The Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has violated the law again. First, it was his dissemination of war plans to his social media friend group. Not satisfied with endangering American servicepeople by revealing their missions, he is now, allegedly, a murderer. For those of you finally awakening from your tryptophan stupor, Pete Hegseth ordered the slaughter of two people clinging to the remnants of an alleged drug boat bombed by U.S. forces. None of us should be surprised by his allegiance to a regime run by a convicted criminal. Famously, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs head General Milley recounted having to tell President Donald Trump, in his first term shot at fascism, that shooting protesters in the legs would be a crime.
His stark warning of horrific carnage visited upon Americans on our streets was not enough to disqualify Mr. Trump from ever being admitted to polite and decent society again. More disturbing was Pete Hegseth’s response in his confirmation hearing, if asked by Mr. Trump to shoot Americans if he were faced with the same situation:
One would think that his answer would be a simple but decisive NO! The eventual confirmation of Mr. Hegseth will be remembered for his dance on truth and loyalty to the Constitution, not the President, like Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Shirley Temple on soundstage steps. So now we are faced with Nuremberg-like crimes against a country[Venezuela] we are not at war with. The scale of the crimes, of course, is minuscule at this point compared to the millions killed by the Nazis, but Hitler’s march into Europe started with a few deaths. President Trump’s thirst for the Nobel Peace Prize is devoid of its chief element, peace. There are minor signs of the Trump-trance over the Republican party loosening, and maybe a sharp snap of the fingers of morality will finally do the trick.
It is preposterous that Pete Hegseth wants to bring a legitimate American hero, Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, for ironically citing military law about refusing an illegal order, up on charges and have him court martialed. The Admiral, Alvine Holsey, in charge of U.S. Southern Command overseeing the current boat bombings in the Caribbean, suddenly tendered his resignation effective December 12, 2025. Admiral Holsey’s resignation was preceded by a contentious meeting with Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine on October 6 at the Pentagon. In a CNN report, Hegseth has purged the military of career officers and thereby their expertise, including former: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown; Adm. Lisa Franchetti, former Chief of Naval Operations; Gen. James Slife, former vice chief of staff of the Air Force; and Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, former head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency.
The horrific murder of National Guardsperson Sarah Beckstrom and the critical wounding of Andrew Wolfe are undoubtedly the responsibility of the shooter. Still, it cannot be dismissed that the decisions to deploy the guard where it was neither requested nor required also need to be examined. When the withdrawal of troops happened in Afghanistan, a lot of finger-pointing was directed at former President Biden, saying his process was flawed, and that led to the death of thirteen American soldiers. Far from questioning the decision to deploy troops into an American city, the Washington, DC, Attorney General Jeanine Pirro said, “I don’t even wanna talk about whether [the troops] should’ve been there,” the former Fox News talking head said during a press conference Thursday. “We ought to kiss the ground and thank God that the president said it’s time to bring in more law enforcement to make sure that a city that had the fourth highest homicide rate in the country... that that violence was quelled.”
If the military, the high court, and Congress are beholden to a man rather than the Constitution, where does the buck stop?
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