It takes a certain kind of courage to volunteer yourself for war. It also takes what I’d describe as noble nescience. Or bloodthirst.
On most accounts, America hasn’t fought a war worth fighting in three quarters of a century. You could argue that invading Afghanistan was a righteous cause after 9/11, but two decades later, the Taliban’s back in power. It was, in the final analysis, a failure, and a rather costly one at that. And no, the invasion wasn’t necessary to kill Osama Bin Laden. A drone or the SEALs would’ve found him eventually, likely after some robed royal in Riyadh or the emirates traded his approximate whereabouts for Super Bowl tickets and some missiles. (“Oh, and they want Phil Mickelson too.” “Phil Mickelson? What’s he got to do with anything?” “I don’t know.” “Are they going to kill him?” “No, I don’t think so. They said something about setting up their own golf league.” “Good luck with that.” “I know.” “Ok, whatever. Super Bowl tickets, the missiles and Mickelson for Osama.”)
Whatever combination of courage, bloodlust, naivety, selflessness and misplaced patriotism it takes to enlist knowing you’re going to be deployed, I don’t possess it, particularly not in the context of recent conflicts to which America was a party. As I’ve put it on several occasions, I can’t fathom the mentality of someone who volunteers to run around the desert with a rifle chasing (or being chased by) the Allahu Akbar crowd. Hats off to anyone with the mental fortitude for that, and I say that sincerely: If that’s you, hats off. You’re a braver soul than I.
That means Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary, is braver than me. Because Pete’s been to war. Again and again. But… well, Pete’s a “Fox & Friends” host. That’s not a joke, and by “host” I don’t mean “contributor.” A lot of Trump’s surrogates are Fox “contributors.” Pete’s actually a host, and he’s the sort of guy who doodles Trump as Rambo riding a Velociraptor on his show notes.
To say Pete has a history of deriding “wokeness” in the military ranks would be a mushroom cloud-sized understatement. Hegseth’s an anti-woke crusader who’s suggested, among other things, firing the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, purging “any general” involved in DEI initiatives (which he recently called “woke sh-t”) and giving Israel free rein to bomb Iran. He was also a key player in the effort to win pardons and leniency for US soldiers under scrutiny for war crimes.
There isn’t enough time in the day to provide for a full accounting of Hegseth’s controversial comments about the US military in which he served. But not mentioning this pick of Trump’s simply wasn’t an option on Wednesday. The notion of a “Fox & Friends” host as Defense Secretary is unavoidably cartoonish, and thereby unavoidable from an editorial perspective.
The short version is as follows. Hegseth is the quintessential example of someone Trump would pick to lead the Pentagon. Pete thinks the left might’ve irreparably corrupted the military and seems to believe the relative safeness of the American homeland can be measured by reference to the share of US soldiers who look like Tanto or, preferably, Pablo Schreiber’s Hollywood Tanto. He has degrees from Princeton and Harvard (Trump’s a sucker for the Ivies) and as a Fox host, he’s a natural fit.
According to various accounts, Trump decided on Pete at some point last week, called him, asked him, then flew him to Mar-a-Lago to accept the position in person. As one source dryly put it, in remarks to The Washington Post, “it came together pretty quickly.”
Again, I’m reluctant to cast aspersions at people who’ve been to war, not because I “appreciate their service” (I do, but that’s a separate discussion), rather because I’m in awe of their willingness to do something as crazy as run around Fallujah kicking in doors. That’s not too far removed from Russian roulette. That said, I don’t think I’m out of line, or in any way being disrespectful, to suggest that putting a 44-year-old “Fox & Friends” host who thinks national security’s a function of biceps and SEAL beards in charge of the Pentagon might be suboptimal.
Needless to say, Pete’s confirmation hearing won’t be a cake walk, but it will be funny. Hegseth’s not dumb. In fact, he’s pretty sharp. And he’s quick on his feet, figuratively and, I imagine, literally (“Allahu Akbaaaar!” “Vest! Vest! Run!”). There are going to be some highly skeptical Democrats questioning him, and probably a few hesitant Republicans too. I doubt he’ll be an especially cooperative “witness,” but he’ll be well dressed.
Meanwhile, John Ratcliffe’s going to head the CIA. I’m not going to waste everyone’s time with a superfluous recap of Ratcliffe’s (alleged) resume embellishments given how much attention they garnered in 2019, when Trump tapped him as director of national intelligence. Suffice to say Ratcliffe might’ve exaggerated his national security experience while serving as a federal prosecutor in Texas. Critics alleged he also took credit for an immigration crackdown that was by no means his to claim. He’s a Trump loyalist, and in addition to being a loud voice in the anti-Mueller chorus, he was zealous pursuer of various and sundry Hunter Biden “truths.” (To be fair to John, I don’t think his loyalty to Trump would outweigh his loyalty to the country in a “push comes to absolute shove” scenario.)
Coming quickly back to Pete, the Hegseth pick’s indicative of what the nation and the world can expect in the months and years ahead. Whatever you want to say about Pete the soldier, we’re now one step removed from FBI director Sean Hannity.
Of course everyone does realize all of these nominations are temporary fixtures for Trump to scapegoat later when, and I mean when, sh*t hits the fan. Trump’s a fan of Pete until Pete does something Trump doesn’t agree with or ignores something idiotic that Trump demands. At which point Pete will become a horrible and very bad person who is also stupid and bad at his job. Recalling the revolving door of Trump appointees last time people were stupid enough to elect this malignant narcissist is useful reference.
This is all to say none of this really matters, most of these people will be gone within the first year of Trump part II: Yep, people really are THAT dumb.
Here’s some advice for any future presidential candidate that might somehow get enough votes to beat Trump; don’t try to turn a page that isn’t fully written. People forget easily and fall back into old traps quickly.
I’m hoping at least a few senators are willing to go out on a limb and prevent this guy from being nominated, but you are correct that most of the people he picks won’t last a year in his administration. One of the many enduring mysteries when it comes to people thinking Trump is a good leader is how they can look at his track record and see leadership traits. He embodies all of the traits of the worst managers and CEOs I’ve worked with.
On another note, what are the odds that American troops open fire on US citizens during Trump’s term? 3 to 1?
I’m currently reading ‘On Tyranny’ by Timothy Snyder again and #7 is ‘Be reflective if you must be armed’. Those odds are wholly dependent on those who have sworn oaths taking them more seriously than the people in charge will.
It is not a positive sign that so many active duty, retired, and veteran military members voted for a guy who forsake his oath the first time around.
Sargent Schultz….I Know Nothing!! The next Secretary of Defense
“So anyway I know this guy… Starting in high school and all through college, he pumped gas at the Wawa off exit 7 on the New Jersey Turnpike. Then he went on to become a fashion influencer on TikTok where he has 3 million followers. Anyway, I heard you’re looking for a new CEO of Exxon, and I’d say it’s pretty obvious he’d be the most qualified pick. He spent 6 years pumping gas. Do you realize how busy the turnpike Wawa station is??? If that doesn’t qualify you, I don’t know what does.”
Would love to have that “separate discussion” with you.
Let’s review. We won the Revolution and barely retained our independence in the sequel in 1812. We, (the Union) got lucky and beat the Southerners once but lately, not so much. We “won” the fake Spanish America war. We probably get credit for the two “great” wars. That is it. Lost in Korea and had to settle for the 38th parallel. Lost after more than 10 years in Vietnam, and now we buy clothes, shoes, and the list goes on, from these anti-capitalists. We claimed victory in the first go-’round in Iraq and can hardly claim victory in the second time around. Then we moved to Afghanistan where we spent time, lives and much treasure pushing the Russians out, only to fail to get the money out, and keeping out the Taliban for all of four or five days after we left. We’ve spent billions propping up Israel to what end, certainly not protecting the US. In fact, none of our wars of the last century have actually protected the US and her citizens. The name on the desk of the SecDef has made no difference in any outcome of any of this nonsense.
You skipped the Mexican-American war. That earned formal recognition of Texas along with cession of CA, AZ, NM, UT, NV, and the bits of NM and CO that weren’t already a part of Texas (Texas used to be bigger). Skimming the Wikipedia article, apparently the casus belli was a combination of Mexico’s refusal to sell the aforementioned territory to the United States for $30 million along with the fact that Santa Anna was a dick. (I might be over-simplifying).
Wokeness is a charade to hide the real intentions which is to root out anyone who takes their oath serious enough to choose to defend the constitution vs. fealty towards Donald Trump. The pressure will be incremental, but unceasing. Both Donald and Vladimir are interested in subverting USA military oath therefore the pressure will be heavy.
….and now Matt Gaetz for Attorney General. Loyalty trumps experience again. Previous comment by Blogonymous that many of these won’t last a year is a very likely bet.
I feel like he is choosing people this time around specifically to avoid the turnover. I would bet 90%+ will still be there after a year because they are such sycophants and will just do what they are told to do. Last time there were a good number of independent thinkers, this time not so much. Any failure will be blamed on the wokes, so they will just have to vote harder to get rid of the enemies within, liberals, commies, etc.
“Oh, and they want Phil Mickelson, too.” LMAO
The best jokes on Heisenberg Report are the ones that only a handful of people get.