But seriously, why not let them hang themselves?In 2018, Donald Trump’s brain, Steve Bannon, told the writer Michael Lewis, “The Democrats don’t matter. The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.”
They’ve done it for a decade, and it’s largely worked. Now, one week after Trump’s election to a second term, they’re doing it again, only this time they’re flooding the zone with appointments that—let’s just say—stink up the joint.
It’s disorienting, as it’s intended to be. You feel like you’re playing one of those whack-a-mole boardwalk games at Funland in Rehoboth. Ultimately you’ve accomplished little, except occasionally winning some cheap stuffed animal as a consolation prize.
But sometimes in politics you have to start with small prizes and build up to bigger victories. And even though the bulk of Trump’s embarrassing and unqualified appointments will get confirmed, his intention to nominate Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense gives defenders of good government and the rule of law a chance for a win.
It would not be for a small prize either. Secretary of defense is an important job.
Could Hegseth’s nomination be defeated? Many Republican senators have dealt with Hegseth, and they know he’s beyond unqualified for the position. Has there actually been a single statement from a Republican senator actually praising the choice? I’m not aware of one.
Now of course that’s different from actually opposing a nomination by the party’s Dear Leader, and we’ll see how many Republicans have the nerve to do that.
But still, Democrats and good government organizations and veterans groups should make such opposition from some Republican senators easier. I’m confident there’s zero chance that incoming Armed Services Committee chair, Sen. Roger Wicker, would think Hegseth an appropriate, or even a defensible, selection. Nor would Armed Service Committee members Sens. Tom Cotton or Dan Sullivan. Will they say publicly what they know privately? We’ll see. But it will be easier for them to do so if there’s thorough research into Hegseth’s background and the public marshaling of evidence for Hegseth’s radical unfitness for the position.
Because he really is unfit.
I knew Pete Hegseth fifteen years ago when he was a young, pro-Iraq war veteran, moving in Weekly Standard/Project for a New American Century circles. He seemed to be an effective proponent of neoconservative foreign policy, and some of us wanted to think well of him and give him a hand on a promising career. I even weighed in (ineffectually) on his behalf when he ran for the Republican nomination for senator in Minnesota—against, as I recall, a Ron Paul–supporting America First type.
But as sometimes happens, my judgment and that of others was mistaken. Hegseth turned out to be personally untrustworthy, intellectually shallow, and politically opportunistic. He moved on and was encouraged to move on out of our world, and ended up in the orbit of Fox News and Trumpist sycophancy, where he fit in well.
The general reaction of others who knew him back when is summarized in a text I got last night. This is from someone who’s seen it all, who has a cynical view of politics, and who expects the corridors of power to be populated by opportunists and phonies. He’s not the type to get upset about second- or third-raters being appointed to high office. But still, he couldn’t quite believe this nomination. Under the subject line “Good Christ,” my friend wrote simply: “I wouldn’t let this creep dog-sit for me. Now he’s going to be the Secretary of Defense?”
But don’t believe me, or my dog-loving friend. Let’s just have a full exploration and public scrutiny of Hegseth’s background, and let people make up their own minds based on the evidence as to whether he should be in charge of the United States military.
Another friend emailed last night wondering if we should make a fuss about Hegseth. Wouldn’t it be better to have an incompetent showman rather than a more able Trumpist as secretary of defense? Wouldn’t the first perhaps be able to do less damage than the second?
It’s not a ridiculous position.
But Hegseth would be an ultra-loyalist, and would go along with everything Trump and his apparatchiks in the White House want. He would enable all of Trump’s plans to politicize and degrade our military, about which we’ve already seen a glimpse. It’s impossible to imagine him raising any objection regarding the host of things Trump plans to do, from using the military to round up immigrants to intervening to promote politically aligned general officers.
History suggests that shallow opportunists who have become mindless loyalists can be as dangerous as more impressive ideologues in helping effectuate the authoritarian project.
So it’s worth having this fight. It could prevent a really bad secretary of defense from taking office. But it also could establish the principle, early on in this second and far more dangerous Trump term that lies ahead, that the opposition will fight. And that it can win.
As always, thank you for your debt service roadkill rubes.
