CHAFFETZ: And Kurt, what do you - what's your reaction to that?
KURT SCHLICHTER, TOWNHALL SENIOR COLUMNIST: Well, look, I'm a retired colonel, so I'm not impressed by generals just because they pin a couple stars on their shoulders. And I think the American people are coming up with that is, Professor Hanson said, and as usual he's writing everything he said.
He pointed out that Reagan Institute study that says only 45 percent of Americans approve of the military now. I cited that for my next book just the other day. In 2018, it was 70 percent. These guys have presided over a freefall of the American people's confidence in the military, which was once the only institution that we still had any respect for.
I'm listening to these guys, and all I hear is, I don't trust my soldiers. They are not going to listen to me. They won't take the vaccine. Holy cow. It would never occur to me that my troops wouldn't follow me, but I guess I was coming up under a different Army. For instance, in my Army, unlike today's Air Force, we did not ask pronouns to our signature blocks. We were serious about were fighting and serious and winning. And in fact, I was in the last war that we unequivocally won, Operation Desert Storm. It's been 30 years.
Now, if these guys were coming off a string of victories, if they had put something in the "W" column, I might be more willing to listen to them. But all I see is a bunch of guys who figure out they can't beat any foreigners, so maybe they will give it a shot with some Americans. Maybe they'll do better. But I kind of doubt that. It's an embarrassment. We need to fire everybody --
CHAFFETZ: All right, gentlemen, I've got a very short amount of time, a very short amount of time. Quickly, 20 seconds each. Why the scare tactic? What do they think they're going to achieve? Twenty second each. Victor?
HANSON: They're preempting. They want to scare conservatives and traditionalists to back and to not try to get voter I.D. and have fairer and free election. So they are planning a coup if you try that, you're planning a coup. And so they're doing this because they're losing support and they're terrified of a midterm disaster in the next year.
CHAFFETZ: A lot of truth to that. Kurt?
SCHLICHTER: Look, we are not going to be talking about this coup nonsense in 2024. We're going to be talking about Putin's successful invasion of Ukraine and the Chinese successful seizure of Taiwan. And I pray that we are not talking about thousands and thousands of American casualties. But this level of incompetence makes that almost a foregone conclusion.
Look, guys, I'm worried. And I think Dr. Hanson is worried, too. And we all need to get our military back into shape and to a warfighting frame of mind.
My new @Townhallcom column it’s pretty harsh. That’s because the scammers and scammer enablers deserve it.
“Fake Professor Jason Arday was found dead in the wake of being exposed as a complete fraud, and if it were my choice, he would still be alive and suffering the humiliation that should be the result of his crimes. I would prefer that he did not likely choose to kill himself instead of facing the consequences of his actions. My preference is irrelevant. If he decided to do himself in, it’s crushing for his wife and kids, and that was a selfish, cruel, and stupid decision. But it was his decision, as was his decision to commit fraud upon fraud. I don’t celebrate his death, and his death changes nothing. We’re not going to stop rooting out the charlatans.”
The Death of Academic Fraud Jason Arday Won’t Shut Us Up https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2026/08/17/the-death-of-academic-fraud-jason-arday-wont-shut-us-up-n2681316
Former Congresswoman MTG is definitely on her way to MSNOW. She is fun.
Congresswoman Nancy Mace is even more fun! Tattoos are her hot chick/crazy dynamic.
My new @Townhallcom column calls out all the doomers, blackpillers, and whiners!
“Let’s review some of the typical complaints from Team All-Is-Lost. The war in Iran hasn’t yet been conclusively won. Millions upon millions of illegal aliens are still in the United States. We’re paying fat slobs to sit on their butts and gobble down Doritos that our welfare dollars pay for. Republicans are weak and soft, and haven’t passed the SAVE Act. Trust-fund communists are taking over the Democrat Party. The economy under Trump 47 hasn’t yet matched the economy under Trump 45. The budget is still out of control. Bureaucrats keep interfering in our agenda. Judges keep getting in the way of progress. Democrats keep getting in the way of progress. Progressives keep getting in the way of progress.
So, we should whine and cry, right? After all, what has Trump accomplished?
A lot. I don’t need a column for that. I need a book.”
The Doomers Can’t Deny Trump’s Big Wins ...
