Pete Hegseth Needs to Go. Now.

[Yssup Rider]

One of the many editorials calling for the removal of Trump's reprehensible attack wretch, Pete Hegseth.

He could be charged with war crimes and could be by some international courts. Congress is demanding he prove the legality of his war against the fentanyl (not) traffickers from Venezuela, and the illegal orders he gave to "kill them all."

Of course, they'll publicly flog a scapegoat general over the deal so we'll think this wasn't Hegseth's doing (with Trump's knowledge and approval).

Hegseth, Kennedy, Rubio, ALL of Trump's ass kissers - need to be removed ASAFP.

In these positions, incompetence is dangerous, and blowing up boats on the high seas and coming back to kill the survivors is fucking disaster.


https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/20...efense/685098/

Pete Hegseth Needs to Go—Now
A man with such contempt for the military should not run the Pentagon.


ve always sent people to lead the Pentagon who respect the institutions and personnel of the armed forces, not least because Americans tend to bristle at any sign that an administration does not unreservedly support the men and women of the U.S. military. (Just ask Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both of whom were castigated for such supposed disrespect.) In his first term, Donald Trump sent General James Mattis, a veteran of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and then, when Mattis quit, he appointed a long-serving defense professional, Mark Esper.

But this time, the president found a perfect instrument of destruction to send across the Potomac: Pete Hegseth, a Trump sycophant who served in the military, topped out at the mid-level rank of major, and left full of bitterness and resentment toward a military establishment that clearly didn’t value his brilliance and fortitude.

The halls of the Pentagon are apparently strewn with rakes these days, and Hegseth has managed to step on almost all of them, including security blunders, needless fights with the press, and envious, unmanly whining about the medals on the uniform of Senator Mark Kelly, a veteran of higher rank and far greater achievement than Hegseth himself. Like Trump, Hegseth thinks his job is to get even with people he views as enemies: When Hegseth pulled more than 800 senior officers into an auditorium to give them a long and pointless harangue, it was not only disrespectful; it was cringe-inducing, like watching the angriest kid in your high school come back 20 years later as the principal and unload his adolescent gripes on all the teachers in the staff lounge.

Now, however, Hegseth is in new and far more dangerous territory. The Washington Post reported last Friday that, back in September, Hegseth ordered the killing of the survivors of the first strike against what the administration says are terrorist-controlled drug boats. If this report is accurate, it means that Hegseth issued what is called a “no quarter” order, a crime in both American and international law.

So far, the president and the secretary have not disputed the facts, instead fumbling about with classic Beltway-style “non-denial denials.” Today, the White House admitted that the second strike did in fact take place, but on the orders of the Special Operations Command chief, Admiral Frank Bradley, which seems to be setting Bradley up as a scapegoat. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said today that “Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes,” adding that Bradley “worked well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.”

This seems implausible. Bradley is an experienced officer who by virtue of his rank and position would be intimately familiar with the laws of armed conflict. He would have to know that such an order is likely a war crime, and any senior officer would want civilian leadership to sign off on an order with such potentially immense consequences, especially on the first such operation. (If the admiral actually did give the order on his own, that’s little comfort; it would mean Hegseth’s Defense Department is even more dysfunctional and out of control than anyone might have guessed.)

If either Hegseth or Bradley gave such an order—or if Hegseth issued the order and Bradley carried it out—both could be guilty of murder and war crimes. The United States, after World War II, prosecuted German and Japanese officers for similar offenses. (Yesterday, in fact, was the 80th anniversary of the execution by firing squad of Heinz-Wilhelm Eck, a Nazi U-Boat commander who sank a civilian steamer and then killed the survivors.) Such a possibility is horrendous enough, but Hegseth has since responded to these grave accusations with the crass juvenility characteristic of the toddlers who run this administration.

Yesterday, the secretary of defense of the United States of America posted a meme on X depicting Franklin, the cartoon turtle who is a beloved children’s-book character, as a Special Forces operator killing people on boats. He added a comment: “For your Christmas wish list…” Just to make the point, the secretary tagged the X account of SOUTHCOM, the Southern Forces Command, which has had to carry out the strikes, as if blowing up boats and killing the survivors was a joke to be shared with a chuckle and a backslap.

Perhaps Hegseth thinks that sinking boats on the high seas is funny. Maybe he just wanted to own the libs and all that. Or maybe he thought he could disrupt the gathering war-crimes narrative, like the school delinquent pulling a fire alarm during an exam. Or maybe he just has poor judgment and even worse impulse control (which would explain a lot of things about Pete Hegseth). No matter the reason, his choice to trivialize the use of American military force reveals both the shallowness of the man’s character and the depth of his contempt for the military as an institution.

Posting stupid memes after being accused of murder is not the response of a patriot who must answer to the public about the security of the United States and its people in uniform. It is not the response of a secretary of defense who values the advice of the officers who report to him. It is not the response of a human being who comprehends the risks—and the costs—of ordering other people to kill helpless men clinging to the wreck of a boat.

It is, instead, the response of a sneering, spoiled punk who has been caught doing wrong and is now daring the local fuzz to take him in and risk the anger of his rich dad—a role fulfilled by Donald Trump, in this case.

Institutions, for a time, can cope with buffoonish leaders. While the secretary has been festooning the Pentagon with new Department of War signs, adults in the building have tried to conduct some of the nation’s geopolitical business. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll, for example, is likely the Defense Department point man for Ukraine because Hegseth has made a fool of himself too many times to be taken seriously by American opponents. (The Russians would have to suppress the smirks on their faces if Hegseth were sent to Moscow or Geneva for anything more than a grip-and-grin photo opportunity.)

But Hegseth is still the secretary of defense. He can be kept out of important meetings and excluded from rooms where policies are being debated, but his authority to order the military into action means he can still risk American lives and get people killed. In a remarkable paradox, Hegseth’s formal power and personal incompetence—to say nothing of his apparently nonexistent moral compass—mean he remains dangerous even if he is otherwise insignificant.

Enough of this. Trump is president and has the right to stay in office for his term, even if he thinks fallen warriors are “losers” and “suckers” who have no purpose beyond serving his needs as props and pawns. He again showed how little he regards military lives this weekend when he was asked if he would attend the funeral of Sarah Beckstrom, the young West Virginia National Guardsman killed in Washington, D.C., last week. He said he would think about it, and then immediately made her death about him by adding that he won big in West Virginia in the last election, as if that were relevant to whether he owed her his presence at her funeral.

Pete Hegseth, however, was elected by no one. He is an unprofessional—and sometimes unstable—appointee who does not seem to comprehend the seriousness of the office he occupies, does not respect the senior officers who serve this country, and does not seem to care at all about the people of the U.S. military, except that he’s worried that too many of them are fat—or women. Hegseth is unqualified and incompetent, and he should have been fired months ago.

The secretary is unlikely to resign, but Trump has a record of throwing people under the bus when they are no longer of use to him, and Republicans should increase the pressure on him to fire the most unqualified secretary of defense in U.S. history. Let them and all Americans say to Hegseth what the British politician Leo Amery said to Neville Chamberlain as Europe began to crumble under the Nazi offensive in 1940: “Depart, I say, and let us have done with you.” Channeling Oliver Cromwell from centuries earlier, Amery added: “In the name of God, go.”

In the name of God, Pete Hegseth, go.

[The_Waco_Kid]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

One of the many editorials calling for the removal of Trump's reprehensible attack wretch, Pete Hegseth.

He could be charged with war crimes and could be by some international courts. Congress is demanding he prove the legality of his war against the fentanyl (not) traffickers from Venezuela, and the illegal orders he gave to "kill them all."

Of course, they'll publicly flog a scapegoat general over the deal so we'll think this wasn't Hegseth's doing (with Trump's knowledge and approval).

Hegseth, Kennedy, Rubio, ALL of Trump's ass kissers - need to be removed ASAFP.

In these positions, incompetence is dangerous, and blowing up boats on the high seas and coming back to kill the survivors is fucking disaster.


https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/20...efense/685098/

Pete Hegseth Needs to Go—Now
A man with such contempt for the military should not run the Pentagon.


ve always sent people to lead the Pentagon who respect the institutions and personnel of the armed forces, not least because Americans tend to bristle at any sign that an administration does not unreservedly support the men and women of the U.S. military. (Just ask Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both of whom were castigated for such supposed disrespect.) In his first term, Donald Trump sent General James Mattis, a veteran of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and then, when Mattis quit, he appointed a long-serving defense professional, Mark Esper.

But this time, the president found a perfect instrument of destruction to send across the Potomac: Pete Hegseth, a Trump sycophant who served in the military, topped out at the mid-level rank of major, and left full of bitterness and resentment toward a military establishment that clearly didn’t value his brilliance and fortitude.

The halls of the Pentagon are apparently strewn with rakes these days, and Hegseth has managed to step on almost all of them, including security blunders, needless fights with the press, and envious, unmanly whining about the medals on the uniform of Senator Mark Kelly, a veteran of higher rank and far greater achievement than Hegseth himself. Like Trump, Hegseth thinks his job is to get even with people he views as enemies: When Hegseth pulled more than 800 senior officers into an auditorium to give them a long and pointless harangue, it was not only disrespectful; it was cringe-inducing, like watching the angriest kid in your high school come back 20 years later as the principal and unload his adolescent gripes on all the teachers in the staff lounge.

Now, however, Hegseth is in new and far more dangerous territory. The Washington Post reported last Friday that, back in September, Hegseth ordered the killing of the survivors of the first strike against what the administration says are terrorist-controlled drug boats. If this report is accurate, it means that Hegseth issued what is called a “no quarter” order, a crime in both American and international law.

So far, the president and the secretary have not disputed the facts, instead fumbling about with classic Beltway-style “non-denial denials.” Today, the White House admitted that the second strike did in fact take place, but on the orders of the Special Operations Command chief, Admiral Frank Bradley, which seems to be setting Bradley up as a scapegoat. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said today that “Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes,” adding that Bradley “worked well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.”

This seems implausible. Bradley is an experienced officer who by virtue of his rank and position would be intimately familiar with the laws of armed conflict. He would have to know that such an order is likely a war crime, and any senior officer would want civilian leadership to sign off on an order with such potentially immense consequences, especially on the first such operation. (If the admiral actually did give the order on his own, that’s little comfort; it would mean Hegseth’s Defense Department is even more dysfunctional and out of control than anyone might have guessed.)

If either Hegseth or Bradley gave such an order—or if Hegseth issued the order and Bradley carried it out—both could be guilty of murder and war crimes. The United States, after World War II, prosecuted German and Japanese officers for similar offenses. (Yesterday, in fact, was the 80th anniversary of the execution by firing squad of Heinz-Wilhelm Eck, a Nazi U-Boat commander who sank a civilian steamer and then killed the survivors.) Such a possibility is horrendous enough, but Hegseth has since responded to these grave accusations with the crass juvenility characteristic of the toddlers who run this administration.

Yesterday, the secretary of defense of the United States of America posted a meme on X depicting Franklin, the cartoon turtle who is a beloved children’s-book character, as a Special Forces operator killing people on boats. He added a comment: “For your Christmas wish list…” Just to make the point, the secretary tagged the X account of SOUTHCOM, the Southern Forces Command, which has had to carry out the strikes, as if blowing up boats and killing the survivors was a joke to be shared with a chuckle and a backslap.

Perhaps Hegseth thinks that sinking boats on the high seas is funny. Maybe he just wanted to own the libs and all that. Or maybe he thought he could disrupt the gathering war-crimes narrative, like the school delinquent pulling a fire alarm during an exam. Or maybe he just has poor judgment and even worse impulse control (which would explain a lot of things about Pete Hegseth). No matter the reason, his choice to trivialize the use of American military force reveals both the shallowness of the man’s character and the depth of his contempt for the military as an institution.

Posting stupid memes after being accused of murder is not the response of a patriot who must answer to the public about the security of the United States and its people in uniform. It is not the response of a secretary of defense who values the advice of the officers who report to him. It is not the response of a human being who comprehends the risks—and the costs—of ordering other people to kill helpless men clinging to the wreck of a boat.

It is, instead, the response of a sneering, spoiled punk who has been caught doing wrong and is now daring the local fuzz to take him in and risk the anger of his rich dad—a role fulfilled by Donald Trump, in this case.

Institutions, for a time, can cope with buffoonish leaders. While the secretary has been festooning the Pentagon with new Department of War signs, adults in the building have tried to conduct some of the nation’s geopolitical business. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll, for example, is likely the Defense Department point man for Ukraine because Hegseth has made a fool of himself too many times to be taken seriously by American opponents. (The Russians would have to suppress the smirks on their faces if Hegseth were sent to Moscow or Geneva for anything more than a grip-and-grin photo opportunity.)

But Hegseth is still the secretary of defense. He can be kept out of important meetings and excluded from rooms where policies are being debated, but his authority to order the military into action means he can still risk American lives and get people killed. In a remarkable paradox, Hegseth’s formal power and personal incompetence—to say nothing of his apparently nonexistent moral compass—mean he remains dangerous even if he is otherwise insignificant.

Enough of this. Trump is president and has the right to stay in office for his term, even if he thinks fallen warriors are “losers” and “suckers” who have no purpose beyond serving his needs as props and pawns. He again showed how little he regards military lives this weekend when he was asked if he would attend the funeral of Sarah Beckstrom, the young West Virginia National Guardsman killed in Washington, D.C., last week. He said he would think about it, and then immediately made her death about him by adding that he won big in West Virginia in the last election, as if that were relevant to whether he owed her his presence at her funeral.

Pete Hegseth, however, was elected by no one. He is an unprofessional—and sometimes unstable—appointee who does not seem to comprehend the seriousness of the office he occupies, does not respect the senior officers who serve this country, and does not seem to care at all about the people of the U.S. military, except that he’s worried that too many of them are fat—or women. Hegseth is unqualified and incompetent, and he should have been fired months ago.

The secretary is unlikely to resign, but Trump has a record of throwing people under the bus when they are no longer of use to him, and Republicans should increase the pressure on him to fire the most unqualified secretary of defense in U.S. history. Let them and all Americans say to Hegseth what the British politician Leo Amery said to Neville Chamberlain as Europe began to crumble under the Nazi offensive in 1940: “Depart, I say, and let us have done with you.” Channeling Oliver Cromwell from centuries earlier, Amery added: “In the name of God, go.”

In the name of God, Pete Hegseth, go.

no cabinet members are elected. just not seeing the point here?


and by the way ... Hegseth is more qualified (there are no requirements to be Sec of War) than Dickhead Cheney. Yes?


how about all those Generals and Admirals who misplaced billions? how qualified were they???



BAHAAAAAAAAAA

[Why_Yes_I_Do]

Nice rage posting. I bet Tom Nichols feels better than taking a good solid dump after 3 days of constipation now.

But as the numbers go; war tends to be a greater good construct. As I understand it, a typical, so called(?), narco-boat delivers enough goods(?) to kill between 25,000 to 100,000 Americans and is piloted by a crew of 3-4. There is no collateral damage to other property or persons.

Speaking of numbers: The Pentagon began doing "official" audits of their funding back in 2018 or so. Here is a list of all the years they passed said audits:

• .

Speaking of dates:
Harken back to a balmy June day in 1971, when U.S. President Richard Nixon declared war on "public enemy number one". Ain't it 'bout time we git 'er dun?!?

[Yssup Rider]

There has been no confirmation of what is on those boats, or how much of it. No idea who is on those boats. But we do know the fentanyl they’re supposed to be stopping doesn’t come from Venezuela.

You’ve fallen for Trumps bullshit hook, line and sinker. Those numbers are ambiguous at best and utterly false in all likelihood. But they sound good to the mob and have been repeated enough for the average MAGA to remember them.

And there is no war. Congress didn’t approve any war.

The US is committing mass murder at Hegseth’s command.

With Trump’s approval.

They should both be held accountable.

[texassapper]

No. He doesn't.

[Hdtown]

He was a weekend warrior and a weekend news FOX ass and you expect anything else.

[yeahsurewhatev]

As long as the warrior ethos means hiding under the desk when they ask, Who’s responsible? he’s the man for the job.

[Why_Yes_I_Do]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

There has been no confirmation of what is on those boats, or how much of it. No idea who is on those boats. But we do know the fentanyl they’re supposed to be stopping doesn’t come from Venezuela...

Hmmm... if only we had some intel, satellite and listening devices and such.

Oh snap! You could volunteer to parashoot down to one of those boats. I'm confident that your keen eye for details would be utilized. Wait! You should get paid USD 1 million after a year of recon service. Only seems fair.

Anyway, you parashoot down, scout it all out and if it looks like bad Ju-Ju, just look up to the sky and give a thumbs up. The military can take it from there in like 4 seconds. If it's all good, you get a free ride to somewhere.

Seems like we all win with that one Gilligan.

[Yssup Rider]

Originally Posted by yeahsurewhatev

As long as the warrior ethos means hiding under the desk when they ask, Who’s responsible? he’s the man for the job.

There's the unsurprising finger pointing now.

Somehow, with all the intel, satellite imaging and whatever else WYID seems to believe we have - and we likely do - why would we not know what was in those alleged fentanyl boats? And why would Hegseth order Bradley to "kill them all?"

Murder on the high seas. Hegseth said it was "the fog of war." Except there is no war, declared or otherwise.

Is this an intelligence fuckup that's been going on for months?

Nah, there's a grift involved. Bet your life on it Skipper.

[texassapper]

Originally Posted by Hdtown

He was a weekend warrior and a weekend news FOX ass and you expect anything else.

He is a Princeton ROTC grad, served in the NG, and regular Army, and volunteered for service in Iraq in 2005 when things were busy going splodey. A HUMV he was in took an RPG hit that failed to detonate...

What did you do during the war, Hero?

[txdot-guy]

Originally Posted by texassapper

He is a Princeton ROTC grad, served in the NG, and regular Army, and volunteered for service in Iraq in 2005 when things were busy going splodey. A HUMV he was in took an RPG hit that failed to detonate...

What did you do during the war, Hero?

None of his service makes him a good fit for Secretary of Defense.

He really needs to be removed and replaced.

[Hdtown]

Survived Vietnam unlike your MAGA tards and Diaper Don who evaded the draft.

[Mort Watt]

MAGA will defend anyone Trump appoints doing anything Trump tells them to.

The contradictions in his actions are absurd.

Kill a bunch of people in supposed drug boats...

Then free the man responsible for supporting the export of an estimated 500 Fucking Tons of...(things not allowed to be named here) to the U.S.

500

FUCKING

TONS

MAGA, how in the living fuck can you support this? When does your shame kick in for putting these jerks in charge?

[Lucas McCain]

Douchebag Heggy appears to be much more trouble than his sorry ass is worth. I barely even pay attention to all of this political crap, and even I am hearing about that dipshit way too much these last few days and I basically just watch sports if I am wasting my time watching TV.

If I am hearing about this incompetent asshole this much lately, I can't imagine how much everyone else is hearing about him. That clueless shit talking pseudo bravado clown just really doesn't seem like he is worth the unnecessary headache for Trump.

[Yssup Rider]

Hes fucked up everything he’s touched since becoming the secretary of DUI.

And a Colombian family is seeking murder charges against him. That means he won’t be able to supervise the invasion of Colombia when His Snoozeship is finished with Venezuela