Politics
/
October 1, 2025
Trump and the protection secretary summoned prime army leaders to the aspect of authoritarianism and abuse, however the officers didn’t thrill to the message.
Advert Coverage
No one knew why Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth summoned 800 of the highest US army leaders, from posts all around the world, to the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, yesterday for the most expensive and boring pep rally in world historical past. He wished to liberate the “warrior ethos” within the males—and the handful of girls current, he mentioned in his speech to them. The gathering marked “the liberation of America’s warriors, in identify, in deed and in authorities,” he went on. “You kill individuals and break issues for a residing. You aren’t politically appropriate and don’t essentially belong all the time in well mannered society.”
Possibly Hegseth thought he was addressing the newest class of ICE recruits. How may he inform that auditorium filled with distinguished officers, uniformed and adorned in medals, sitting with good posture, that they “don’t essentially belong all the time in well mannered society”? That was one second—there have been many others—once I couldn’t assist however surprise what the assembled had been pondering. Most likely one thing alongside the strains of what Air Drive veteran Senator Mark Kelly informed reporters after the speech: “That is what you get whenever you set up the Saturday morning information man as secretary of protection.” Or as somebody quipped: “Secretary Kegstand.” At any charge, he acquired no applause and no laughter from the group.
Hegseth took the chance to announce a number of new guidelines, together with what he known as “grooming requirements.” “No extra beards, lengthy hair, superficial particular person expression. We’re going to chop our hair, shave our beards, and cling to requirements,” he mentioned. That prohibition on beards is frankly racist, since Black males disproportionately undergo from a pores and skin situation that makes shaving painful, typically unimaginable. But it surely doesn’t cease there. Since he’s “directing that struggle fighters in fight jobs execute their service health take a look at at a gender-neutral age normed male normal scored above 70 %,” girls might be out of fight except they will match the precise health requirements of males. He lifted the ban on merciless hazing of younger recruits in coaching, and appeared to encourage torture of enemy combatants. He mocked so-called “guidelines of engagement” as “weak” and “woke.” Oh, and no fatties allowed in Hegseth’s warrior corps.
“If the secretary of struggle can do common exhausting PT [physical training], so can each member of our joint drive,” he mentioned. “Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at fight formations, or actually any formation, and see fats troops. Likewise, it’s utterly unacceptable to see fats generals and admirals within the halls of the Pentagon and main instructions across the nation and the world. It’s a foul look. It’s unhealthy, and it’s not who we’re.” So, decrees Hegseth, “immediately, at my path, each member of the joint drive at each rank is required to take a PT take a look at twice a yr, in addition to meet top and weight necessities twice a yr yearly of service.”
Present Problem
What had been these males pondering when their morbidly overweight commander in chief waddled onstage moments later for a 72-minute harangue? Trump made information together with his speech, by warning these leaders that their mission is altering, and that they quickly might be more and more specializing in “the enemy inside.”
However he larded his chilling name to illegally use army drive in opposition to the “enemy inside” with loony tunes complaints about Joe Biden, who he insisted signed every officer’s formal fee with an autopen. Not Trump: He informed them he delighted in signing them personally. “I really like my signature. I actually do. Everybody loves my signature,” he mentioned.
Particularly the late Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump’s eyes had been puffy; one eye drooped. He sounded more and more demented as he droned on. He appeared rattled when these assembled didn’t applaud him both. However he was very clear about these leaders’ new mission: utilizing American cities “as coaching grounds” for the US army. “Democrats run many of the cities which might be in unhealthy form,” he informed the officers. “What they’ve accomplished to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles—they’re very unsafe locations. And we’re going to straighten them out one after the other. And that is going to be a significant half for among the individuals on this room. That’s a struggle, too. It’s a struggle from inside.”
The pinnacle of Veterans for Accountable Management blasted the Quantico abomination on social media, notably Hegseth’s message that the purpose of the assembled was to “kill individuals and break issues”:
This can be a disgraceful message. There was a soldier that I served with within the military that later was killed in Mosul, Iraq that mentioned the explanation he joined the army was as a result of he believed that it was the best drive for good that the world has ever recognized. He mentioned the army not solely taught its troopers to be deadly, nevertheless it additionally taught us to be compassionate and empathetic and care about not solely the American individuals but additionally freedom-loving and -seeking individuals from all around the globe. That is the true warrior ethos that so many people veterans know and love. I’m serious about him quite a bit tonight and might be damned if sons of bitches like Trump and Hegseth will rework our nice army into one thing resembling the Russians’. His reminiscence and repair should not be in useless.
A former protection official informed Politico the assembly was “a waste of time for lots of people who emphatically had higher issues they may and needs to be doing. It’s additionally an inexcusable strategic threat to pay attention so many leaders within the operational chain of command in the identical publicly recognized time and place, to convey an inane message of little benefit.”
The officers obeyed orders, however they didn’t have to love it, and they didn’t seem to. The silence was typically deafening.
All of these officers awakened this morning to the anticipated information that the federal government had shut down, with Trump and Republican congressional leaders refusing to reverse drastic cuts to healthcare in trade for Democratic votes. I’m surprisingly optimistic about this growth, too. Trump is promising mass layoffs, however there have already been a whole bunch of 1000’s of layoffs. He’s already rescinded spending on applications Congress authorized, with out a peep of protest from Republican leaders. Now he’s saying he can use the shutdown as pretext to chop widespread applications like Social Safety and Medicare, and to that I can solely say, within the immortal phrases of Pete Hegseth: “FAFO.” When the officers ignored his apparent try at an applause line, the look on his face mentioned, “It’s 5 o’clock someplace.”
Advert Coverage
Senate minority chief Chuck Schumer folded the final time he confronted this potential end result, in March, to the chagrin of most Democratic senators. He feared, he mentioned, what Trump would do with the ability the shutdown gave him to mess with the federal workforce. In six months, we’ve seen Trump assume that energy anyway; this time Schumer did the precise factor. I don’t know the place this goes, however I agree with Marcy Wheeler that though some Individuals will undergo, they will even get to see that the one sector of presidency that continues to work as earlier than is the rising and more and more violent equipment of immigration enforcement. Most ICE brokers are deemed “important staff.” You gained’t be capable to get a Social Safety worker on the telephone when you’ve got issues, however you will note your brown-skinned neighbors unlawfully seized by masked thugs.
We’re not headed for an authoritarian regime; we already dwell underneath one. And the earlier extra individuals notice that, the earlier we are able to start to successfully battle again.
Widespread
“swipe left under to view extra authors”Swipe →
Extra from The Nation
In 2009, Republicans falsely claimed that the Reasonably priced Care Act would profit undocumented immigrants. They’re nonetheless peddling the identical bullshit.
Chris Lehmann
Getting ready to a doubtlessly devastating authorities shutdown, Trump spent his day with Pete Hegseth haranguing generals at a summit that ought to’ve been an e-mail.
Column
/
Sasha Abramsky
The previous hard-charging deputy legal professional common succumbed to political hubris as FBI director, and discredited the federal justice system within the course of.
Paul Pelletier
