Writing on the MSNBC website, former Obama administration official Brandon Friedman explains why Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense is unqualified. Pete Hegseth is a FOX News host on “Fox and Friends.” He served in the National Guard and deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo. He started his career as a financial analyst at Bear Stearns.
Why is he unqualified?
Friedman writes:
Where to begin? Let’s start with the big one: Hegseth is not qualified for this role. He has no particular experience or expertise that would lead any sane person to put him in charge of America’s military, including the largest governmental bureaucracy in the world.
He has no managerial experience. The defense Department has 3 million people on its payroll and a budget of $842 billion. It’s a massive bureaucracy.
His personal life is messy. While married to his first wife, he had a baby with a woman who became his second wife (he now has a third wife).
Friedman: This is relevant because it’s not clear Hegseth can even get a security clearance, much less the type needed to run the Defense Department. Behavior like that opens individuals to blackmail and espionage and many aspiring civil servants each year are denied clearances for far less.
He was part of a 12-person group that was not allowed to assist in Biden’s Inauguration because of his tattoos, including one that is a white supremacist symbol.
He has opposed punishment of American military who are accused of war criminals. He opposes DEI initiatives in the military. He opposes women in combat, even those who have passed the physical tests to become green Berets or Seals.
Others have written about one of Hegseth’s quirks. He says he hasn’t washed his hands in ten years. He can’t see the germs so he doesn’t believe in them. (Not even after going to the toilet? Disgusting. Wear gloves if you ever meet him.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It’s an absolutely insane pick. I hope against hope there are enough GOP senators with a spine.
(I will say though that listing opposition to DEI initiatives in the military among the reasons why he’s not qualified is a little weird. The devils are in the details on that one.)
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“Hegseth spoke at the 2018 Arutz Sheva conference in Jerusalem, where he stated “there’s no reason why the miracle of the re-establishment of the Temple on the Temple Mount is not possible.”[47] ” I see that he’s looking at Israel through the lens of bible prophecy. Not Good!
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The whole circus making ridiculous nominations is probably a ruse, especially if Trump is not working from ignorance but from a regular fascist playbook. I referred to the below in another note but posted the below regarding the Hegseth nomination.
I laughed out loud several times yesterday watching the reactions of the House members and others to the Gaetz nomination, though, for me, the “vomit in my mouth” comment was a bit over the top.
Then I think of that quote (paraphrased), ” . . . when they came for x, . . . then when they came for me . . . .”
Trump is coming for his own GOP members who cross him, to eat them alive. They already crossed him on the Thune election (they could do that with less fear probably because it came through Musk). If they cross him on the Hegseth or any of the other nominations that he truly wants, he will go after them in person-appropriate ways. I would be happy but surprised if Trump is not already threatening them all, and they all show up later with really plausible arguments about why Gaetz or whomever is a good nomination. Remember that trip to Mara Lago in a huff by Trump’s chief of staff, then smiley pictures, then the trip back having seen the light.
But it’s not about Trump’s ignorance; rather my guess is it’s about his planning—putting people in offices who can only destroy the institutions they are supposed to lead, if not one, then another.
Also, this is from that Guardian article someone here linked to earlier the article’s author writes:
“And my friends in other countries know exactly where this leads.“
Maria Ressa, the Filipino journalist. Photograph: Alecs Ongcal/The Guardian
“Another message arrives from Maria Ressa, the Nobel prize-winning Filipino journalist. In the Philippines, the government is modelled on the US one and she writes about what happened when President Duterte controlled all three branches of it:
‘It took six months after he took office for our institutions to crumble.’ And then she was arrested.”
My guess is that Trump has no use for government institutions; to him they just put up blocks to his totalitarian control. They are the “deep state” that, to you and me, may always need work, but still, are essential to the civil society we want to support. They do the job or keeping order for a huge country. Steve Bannon is a part of the present threat we are under precisely because he wants to “blow it all up.”
If Trump isn’t working right out of the fascist playbook and doesn’t want “our institutions to crumble,” it would be difficult to say how his actions differ from it, and I’d be greatly surprised–as will his voters when it’s all done. CBK
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This is a lie and a slander.
He was part of a 12-person group that was not allowed to assist in Biden’s Inauguration because of his tattoos, including one that is a white syupremacist symbol.
The Jerusalem Cross is not a white supremacist symbol. It is a Christian symbol and that is why he was excluded. Now if he had a tattoo of the Sodomite flag there wouldn’t have been a problem. These lies and exaggerations are why nobody believes the MSM/Left.
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Jim,
You think that a National Guard major who has never managed ANYTHING OF ANY SIZE should command America’s Defense Department with 3 million people and a budget of $842 billion?
How demoralizing for 4-star generals and admirals to report to a lower ranking officer!
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Yes, let’s keep putting the same people in charge that have led and managed us into never ending disastrous military campaigns. For the intellectually curious you can actually listen to Hegseth himself for 2 1/2 hours on the Shawn Ryan Podcast. That would require some effort. It is much easier to regurgitate what you are being spoon fed by a deceptive and agenda driven media.
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Of course, his primary qualification for Secretary of Defense is his talking. Talk show host.
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Diane Ravitch, I can understand your skepticism. While I tend to agree with Pete Hegseth ideologically, I would rather have someone with experience in the armed forces in charge of anything related to national defense. Draft dodging people like Dick Cheney should never be anywhere near positions of influence regarding war policy.
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I agree with you in part.
Draft dodgers like Trump should never be President
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Sodomite flags? Is Trump selling those too?
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Jim,
You did not read the article.
Hegseth and his group were not excluded because of the Jerusalem Cross tattoo.
They were excluded because Hegseth has the “Deus Volt” tattoo.
That is used today by white supremacists.
Robert LeBlanc of Villanova University wrote about “Deus Volt” as a Neo-Nazi symbol.
Villanova is a Catholic university.
https://search.app/vorGQVR34YhBsZiH7
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Wrong he was excluded for the Jerusalem Cross. Boomer media spoon feeding Boomers misinformation is finished. If you continue to get your information from an increasingly irrelevant and desperate legacy media you will continue to “not understand” what is actually going in the world.
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Jim,
I question your reading ability.
Read this, from the linked article:
“Hegseth may also have trouble getting cleared for the same reason he was barred from working at President Biden’s inauguration in 2021. Before that event, 12 National Guard members were removed from the inauguration’s security team after being vetted by the FBI. Hegseth later admitted that he was one of the 12. “Members of my unit in leadership deemed that I was an extremist or a white nationalist,” he said, blaming it on his “Jerusalem Cross tattoo.” However, what may have caught the bureau’s eye is the “Deus Vult” tattoo on Hegseth’s bicep, a Crusader motto now widely used by white supremacists and Christian nationalists.”
His group was barred not for his Jerusalem Cross but for his Deus Volt tattoo.
DEUS VOLT.
DEUS VOLT.
DEUS VOLT.
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Jim,
Do you think the FBI should have welcomed a group whose members wore neo-nazi symbols to protect President Biden at his inauguration?
What part of neo-Nazi do you not understand?
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I’m sure Jimbo approves of the “Deus Volt” Neo-Nazi symbolism. Hegseth, part of the hate wing media conglomerate that has been spreading its venom for decades. Now they have the president of their twisted dreams.
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So Jim is the one lying and slandering? Why?
Why is Jim lying about the Deus Volt tattoo and changing the subject to another tattoo that is irrelevant?
Jim, just admit that you approve of leaders with Deus Volt tattoos who share your values.
I assume that’s why it doesn’t bother you.
No one except you is trying to make this about a different tattoo.
Why aren’t YOU concerned with the Deus Volt tattoo?
Do you also have one?
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IN MODERATION. CBK
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Diane,
Might just as well list all the gangsters and thugs Thump is appointing to positions in the Federal government. None of the appointees have any experience for the positions they are being appointed to other than they will bow down and do everything and anything Trump wants.
As it has been said time and time again… Trump only ran for the President of the United States for himself. He is not in the position to serve the people of this country. The United States Constitution is a door mat upon which he will wipe his dirty shoes.
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Hegseth says he hasn’t washed his hands in 10 years?!!! Is that some kind of weird joke. When you take a shower you kind of de facto wash your hands by happenstance. Very bizarre. Leave it to Trump to pick the worst people for positions of responsibility. What’s his rationale for not washing his hands? He wants to save on his soap allowance?
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I assumed he was just owning the libs about handwashing during Covid.
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The rise of the kakistocrisy! Trump’s choices are like a comedy bit from “Saturday Night Live.”
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Heather Cox Richardson has put an enlightening spin on MAGA vs. the old-line Republican establishment. The election of John Thune as Senate majority leader is a hopeful sign that there is some semblance of balance between the sane and the crazy. The cracks are already showing, and this vote, in a small sense, is a victory for “normal” Republican leadership. The first in hopefully many “thumbs-down” for Trump’s choices. It gives one satisfaction to know that what’s left of his tiny brain just exploded a little more today knowing that they kicked Rick Scott to the curb.
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But here’s the thing. The vote to elect the Senate Majority Leader is a closed/secret vote. No one knows who voted for whom. All the other votes from here on out are open votes and trump will know who voted against what he wants to accomplish.
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What I want to know is how a weed smoking, ketamine injecting billionaire with ties to Russia has gotten so much security clearance and practically owns NASA and the satellites used for national security? My husband has very high security clearance and worked for the fed gov’t for 34 yrs and he won’t eat poppy seeds or be around anyone smoking weed for fear of losing his credentials because they periodically do background checks and drug tests. This has been going on for years….giving people without qualifications/credentials an entryway into government.
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“What I want to know is how a weed smoking, ketamine injecting billionaire with ties to Russia has gotten so much security clearance and practically owns NASA and the satellites used for national security?”
That’s a great question. Musk violates the Logan Act every time he talks to Putin.
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Musk is a cautionary tale about public-private partnerships. We paid to help create this monster, and now he is going carve up our government and fire federal employees. Couldn’t the federal government have hired some actual people that value our democracy with perhaps some of our NASA engineers to create the same system? Plus, we would own it! Public-private partnerships are more expensive and compel the public to pay for someone else’s private profits. It’s a bad deal for the government like our subsidies to Big Phama. We pay a lot for R&D. When the drug is released, we pay top dollar for the drugs we helped to create. It’s a bad deal for the American people.
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What boggles my mind is that Musk is ALL about Tesla technology and EVs, yet trump is yelling drill, drill, drill. The left gave Musk millions in tax $$$ for his EVs to boost their green new deal and because they were going to stifle that money flow, he decided to back trump? I’m thinking that Musk is going to tank Tesla and ALL those who purchased his expensive vehicles are going to be left with a brick. The guy is absolutely crazy!….and he has enough $$$ that he will never lose.
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Utterly crazy. The modern military is an incredibly complex set of phenomena. Add to that the complexities of international relations, including diplomacy and international law. This is WORSE, FAR WORSE, than choosing Homer Simpson to oversee safety in a nuclear power plant. And the appointment is an IQ test for Senate Republicans. I would like to hear one of the Republican Senators ask this ignorant asshole what are the potential strategic defense consequences of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative? What are our alternatives for keeping shipping open on the South China Sea? Can the U.S. military be used to quell domestic disturbances, and under what conditions? What are the exceptions to the general rule under international law to the absolute inviolability of the territorial integrity of another U.N. member state, what general conditions have to be present, and what reporting requirement to the UN are necessary to avoid breaking the law? What’s the difference between a Black Honet Nano and an AeroVironment RQ-20 Puma, and how are they used? Do you think that hypersonic nuclear missiles present a threat to mutual deterrence, or not? How much wood can a woodchuck chuck?
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I think they should begin with one container of sh@& and the other shinola. Then go to a Burro and a burrow.
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PUTIN PROVES THAT HE OWNS TRUMP
Russian TV hosts laughed as they showed the Russian people full frontal nude pictures of Melania Trump taken when she was a “model”.
They were laughing not only at her and Donald Trump, they were laughing at every citizen of America as they laughed out the words “Here is America’s First Lady.”
And Trump has done and said nothing.
Because Putin OWNS Trump.
WHAT IS IT that Putin has on Trump?
Whatever it is, it’s more than enough so that Putin is free to humiliate Trump in front of the entire world by ridiculing Trump’s wife and to make Trump not even mention the humiliation, let alone take any action.
Newsweek reports that Putin’s aide for intelligence just declared that Trump has “obligations” to Putin that Trump is “obliged to fulfill.”
What does that mean for America’s security? What’s the real reason why Trump took all those secret documents to his Florida mansion? Was Putin going to get all those top secret documents? And will Putin now get them, putting all of us at risk?
America — all of us — have been humiliated in the eyes of the entire world by Putin’s exposure of Trump’s wife because Putin has that kind of complete power over Trump…and therefore over us, too, through Trump.
WHAT IS IT that Putin has on Trump that is so powerful?
Click on the link below to see the pictures of America’s First Lady Melania Trump that were shown to the world on Russian TV.
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What a surprise. A model had some sexy photos taken of herself for various ad campaigns. A first in history?
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It’s not that the photos were taken — it’s the fact that Putin so owns Trump that Putin can humiliate Trump and Trump says nothing about it.
What does that reveal about Trump’s subservience to Putin?
And what does Trump’s subverience to Putin forebode for our nation? Are our national defense secrets soon going to be secret from We the People, but not to Putin?
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I suspect that that’s already a done deal.
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Trump’s outrageous nominees for his cabinet leaders are proof positive that Trump is a Russian “asset”: Trump’s choosing outrageous people like Gaetz and Kennedy isn’t just “Trump being Trump” — it is Trump carrying out Putin’s plan to make America’s government dysfunctional, giving Putin all the opportunity he needs to achieve his military and political goals in Ukraine, in the Republic of Georgia, and in Syria while America is in chaos.
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I’m sorry but I was led to believe the modeling circuit was very classy.
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