JD Vance and Pete Hegseth know how to hurt Californians: on short notice, they shut down I-5 for four hours while the army fired live ammunition over the freeway. Why, I don’t know — it’s a pointless and risky exercise. Then there was a misfire, and a shell detonated prematurely over the freeway, spattering (harmlessly, fortunately) the police blocking the road with shrapnel.
This is insane.
Why do this at all, other than to let Hegseth flaunt his machismo? And maybe intimidate the citizenry a little bit. Have no fear, the military makes excuses.
A spokesperson for the Marine Corps told CBS News that the incident was under investigation.
“We are aware of the report of a possible airborne detonation of a 155mm artillery round outside the designated impact area during the U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Capabilities Demonstration at Camp Pendleton, CA, Oct. 18,” said a statement from USMC, in part. “The demonstration went through a rigorous safety evaluation, and deliberate layers of redundancy, to ensure the safety of fellow citizens. Following established safety protocols, firing was suspended. No injuries occurred and the demonstration concluded as scheduled. An investigation has been initiated. We are committed to determining the incident’s root cause and applying findings to future missions.”
They did nothing wrong! And they will investigate to find out what happened.
I think what happened is that a pair of incompetent MAGA scoundrels meddled with an exercise to get them to stupidly fire big dangerous guns over the freeway, because they like pushing people around.
How many amphibians did they kill?
Do they not have designated shooting ranges for this stuff? 155mm guns can reach well over 16 miles, so you have to get the details right.
“Denying that an escape of nerve gas was responsible for a massive sheep kill in Utah this spring; a spokesman for the US military announced plans to prevent it from happening again”
quoted from one of Denys Parsons’ books of clangers.
The military acted appropriately following instructions from their civilian leaders. It appears that Newsome was responsible for closing down the freeway. Is he the only Democrat who can go up against this rogue Administration? The stupidity of this Administration is bonkers beyond belief. Their actions are questionable, no irrational. The current Administration prioritizes projecting a macho image, at the expense of American lives.
Also, wondering if the ammo manufacturer will be checked for quality control on their products.
Did they get their ammunition from North Korea? if American munitions explode prematurely, this is a problem. And needs investigation.
Because they can get away with it and want to show off that theycan get away with it. Tointimidate and throw their weight around against the bluest state (atleats by repuatuon) and to piddle hiughest in their own selfish little minds.
Because they think its fun and funny and it amuses them all the more especially because it seems to upset and troll others who they dislike and resent for being better than they are. Basically because they are bullies and douchebags.
It’s worth noting that they refused to close down the freeway, and insisted (when Newsom found out they weren’t and did it himself) that it was pointless fearmongering and Newsom was a bad governor for doing it –
And then this happened.
Pardoned Capitol rioter charged with threatening to kill Hakeem Jeffries at NYC event this week
@ stuffin : What exactly do you think other Democrats can do given they do NOT control Congress or have real power or sufficient numbers to achieve much here? Serious question.
Also the media is very much against them and it is quite possible that a lot of them are speaking out loudly but we are not usually hearing about that becuase the media ignore sthem and those anti-Trump speaches because,well, media barons incl. social media, example of Colbert and Kimmel, ad nauseam
Shrapnel isn’t harmless.
The reason no one was hurt other than a police car that was hit, was because governor Newsom closed down the main freeway, I-5 for four hours.
Over the objections of the fascists who run the Federal government.
Part of this is just overgrown kids playing with their toys.
Hegseth was a nobody before Trump picked him to lead the Department of Defense.
Part of it is trying to intimidate the civilian population.
The US military is a huge source of raw power.
The fascist GOP will use it against the US population if they can.
The message here is, “We can reduce your cities to rubble with our artillery and kill millions of you if we want.”
LA would end up looking like Gaza and for the same reason. No one in LA has a few 155 mm cannons or a nuclear weapon lying around.
As to why the USA wants to declare war on the USA, ask Trump or Hegseth.
Here are the demands of the Seattle Indivisible protest:
I’d say 1, 2, and 4 speak directly to ‘what makes Trump king?’
You mean to say that they couldn’t find some low ranked enlisted man to blame this on. How farthe military office of excuses has fallen.
muttpupdad — I think laying the blame on the manufacturer is a common military practice, too. The manufacturers make millions of rounds of deadly explosives. You can’t make that many things without some boo-boos. Some of them will be duds. Some of them will misfire. Friendly fire deaths are not that rare…up to 15% of casualties in conflict zone.
@ ^ robro : Yup – but the only ones who seem to pay are the
govttaxpayers giving the arsm manufacturers and Military -Industrial complex ever more $$$.Oh & the Generals and Admirals & military brass are now being held to account for .. being fat~ish and having beards apparently by old Kegsbreath the ex- Faux news host and the bloated sack of excrement C-In-C dictator of the USoA.
This was clearly a literal warning “shot fired across the bow” to California. They openly called it a demonstration of the Marines’ amphibious assault capabilities: This is how we will come at you if you keep stepping out of line. If it were merely intended as a demo of how Marines operate in celebration of their 250th (which is next month, not on No Kings weekend), there was no need for live ammo.
Btw, Couch Cowboy was in attendance nearby, which suggests that the Pyrite King has now botched two opportunities to assassinate his vice presidents.
@9 – StevoR
The Trump administration employs a deliberate strategy of distraction, using outrageous stunts to shift public attention away from its policies and objectives. It is like watching a house burn or a crash on the freeway. Their followers remain focused on sensational events rather than substantive issues.
The Democratic leadership has struggled to divert attention from the so-called “Trump show.” Many of us perceive a lack of effective leadership. Its most prominent figures have not generated enough noise to rival the administration’s dominance of the media. Gavin Newsom, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), Jasmine Crockett, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren have provided some powerful responses that are showing up in the different medias. The Democrats need to redirect the narrative. They do not need to control Congress to put themselves in the spotlight.
Trump loves the spotlight, and he has the advantage as President. That means the Democrats (Pelosi, Schumer, and Jefferies) need to work harder and be more vocal. They do not need to control Congress to achieve greater visibility. Trump has turned this into a popularity contest, and the Democrat leadership is not prepared to deal with it. The administration has weaponized attention and control of what information is given to the public. The current political climate demands Democrats adapt and compete effectively.
My concern is the Democrat leadership is too comfortable in their skins and will not adapt.
…other than to let that drunkard Keggerseth demonstrate his teeny tiny (heavily pancake-makeupped) penis?
FTFY
Waste of money, of course. Place for testing is the testing range, too, but of course it was not testing, it was a demonstration.
—
https://thegunzone.com/how-much-do-average-artillery-shells-cost-the-military/
“How Much Do Average Artillery Shells Cost the Military?
The cost of artillery shells varies dramatically depending on several factors, including caliber, type, sophistication, and quantity purchased. However, a reasonable average estimate for a standard 155mm artillery shell, the most common type used by NATO forces, falls between $800 and $3,000 per shell. This broad range reflects the difference between basic, high-explosive (HE) rounds and more advanced, precision-guided munitions. This average doesn’t account for experimental, high-tech shells, which can cost significantly more.”
Shrapnel From Live Munitions Fired Over California Highway Hits Two Cars In Vice President’s Security Detail
cheerfulcharlie @5: Military contractors are infamous for cutting corners on equipment. There’s a lot of money involved in getting government contracts, which means there’s a lot of back room politics, bribery, and corruption that go into things as well.
Someone put the wrong fuze in the shell, that’s all. Still a pretty major screw up as they are colour coded. Probably a timed fuze instead of proximity or impact or altitude etc.
I am guessing, just blaming incompetence instead of malice or fault in the equipment.
John Morales@18:
Those seem to be rough prices for training shells at the low end and cheap dumb shells at the upper end. Not including the propellant and fuze, so tack on several hundred more dollars per shot. Precision guided shells are estimated around $100k each. All those prices predate the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, who knows what the prices are now.
Still, not likely to really matter compared to the cost of everything else that was being demonstrated.
numerobis, that is of course for the USA military.
cf. https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2023/10/25/155-mm-shells-price-is-growing-8-6-million-for-1000-units/
“The head of the NATO military committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, announced the current prices of conventional artillery 155-mm ammunition, which can really just shock. Because according to him, now their price is 8000 thousand euros for one piece of ammunition.”
(By Boyko Nikolov On Oct 25, 2023)
[sorry; your point is not in dispute, numerobis: those costs are basically rounding errors to Trump’s ever growing waste of taxpayer dollars]
So Kegsbreath’s penis substitute detonated prematurely. A prime example of art imitating life.
One just does not use live ammunition for a “demonstration” being done for a “celebration” — of any kind. If there are noncombatants around, no live ammo. Period.
Unless you’re at Kent State, 04 May 1970, that is. Then it’s just fine.
It would be interesting to work out the typical traffic density and speed at the point where the police car was impacted, which would allow experts to realistically estimate exactly what would have happened if Newsome hadn’t insisted on closing the road.
I think there was a Gomer Pyle episode with a similar plot line.
[OT]
I only ever saw a bit of Gomer Pyle back in the day, so I searched, and I got “To Save a Life” (S5E18) and “One of Our Shells Is Missing” (S3E29) as the closest matches, tfkreference. I think the second is the closest.
(But then, I asked a bot, so I may have missed something)