin has no honor. The first thing that I learned in basic training was that one “aw sh¡t” erases a thousand “atta boys.” This is an astronomical “aw sh¡t” which erases everything positive he might have done dating back to the first time he spoke to a recruiter.
The administration’s performance on this issue has been abysmal. The message to the world has been abysmal. Lloyd Austin has demonstrated that to him, it’s just a job. He is not protecting America, he’s protecting his four star and SES double dipping retirements.
However, this is a political season and Austin couldn’t be safer. He should remember, “Duty, Honor, County.” But at his altitude, there is only “Self.”

anna hubert
anna hubert
8 months ago

I am sure there are many happenings of which he is unaware of and it makes not a whit of difference since he is not in charge of anything

masr
masr
8 months ago

No worries, Obama and Rice had everything under control…

Kim
Kim
8 months ago

“…Because so much authority is centralized in the White House these days, the Cabinet really only comes together usually for a press briefing by the president.”
Panetta doesn’t go far enough: when is the last time we heard a press briefing with this president? Biden avoids such confrontations that might challenge his memory and his efficacy at the top job. His handlers see to that; they know how bad it is.

Another time a department secretary went AWOL is when Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg went missing for months. When he finally surfaced, as issues demanded attention, we discovered he had been at home with his husband, bonding with their 2 new adopted children. He missed out on 2 major train derailments with the very lame excuse that he didn’t want government and staff to “get in the way”. Don’t the American people expect “public servants” to put their duty first? Does anyone in this administration know what it means to lead??!

These are just 2 of many situations that indicate the unserious nature of democrats in office. It still astounds me that the American people so patiently put up with this level of incompetence. What the heck are we paying for? Does anyone think we’re getting our money’s worth? As for Austin, I can’t believe someone among his associates, family, friends, and hospital staff didn’t have the foresight to immediately alert biden, the second in command at Defense, or anyone who could cover for his abrupt absence…at such a critical time in world affairs. And I hear that Austin is still hospitalized with a bladder infection. We need a new and more responsible Secretary of Defense now. Sorry, Deputy Sec’y Hicks, it’s time to return to Washington, don’t you think?

Crazy, crazy stupid.

Stan d. Upnow
Stan d. Upnow
8 months ago

OK, one more time for those slow on the awareness uptake—
Every single Cabinet appointment in this Progressive-Socialist regime is either a DEI hire, or has simply pledged undying allegiance to the Cause. Regardless, the one common factor among them is complete subservience to those in control. And that includes the Puppet In Chief, Biden.

Jeff
Jeff
8 months ago

Better yet, while making decisions in the hospital, was General Austin making important decisions under the influence of pain medications or anesthesia?

Nadia
Nadia
8 months ago

Excellent article, thank you. This country has never been weaker and more vulnerable than it is right now under the current administration. This could prove to be a very rocky year. We stand at the edge of a bottomless abyss.

PFArizona
PFArizona
8 months ago

Excellent article and great comparison to how Present Trump ran this country. President Trump’s cabinet consisted of qualified intelligent people that he met and communicated with frequently and trusted their knowledge and insights on issues that affected our Country.

Leo W.
Leo W.
8 months ago

I have been saying since day one. No American is running our country. What we see each day are front people that are being paid big bucks to be used to help destroy our country that many around the world have hated for centuries. You can see the evidence when foreigners break our house and senate rules and nothing becomes of it. They tell us what we should be doing for their s hole countries. America has been sold out for years now, the buyers are now becoming bolder and bolder as they fill our country with their leeches and out government with their spies that control us.

Dave
Dave
8 months ago

Maybe Austin did report to his chain of command. You are assuming Biden is in it. Do you actually think Biden is in charge. Think about it.

Melinda
Melinda
8 months ago

Good analysis, Tammy, as usual. I believe you’re correct as to “cardboard cutouts”, as so many in the cabinet seem (and are) incompetent. Coming to mind are Buttigeig, Mayorkas, Granholm, Austin, Blinken, not to mention Garland, who may not be incompetent but a sneaky snake. Whoever is running the whole show (we suspect is Obama), has a malign agenda. I hope it’s not too late to turn this ship around, but it doesn’t happen overnight. There are a lot of people working on positive change, but it’s an uphill battle with many roadblocks.

Freda
Freda
8 months ago

No problem, no meetings, no communication, no cares !
The sock puppet school play communist crowd the fools elected is solely run by the insane demon brok-O bomma in his u dewar in his dark basement entertainment room.

Robert Zuccaro
Robert Zuccaro
8 months ago

Typical: it went from “we don’t know” to “elective surgery complications” to “prostate cancer treatment”. Never a straight answer from these people pretending they’re always “on top” of every crisis… oh excuse me, never “crisis”… the Biden Admin only has “challenges”! Because they’re “on it”! Meh

Younggun
Younggun
8 months ago

What the hell is 2nd in command hicks doing on vacation? Nobody in the Department of Defense be on vacation with all this is going on in the world.

Fred
Fred
8 months ago

As President, Bidum carries the “nuclear football” or suitcase with him that is key in case of a nuclear attack on America and our responses to it! As his top military leader, Sec. of Defense Austin would brief Bidum on such a situation. Of course he wouldn’t able to do that when sedated in a hospital. ` This is an incredible and very serious gaffe and a lapse in America’s national security. Our enemies not only had another good laugh at our incompetent, weak leaders, but probably moved up the timetable of their next attack and whether it is Taiwan or America. Austin should be fired immediately for incompetence and stupidity! Bidumb is also incompetent, weak, senile and has been bought by several nations! Trump is a strong American Patriot and is America’s only hope of restoring Constitutional Law, crime, sanity and eliminating the illegal invasion at the border and Making America Great Again! Trump 2024!

Shirley
Shirley
8 months ago

Not to worry. Obama is actually in charge and he is why we had Pres.Trump in 2016 and why everyone will now see why. if we still want a “REPUBLIC”, we need Trump back and not soon enough!

Carolyn Perry
Carolyn Perry
8 months ago

Remember the words of Obama: I would be content running everything from my basement…. These ppl are not running anything. They are puppets

JoAnne Rocha
JoAnne Rocha
8 months ago

What can we the people do other than wait to vote in November? That seems a life time away and we don’t even know if the candidate that we want will be on the ballot!!

Granny26
Granny26
8 months ago

The whole Biden administration is a joke….a very BAD joke.

Maureen Botts
Maureen Botts
8 months ago

“What this sounds like to me is that everything is being run and micromanaged from the White House, and the cabinet is a bunch of cardboard cutouts propped up to placate the press”
We the American people don’t even know who is in charge. Not Biden, who is just the largest “cardboard cutout”. Definition of deep state.

David
David
8 months ago

If someone other than a Democrat would have done what Lloyd Austin did, the major news media outlets would have figured out that a cabinet member was hospitalized and the hospitalization would have made front page news.

Rita Kiah
Rita Kiah
8 months ago

We’re IDO-Bots. The Wizard of Odd, I mean Oz got put in the ballot to be a puppet of the Dem-rat ideology. 50- years of Jo-BYE-Dense. Maybe Putin’s available to clean OzziePoo up????

Sam
Sam
8 months ago

The man was a 4 star flag officer. Career Army. Now Secretary of Defense! He didn’t know about letting folks know where he was/is/would be?! BS!!! While I might understand his desire to let a private matter remain private, DAMN…he should not have done THIS!

Richard
Richard
8 months ago

Nothing to be worried about here, Doc Jill is in charge and the handlers, staff, and advisors make their own decisions off the cuff and on the fly.

Lou
Lou
8 months ago

Biden is a PINO
If you do not get it
President in name only

Dyan Ricks
Dyan Ricks
8 months ago

How can President Biden order air strikes without authorization from congress?

Elizabeth Cheever
Elizabeth Cheever
8 months ago

I do not wish ill health for anyone and hope that Sec Austin has a complete recovery. But the chain of events surrounding his hospitalization continues to be part of the “free for all” the Biden Administration is all about as part of the plan to destroy this country. It’s all just a sham.

PITTS
PITTS
8 months ago

In case no one has noticed! From his run-up to the Presidency until current day Joey has taken over the governing of the US. His X boss Obama taught him well. If you can’t get congress to go along with you RULE BY EXECUTIVE DECREE! , and he learned damn well! He has issued Executive Decrees that should have been approved by Congress and has interfered with issues that belonged to both the Legislative and Judicial branches of Government besides his own Executive branch. Somebody should grow big ones and call him on it. I believe the Donald suspected this was coming and tried to inform us of it. Too bad no one listened.

Sue
Sue
8 months ago

Guess rules and regulations are for everybody else. Government can set the rules-regs-policies but. Don’t have to follow them

George Orwell
George Orwell
8 months ago

At this stage, a missing elitist is better than a ruling elitist.

Norma Pollard
Norma Pollard
8 months ago

Biden needs to watch over the country and leave the ugly comments to himself; this man just almost died from Cancer ; does president Biden care SO SELFISHNESS; He needs to be stopped from serving our country President Biden!!!

FRANK BORT
FRANK BORT
8 months ago

Who’s on first? I don’t know

FRANK BORT
FRANK BORT
8 months ago

Who’s on first ???

Alyson
Alyson
8 months ago

The Deep State is in control of the entire government.

The BeastWrangler
The BeastWrangler
8 months ago

You can thank the #SES Selective Executive Service Program Members for facilitating this takeover and creating the cardboard cutouts. Neuter this program now. They exist in every Federal Agency and they are perpetual regardless of who is POTUS, CONGRESS OR APPOINTMENT. By Law!! Research them

Mike
Mike
8 months ago

I would like to ask those in the prostate cancer group at Mayo Clinic how many of them thought that having a proctectomy was a minor surgery.

Doug
Doug
8 months ago

Obama is the one “micromanaging” EVERTHING”. He is a hardcore communist. This is how banana republic dictatorships work. High ranking officials disappear and they tell their media not to report on it, and they don’t.

John
John
8 months ago

Um… “Enough is enough” is already happening. JAG officers are already arresting. Pay attention. Exposure and timing is paramount!

John D
John D
8 months ago

Need I say it again , just another ni***r with no regard for rules and just doing as he damn well pleases
REALIZE YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE BLACK TO BE A USELESS N****R just look at the entire Biden ,Pelousi and Schumer,and Schiffs in Washington DC
Just give him the job he’s BLACK so therefore deserves the job
how many QUALIFIED MEN OR WOMEN other than Austin were over looked because they were not the right color or gender -CHOICE OF TWO MALE OR FEMALE

james carlyle
james carlyle
8 months ago

Right on!

Karen
Karen
8 months ago

There

Gallaghers
Gallaghers
8 months ago

Wait when they let AI take over.

Casey C Matt
Casey C Matt
8 months ago

No, we DON’T know that Austin was treated for prostate cancer, got an infection and was then again hospitalized. That is merely what we have been told.
Where are the photos of Austin in his hospital bed? Surely someone with a cell phone could’a snuck an image and posted it. Something ain’t right here
But heck, the slope head moron is a diversity hire anyway so no wonder his absence wasn’t noticed. The nation is GONE, prepare for whats coming post these scumbags.

Jeanne schmelzer
Jeanne schmelzer
8 months ago

The Russians say they killed Austin in Ukraine in a raid. So if the Austin story of cancer is healed then I would say they are using a double to represent him now.

Melinda
Melinda
8 months ago

As I sit here post this comment, I truly wonder if Secretary Austin was afraid of losing his position because of his medical condition. Or was he embarrassed because of it? Which ever one it was had he just told his subordinates and President Biden it would not have caused this uproar, and probably would have gotten his some compassion. I guess his military training would not allow him to admit any weakness.

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