Summary
Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth, a Fox News presenter with minimal managerial experience, as defense secretary has stunned the Pentagon.
Hegseth has been a vocal critic of the military, calling for a purge of generals and questioning the appointment of Gen. Charles Brown as chair of the joint chiefs of staff.
Hegseth’s nomination is seen as a boost for the far right in Israel, as he has shown support for territorial expansion and suggested the construction of a new temple on the Temple Mount.
Anyone who’s been on a military base should be very worried about that answer. It’s Fox News 24/7, in both recreational and professional areas.
People seriously do not understand the degree of nationalistic propaganda anyone on a military installation is subjected to.
Every poster, every event, every song, every sale ad for the commissary or other on-base stores, daily national anthem blasted over Giant Voice systems.
It’s not just the military members themselves exposed to it; it’s their spouses and children; people are raised from birth in this environment. It’s every retiree who got a job back on the same base they retired from active duty on.
There’s also a definite undercurrent of being put-upon special people separate from the civilians who don’t know what it’s like to sacrifice for “freedom”. It’s not a good atmosphere to rely on when an autocrat, who is their legal commander in chief, and who their media propagandizes for, tells them to do something that they theoretically should refuse. There’s so many avenues to just do it.
I always hear a different story. One side says the soldier/airman/sailor/(are Marines just grunts?) is supposed to carry out all lawful orders by their superior, and the other is to protect the constitution.
National Guard and Coast Guard aside (which are technically state militaries, but Congress has recently given the President to authority to Federalize them without the governor consenting), it seems to me that one of the things a service member should have learned was that the military cannot operate domestically.
Now, I’ve met some smart officers, and some really dumb officers, and a lot of… People who survived enlistment and they all swear up and down that the reality comes to what happens when a gun is pressed against your head. Do you die for your country (as is your job) or do you commit treason risking that punishment in the future.
I like to imagine there’s a super top secret elite of the elite who are basically selected because at some point faced with that question and they take the bullet and become involved with an organization like Tenet.
Usually “take the bullet” means you’re dead.
You haven’t seen Tenet? Boi, lemme introduce you to one of my favorite movies of all time.
People can crap on it all they want but when you rewind it to check what you already saw happen again your brain gonna be like “oh holy shit I need to see that AGAIN!”
Sorry. I really like Tenet.