Posted on 12/06/2024 9:47:59 AM PST by MtnClimber
Pete Hegseth is being Kavanaughed. And the only people dumb enough to fall for it are Republican senators.
I was willing to hear arguments that Hegseth wasn’t the best choice for Secretary of Defense. In his 40s, he’s on his third marriage, and while the rape allegation from his visit to a conservative conference in Monterey is clearly false, I was wide open to the argument that his actions demonstrated poor judgment. I was prepared to hear an argument. Like many combat veterans, Hegseth had some post-war chaos in his life. Discussion was merited.
But the more these arguments have been made, the dumber they’ve become. We’ve seen this play, and we know the third act: more heat, less light, the descent into completely irrational ranting.
Let’s pretend to take this number at face value, for the sake of argument, though Warren is egregiously misrepresenting the estimate about unreported assaults. Let’s just look at the structure of the claim: In 2023, while Lloyd Austin was the Secretary of Defense, 29,000 troops were sexually assaulted. Therefore, Pete Hegseth must never become the Secretary of Defense.
This is the kind of argument people make when they’re piling on, in an atmosphere of hysteria. It has no logic or order to it, and it does the opposite of the thing it’s intended to do: It depicts current leadership as failures, while arguing against a course correction. Bob punched me in the face, which proves that John is very bad. This is currently the logical structure of half the “news.”
In another Martha-do-you-hear-yourself moment, Lloyd Austin himself recently attacked Hegseth for arguing that women shouldn’t serve in the combat arms:
But read this carefully, and look for the own-goal:
Women serving in combat are facing more danger than men, Austin said.
Therefore, women should serve in combat. Explain the logic, Lloyd. Amazingly, the journalist who reported Austin’s comments missed the implications, mindlessly typing up the claim that women in combat are in more danger than men, then — next paragraph! — framing that statement as a rebuke to someone who warned that the service of women in combat “made fighting more complicated.” We’re not discussing; we’re ritually lining up behind our teams.
So.
The Washington Post reports today that — brace yourself for this — pEtE hEGseTh drInKs BeeRRRR OH NO:
Several years ago, during a St. Patrick’s Day segment on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” support staff at the cable news network set up a display of beers for a holiday segment on the show. After the segment aired, Hegseth walked by the display table and drank each beer, according to two former colleagues who witnessed the incident and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive episode. The incident struck the colleagues as jarring for two reasons: One, the displayed drinks had been sitting out for hours and were stale and warm; two, the show wraps up at 10 a.m., an early hour for alcohol consumption.
Welcome home, Carrie Nation. We missed you.
So Pete Hegseth drank beer. And several people witnessed the incident! And my goodness, if there’s one thing a newspaperman won’t tolerate, it’s the consumption of intoxicants. Same for members of Congress, by the way. They’re all very sober all the time.
Same vibe, and you’ll have to click this link to watch the video:....SNIP
My father fought in WWII in the Marine Corps. I have a photo of him from 1944 with 11 other Marine officers sitting around drinking beer. It’s a good thing he was never nominated to become Secretary of Defense—that photo would have killed his chances.
Isn’t that truth! I think that is why Trump picked him. He has been in the trenches. I am sorry, A JAG Officer would not know what war is like. AND WE NEED A WAR TIME COMMANDER.
DeSantis needs to stay put. Kelly is a dufus
Yes, that is true as well.
Because he's a combat veteran, he knows better than the usual perfumed princes that populate the E-Ring of the Pentagon. He knows the real price our military members face in battle and he's far less likely to risk those young people unnecessarily or waste money on social experiments or the latest contractor "shiny pennies".
He went through the process that many of us go through when we return: drinking excessively and multiple marriages. It's part of the process when you return from war.
“On ANY nominee. Can you understand that?”
It’s sad that after all these years, there are weak sisters on this forum that will give up and let the Democrats get away with it.
We used to joke that smoking pot was a gateway to *gasp* drinking beer!
Also, he probably taste-tested each beer, but the author frames it as if he guzzled numerous beers in succession.
The mere idea that Fauxcahontas is playing point woman for the ash heap that is the Democrat Party makes no sense. None. She’s either freelancing or there is a complete void of party leadership right this second. All the more reason to run over all of these creeps and confirm Hegseth.
“He went through the process that many of us go through when we return: drinking excessively and multiple marriages. It’s part of the process when you return from war.”
I know a 27 year Marine Corps veteran. He served in combat during two wars - Korea and Vietnam, and received Purple Hearts for debilitating injuries in both conflicts which required multiple surgeries, weeks of hospitalization, and pain that never ended. He received a number of combat medals and other awards.
This soldier, officer, and gentleman began his career by enlisting as a private and fighting hand to hand in the frozen snows of Korea. He rose to the officer ranks and retired as a Lt. Colonel. In Vietnam he was a helicopter pilot flying combat missions in Vietnam and Laos as well as downed pilot rescue missions in North Vietnam. He married once, a marriage lasting 62 years that ended on the day his wife died. This man understood the role of a leader and he modeled the behavior he expected of the men he commanded. He walked the talk that character matters. To the best of my knowledge he never drank alcohol or used drugs. His children followed his example and had exemplary careers and strong families.
His process for returning from war was take on each assignment with energy and enthusiasm and to perform at the highest possible standard as a leader, a husband, and a father. He spent his evenings and weekends with his family, not escaping from his memories by drinking himself into a stupor, and chasing skirts, at the O’Club bar.
I asked him once why he didn’t make general, knowing his lack of a college degree probably held him back. His response, “I never put any soldier in under my command at risk of being killed or wounded for the purpose of advancing my career.”
Leaders with discipline, high standards of personal conduct, and command experience exist in the military and I’ve had the honor to know quite a few. They can be found, if this is the type of leader you are seeking.
In my experience, most survivors of infantry combat and similar levels of violence, fear, sleepless and death had a harder time recovering from it.
Before you cite somebody else's experience - how much direct combat have you experienced yourself? Before you sound off about the supposed "weakness" of everyone else other that your example Marine, why don't you tell us all about your methods of dealing with seeing your friends suffer and die - or the methods you dealt with killing others?
I'm listening.
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