Reply to Pete Hedgseth for Secretary of Defense

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Marco Rubio, Mike Waltz, John Ratcliff, and Elise Stefanik are all fairly professional, competent, and reasonably good picks.

I wonder why the Trump administration chose to put such a lightweight as SecDef. It's the biggest, most powerful, most bureaucratic, most lethal organization in the history of humanity. And they put the weekend host of an entertainment show as the head of it? There has to be a secondary intent for having such weak leadership, because the undersecretaries and the generals are going to walk all over him. At this moment in time, if Hedgseth were to walk into the Pentagon in his National Guard uniform he'd be saluting roughly three quarters of the people he'd encounter in the hallways. [/quote]

Because he just wants loyalists. He needs someone at the top who will help him purge the ones with ethics, professionalism, and loyalty to the constitution. This is how democracy dies, and fascism replaces it. [/quote]

I don't think so.  I think it's the policy positions Hedgseth has articulated which resonated.  Eliminating the focus on diversity instead of on capability, for example.  [/quote]

It would not be that hard to find an actually qualified appointee who advocated for that position.

Also the idiotic thing about this is that traditionally the military's focus on capability and earning rank and position has been WHY it is such a diverse organization. I remember listening to Colin Powell discuss this eloquently in a speech -- the military offers minorities an opportunity for a career path where advancement (in all but the uppermost levels where yes politics come into play) is extremely transparent. The requirements for joining and for moving up in rank or joining certain divisions are extremely clear and generally very rigid. That's a relief for people who often can never know if they weren't selected for a job or promotion for reasons of race.

If Hegseth maxed out at major it is because he failed to meet the requirement to move higher (if that's what he wanted). He either chose not to pursue higher rank or he was told clearly "this is what you need to do" and didn't do it. That's how the military works.

Trump has elevated this guy to SecDef because of how he looks and the idea that he's loyal to Trump. It's directly contrary to the fundamental idea within the military that you most PROVE your competency before moving into a role, because the stakes are too high for something like good looks or connections to be the deciding factor. That stuff can help you within the military (if for instance you are applying to a public facing role or need an academy recommendation or whatever) but as a general matter you are expected to prove competency first. Even the nepo babies in the military are good at their jobs -- connections opened doors but that's it.

This guy hasn't done that. He will be hated and resented.[/quote]

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