SecDef Pete Hegseth — I know, Hegseth thinks he’s now Secretary of War, I don’t care — would be the least qualified cabinet member if not for RFK Jr., and it’s possible he’ll get even more people killed. As noted at the link, he’s a racist, misogynist with no experience for this post — but he doesn’t believe in the rules of war and he’ll happily unleash the troops on anyone who dares hurt the Necrotic Toddler’s fee-fees, so that’s enough. (Happily at least some of the troops see he’s going to the Dark Side: “We’ve got active-duty troops who recognize that the military they’re serving in, has become a threat to democracy.”)
Under his tenure the racist The Bell Curve stays on the shelves at the Naval Academy library but a book criticizing it gets yanked. Because he wants a world where white men’s dominance is accepted as normal but nonwhites are dismissed as DEI hires. I’m sure it’s not coincidental that he wants to rename the SS Harriet Tubman and Harvey Milk, among other names that don’t commemorate straight white men. And that as the soldiers who murdered Native Americans at Wounded Knee retroactively lost their Medals of Honor under Biden, Hegseth is putting them back.
This fits with his general view that there are no rules of war beyond win at any cost. And you do that by being merciless and brutal, toxic masculinity incarnate. Which is what lots of people on the right wing think is real manhood and the way to win wars. Which as Paul Krugman points out, is bullshit: the Soviet military, which is the manly ideal for many right-wingers, is showing itself anything but invincible in the Ukraine. Even before the modern, tech-heavy war, the scientists of the Manhattan Project and Alan Turing working on codebreaking were key to victory in WWII.
And as Krugman points out, a lot of the best, toughest and brightest are not white men (the military has a training camp for applicants who aren’t in shape for basic training; most of those who participate are guys). Unfortunately Hegseth can’t admit that so we have policies on facial hair that will affect a lot of black troops, and he doesn’t care for women in combat. I’m sure his insistence on outdated physical fitness standards reflects that.
A number of people thought “Whiskey Pete’s” address to the troops has a subtext that bullying, hazing and sexual harassment are not problems he’s concerned about. Admittedly it’s inconceivable a man with credible accusations of abuse against him would side with abusers and harassers — oh wait, that sounds plausible. But by and large it’s a pointless display that could have been handled on Zoom (or the secure equivalent), and shows the former Fox News talking head’s obsession with looks: “With an emphasis on rules that most impact women and minorities, Hegseth wants to establish his own wokeness, a campaign that stresses looks over actual excellence.”
As others have pointed out, setting dress codes and dealing with soldiers who don’t measure up is the province of much lower-ranked officers, not something the top guy should be worrying about.
Almost all the Republican Senators voted to confirm this manifest incompetent, including my NC senators, Ted Budd and Thom Tillis. The latter interviewed Hegseth’s sister in law, asked for a written statement about Hegseth’s alleged spousal abuse, then kissed the Felon’s ass and voted yes. The party talks a lot about the importance of the military but if they believed that, they’d have voted no. Ultimately loyalty to the Felon is more important, as witness Mike Johnson agrees with his master that unleashing troops on American cities is a great way to train them.
Let us hope Paul Krugman is right and their sheer incompetence will snatch their defeat from the jaws of victory.
