Dry Drunk Pete Hegseth Is Embarrassing Us All

Will we go back to separate black and white forces?

No, R1, his plan is just to eliminate non-whites and women from the military. That's why he's been firing them.

Protection for (white male) abusers.

Hegseth's speech was indeed embarrassing, but Trump's is even worse. Rambling like a madman.

Not a peep from the crowd.

Trump opens his remarks to the generals:

[quote]I've never walked into a room so silent … Have a good time. And if you want to applaud, you applaud ... If you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future. But you just feel nice and loose.

I'm to the point where it's painful to listen to these blowhards.

"Tariff is my favorite word. I love tariffs. But I'm not allowed to say it anymore."

I'm sure this is riveting to the assembled generals.

[QUOTE]The inconvenient truth is that white men make better leaders

Yeah...like Trump...

Oh, he's orange. my mistake. .

They used to say that blacks couldn't be quarterbacks in the NFL. Only white guys had the smarts. That's turned out to be bs too. Although most of the top athletes seem to be mixed race. Will mixed race men be allowed to rise in the US armed forced? Hmm....

forces...

Pete seems gay. Focused about male physical appearance. Then you have fat Trump, walking around in a stinky diaper. The military brass are probably even more depressed after this stunt. They flew in from around the world for what could have been a Zoom call.

R5 What an incredible asshole.

"The inconvenient truth is that white men make better leaders, like it or not."

The very convenient truth is that these two pathetic excuses for human beings masquerading as men aren't fit to lead a pack of rats jumping off a ship, so that pretty much shoots your "white men make better leaders" bullshit theory pretty much to hell.

[quote]The inconvenient truth is that white men make better leaders, like it or not.

Straight Christian white men, right?

I hope these guys talk among themselves and somebody brings up the word "coup".

He continues to babble. So far, one of his most stupid lines was comparing the word Nuclear as another "N" word.

NO MORE LADY GENERALS!!!!!!

THAT'S WAC!

""We are under invasion from within."

The first words of truth to pass Burnt Orange's bunghole in ages!

God Help The United States. Seriously.

I think the audience has fallen asleep. Trump is so off-topic, he can't stop. Now he's picking on female news anchors. Now he's picking on Pritzker, the Illinois governor. Now he's on the Portland governor. What a goon.

Trump is still talking, it's impossible for him to STFU.

SIR! SIR! SIR! SIR! ad infinitum

Hegseth is nothing but a pathetic, incompetent lickspittle to a jackass.

At what point in the next 4 years, will he finally succumb to his fantasy of wearing a military uniform. Something along the line of Michael Jackson. Lots of gold braid. Sir, Sir, Sir...

It's gonna happen.

Did Trump get to the “sleepy Joe Biden” portion of his aimless buffoonery yet?

This is reminiscent of Fidel Castro. Could go on in babbling for hours.

R28 He's been there often...he can't help returning to Sleepy Joe multiple times.

Imagine if Joe Biden had done this and what the media would say. But with Mad King Donald it's crickets.

I kind of wish all these senior officers would just resign in protest after this.

Now Trump is telling them that he'll send the US military to attack Americans domestically:

[quote]told Pete, we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military. National Guard, but our military. Because we're going into Chicago very soon. That's a big city with an incompetent governor. Stupid governor.

[quote]At what point in the next 4 years, will he finally succumb to his fantasy of wearing a military uniform

When he accepts his Ignoble Piece Prize, R27.

Someone should just shoot the fucking retard and put him out of our collective misery.

Prediction: Half of this audience will be applying for retirement tomorrow.

My mother didn't breast feed me.

Most people will never hear this. The news outlets will just try to sum it up and clip out a few of the less insane lines. They should play the entire speech in prime time and then repeat it later like they do the SOTU.

R38, there's not much to excerpt that isn't insane or just lame.

DL fave Sen. Chris Murphy sez:

[quote]He billed the taxpayers millions to fly every general to Washington to hear this weirdo drivel.

Trump now describing his philosophy of descending a flight of stairs.

OMG now he's imitating Obama's walk!

I wish they would all get up & walk out. I really hope there won’t be any applause when he finally stops.

How sweet if there was total silence when he's finished yapping.

R40 He’s forgotten that he HAS fallen on the steps? He hopes no one else remembers? Or maybe he insists they all agree that never happened. But don’t worry - it will happen again.

The elephant in the room is that his voice is shockingly feeble and tired-sounding, even since last year. He's slurring and dropping words.

He will order them to applaud, R42.

Right. Putin told him we are "the hottest country in the world." Define "hot."

Somebody get a net!

Yes we want our military to go back to basics and iwarrior mode. For things like parades and glorified cops....

Polite applause will be enough.

What is this Board of Peace? Where did that come from?

Well, the good news is that they didn't have a coherent plan and this isn't like Saddam's purge as we had feared. That's about the only good news. What a shit show.

He's incapable of not talking about Biden. He can't drop it.

He's so senile and out of touch that he expects a room full of actual generals to applaud his tired, rambling, fake-tough shtick.

CNN can’t take it anymore. Cut off the coverage after an hour.

I think the Board of Peace refers to who will oversee Gaza. I think.

Damn! CNN and MSNBC just cut-in. We want to hear this "speech" in its entirety!!!

R45, I noticed the same thing about his voice. He sounds tired all the time. Compare that to 2016, and the decline is really obvious.

Fox is still carrying it. Maybe CSPAN?

Still on Fox News of course.

He'll suddenly perk up and speak 'intelligently' --- is he reading off a teleprompter now? Nevermind...he just drifted off again. Oh, Jesus, he's back on Biden.

He's finally finished. Polite applause.

I wish that British comedian would dub this in a "sassy Trump" voice.

He's done and they applauded. BUT the music is so loud you can't really hear the applause.

Ok he quit. Tepid applause indeed. He clapped for himself! Wonder if someone let him know CNN cut away.

Trump is no doubt pissed that "his" Generals aren't acting like the screaming baboons who attend his MAGA rallies, or are cravenly sycophantic like his cabinet.

"You can applaud."

I wish I could hear the conversations among the audience.

I'm actually staying with FOX just to see how they're going to handle this debacle!

This is absolutely great!!! You have the greatest assemblage of military power in one room and this is what they hear. It's great! If any of them had any doubts about his sanity or fitness, they have been dispelled. They now can be certain that he is a danger to the country. Bravo, Pete. Bravo, Don. You have succeeded in doing what no news program or advertising campaign could have done. Was it worth spending the money? Hell, yes. Now, go get your blonde bimbos to try to spin that one.

I liked the part where he reminded the group that he was commander-in-chief when the Continental Army took over the airports during the Revolutionary War.

[quote]I wish I could hear the conversations among the audience.

In the inimitable words of George W. Bush, "That was some weird shit!"

[quote] I'm to the point where it's painful to listen to these blowhards.

I lasted about 30 seconds.

Fox is now ignoring the speech and diverting attention with talk about the government shutdown. Time for me to turn off Fox. They're just going to ignore that 2 hour mess they just covered.

James Fallows on Bluesky:

[quote]A serving member of the military might be court-martialed for saying in public what Trump did here. (The entire *point* of super-quiet submarines is that adversaries do not know where they are. Navy goes to extreme lengths to conceal any clues to their location.)

What Trump said:

[quote]We were a little bit threatened by Russia recently, and I sent a submarine, nuclear submarine. The most lethal weapon ever made. Number one, you can't detect it.

[quote]I'm actually staying with FOX just to see how they're going to handle this debacle! R67

"You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din."

Pete Hegseth to the generals:

[quote]It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the secretary of war can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force. Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals.

Does that also apply to the Commander-in-Chief?

R74 I apologize for letting you down. I only lasted 5 minutes.

Evidently not R75.

This was Trump's revenge for that passive aggressive military birthday parade last June.

I'm really sorry I missed it. I was in the shower...masturbating.

What's T-Rump going on about here?

[quote]I am a very aesthetic person. I don't like some of the ships you're doing aesthetically. They say oh, it's stealth. I say that's not stealth. An ugly ship is not necessary in order to say you are stealth.

Still, I commend you, R76.

I believe this was all Pete’s thing. Trump didn’t even know about it until the press told him. Then, of course, he decides to put himself in the center of things, but he had nothing to say.

When he appeared on a military base a while back commanders excused anyone who didn’t want to hear him so naturally the enlisted personnel who showed up were supporters and they broke protocol and embarrassed the Army by cheering his highly political speech.

Trump clearly expected “his” generals to behave the same way, but there was no chance of that. Tepid, polite applause only at the end. Daddy is disappointed.

Petey Boy had better worry about friendly fire. There's plenty of bigwigs in the military who don't cower or cater any anybody, including a drunkard incompetent like him, and a fat drug addled lowlife like Trump.

"I'm not happy!"

[quote] including a drunkard incompetent like him

And one who's so careless/clueless he let the editor of The Atlantic into a supposedly secure planning session.

Fox News is fucking EMBARRASSED, as they should be. Check what their top stories are at the moment. Anything seem missing?

(Hillary Clinton is the lead story, they can't stop, lol)

Why didn't he just have a chat with the Generals on Signal? We know he knows how to use it

Are we sure that this wasn’t an episode of South Park?

This fucking circus will ultimately be good news for anyone worried about a Trump military coup.

These generals and admirals make up the entirety of the commanders of our armed forces all over the world. They hold collectively thousands of years of military experience and tactical knowledge.

But after sitting through two hours of this disgusting horseshit, after being forced to fly halfway around the world at a moment's notice, they will solidify their low opinions of Trump and Hegseth. After this nonsense, not one of these military brass would willingly wage a coup for these two assholes.

You're all such Negative Nancys. I see the glass half full. When Pete's done our young men, our pride and joy, will all be fit, lithe, smooth and ready for the slaughter!

This is insanity at the highest level. How many Trump supporters and Republican voters are ok with this?

They will have a fine time in DC R89. They will be treated well and it's a nice break from whatever they were doing. This idea that the top brass are angry to have to fly to DC is horseshit. They may chuckle at his insanity and weird speech. But most are far from upset about it. All they needed to hear is they can do what they want without fear of consequences. They liked that. A lot.

When Petey called them all fat fucks, I hope every one of them glanced over to Trump sitting there.

R92, the US military leadership "wants" to divert forces into American cities with non-existent problems? Enforce anti-beard rules? Dispense with experienced officers because they're black or Hispanic or female? The generals are actually a lot more serious about their job than you or Pete Hegseth give them credit for, but keep projecting if that gives you the chickenhawk boner you need.

Paper Tiger Pete.

The armed forces have had a terrible time recruiting over the last 40 years, save a brief surge in enrollments around the time of 9/11 and after.

The vast majority of their enlistees have been black and Hispanic men (and women) willing to serve for the benefits of the military, either as a 4 year term to get GI Bill benefits, or for the longer 20ish year stint to build a career.

And they're now trying to insult and demean a huge portion of their troops? Any and all politics aside.....that seems idiotic.

[quote] No, [R1], his plan is just to eliminate non-whites and women from the military. That's why he's been firing them.

So this racist piece of shit is an illogical idiot to boot. He wants to elevate straight white men… by sending them and only them to die in wars?

Yeah, R96: "Join up and become cannon fodder without any chance of promotion, because the DoD thinks you're intellectually and physically inferior to white people."

Colin Powell, thou shouldst be living at this hour!

The top military brass are highly educated. Even if many of them are right wing conservatives, they don't appreciate being lectured to by a Fox News host and an uneducated, senile fool.

R94 It's clear you are not a veteran or know many career military men. Peddle your silliness elsewhere.

The service academies have instilled in America's officer corps the importance of serving the nation and defending the Constitution, not these two assholes. The justified contempt of these 800 leaders in that auditorium today was obvious.

R92's omniscience announces that God Almighty is on the DL.

Bow down, humanity. Grovel!

R101 Some of them have contempt and rightly so. But some will follow him if they believe they will get the permissions, equipment and tools they need to win. I'm married to a military man and he's got some former Seal friends and Army SF friends. While they might not agree with POTUS on everything, they know firsthand the importance of being able to do what they need to win. I encourage you to talk with real career military men and women.

[quote] being able to do what they need to win

Does your husband think that that has anything to do with the racial and gender stuff Pete H was laying down, or Trump's plans for US troops to fight in American cities, rather than with strategy, materiel, and morale?

R102 I know lots of military folks, doll. I've been texting some of them this morning.I speak my opinion based on my conversations with people I know personally. I don't just regurgitate the stuff I read from random people online.

R104. No, the race stuff is crazy. But if a recruit can't handle PT in Basic Training, they shouldn't be allowed to move upward. The standards have been lowered and it's evident. We also have had insufficient gear for years for our men and women. That all needs to change. As far as fighting in the streets of our cities, that's classic Trump talk. I think he is watching videos from 2020 in Portland and people are too afraid to tell him.

R6 was rejected from enlisting for being a stupid, fat meth addict.

So you're saying that our one-to-four-star generals are basically satisfied with being flown across the world to attend a kind of podcast telling them PT standards will be raised. And then listen to Trump's "greatest hits" rally ramblings. Because that's what we're talking about.

Is this their little meeting they planned?

There’s more to being a service member than brute strength. To insist that everyone must meet an arbitrary physical “standard” that few women can meet is not going to create the most talented a resourceful military, particularly when much if the battlefield today is remote-controlled weapons. What it will do is facilitate the exclusion women for ideological reasons while providing a satisfactory cover story . Very transparent.

Pete Hogsbreath

What is Trump planning on doing?

I know he's subpar, but I am loving Newsom's twitter feed more every day.

You don’t get to be a military general without being smart, disciplined and sane. I have no doubt that amongst themselves, they are secretly talking about how to play minimal lip service to survive this era, and how to ensure everything beneath them isn’t corrupted to a dangerous point. I have beyond negative faith in our leadership, but I do have faith in our career military leaders. They’ll find a way to ensure that the USA wins. That’s their job.

FAT WHORES REJOICE!

Wait. “Dry” drunk? This a guy who guzzled down lukewarm leftover beer in the early morning. Please.

Have minority men troops, women troops in general, and LGBT troops now been targeted for "friendly fire" attacks? How about those non-MAGAtts?

Asking for a friend.

We are not coming back from this. Some white men and their female and minority pick mes simply can’t stand the idea of equality. So far, to date this administration has only shown how mediocre some white people are. Susan Sontag was fucking on point so many years ago.

Release the Epstein Files!

Release the Homan Files!

[quote] you don’t get to be a military general without being smart, disciplined and sane.

You tell em, R115

Mike Flynn was removed from his military command.

R89 - this is absolutely correct. People are led to believe through coordinated, manipulative propaganda (social and news media) that there is sooooo much respect, fear, and support for Trump, Hegseth, etc., especially in the military. Has everyone already forgotten about the malicious compliance and poor attendance that could not be hidden at his birthday parade? Is no one paying attention to the actual people posting from the occupied cities how there is nothing going on and the military and national guard are bored and essentially playing tourist? The only horrible shit going on is ICE and the kidnapping and imprisonment of many who are actually citizens who are not white. The military brass will show up, act like they're listening to these incompetent fools (and senile in the case of Trump), but you'd better believe they don't respect or intend to do the insane bidding. Also, there are not enough white men in the US who will voluntarily join the military. And good luck reinstating the draft. The younger generations are composed of large percentages who will not comply. The US military will be shredded of power, influence, and enlisted service men if Trump and Hegseth's "plans" are put in place. They're being humored (and likely mocked and made fun of behind the scenes). Don't fall for the propaganda.

Also, a reminder that almost 2/3 of what you see on social media acting as MAGA support for Trump and Hegseth are bots. Bots flooding the timelines as part of the propaganda push.

R108 This was the meeting for the cameras. I suspect they will have opportunities for smaller meetings and conversations which could be quite beneficial.

This whole spectacle reeks of small dick energy.

Pete is probably even smaller than Trump.

R110 Brute strength can come in handy. But I think we just don't want fat slobs. Obesity and insufficient physical activity among youth have made recruitment and readiness harder for the military. Only about 2 in 5 young adults are both weight-eligible and adequately active to serve, impacting national security concerns. Also your mindset sounds very civilian.. You must think like a warrior to lead them.

"Throw a little more gold on it."

[quote] Also your mindset sounds very civilian.. You must think like a warrior to lead them.

I’m not suggesting myself for Commander in Chief, so I have no idea what you are trying to say. Unless it’s that you have the vaunted “warrior mentality” so your opinions are necessarily correct?

Our military is actually about much more than whatever you think “warrior mentality” means .

Its duty is not just to project American power, but to defend our Constitution and the values it represents.

It's like...

Yeah because what our four-star generals REALLY want and need is high-quality, "A" grade paper with GOLD ink! That will bring them on board to all of their plans. That will impress.

R127, most people in the military are non-combatants.

Do you need brute physical strength to file papers at a desk or be a translator or a cook or whatever?

No, you don't want the troops to be "fat slobs" but obsessing over brute strength and "warrior mentality" in non-combatant jobs seems like a way to get rid of a lot of women

[quote] This was the meeting for the cameras. I suspect they will have opportunities for smaller meetings and conversations which could be quite beneficial.

No. Get real. This universal summoning of our generals was strictly for media purposes. There's no substance to the "plans" rolled out that will be discussed at smaller meetings behind the scenes. Trump and Hegseth are running the DoD like a show on a Fox News set; the generals were props and they know it.

R125 Pollyanna Paul pipes in.

No more men in dresses! (Is he aware that the military did drag shows in WW2?)

[quote]No more dudes in dresses

Fixed it for you, bro.

[quote]They will have a fine time in DC [R89]. They will be treated well and it's a nice break from whatever they were doing. This idea that the top brass are angry to have to fly to DC is horseshit.

This is dumb. First, they're not in DC, they're staying in hotels in Quantico, 60 miles through heavy traffic from DC city center. They're staying in subpar hotels in Quantico. Most have brought a large number of subordinates with them. Since it's coming at the very end of the budget year for them, with only a few weeks' notice, they can't be spending extravagantly (and if they didn't buy their plane tickets home they'll be stranded because of the looming shutdown, because most are flying commercial). They had to arrange for acting commanders at their base. Flying halfway around the world is never "a nice break." The whole thing is a huge headache for them.

R129 Absolutely. But a key purpose of the military which is directly tied to the Commander in Chief and which can scare the hell out of us is to be a lethal and effective fighting force, ready to fight and win the nation's wars and promote national interests globally.

R137 I guess that's why every golf club in Northern Virginia is booked all week for them. It's a party baby! I wonder if Grindr will blow up too?

Some of the generals are likely to take advantage of time stateside and see family and friends as well.

Do you homework fellas...

The generals and other military personnel at Quantico have access to the Medal of Honor Golf Course, which is located on Marine Corps Base Quantico. This 18-hole championship golf course is open year-round and welcomes active duty and retired military, DoD civilians, family members, the FBI Academy, National Guard, and reservists. It features a driving range, putting green, practice bunker, indoor simulator, and a pro shop. Active duty personnel can receive free driving range tokens on Wednesdays to practice their swings. The course reflects Marine Corps heritage and offers a traditional golf experience suitable for all skill levels.

Thus, yes, the generals staying or attending events at Quantico can play golf at the Medal of Honor Golf Course on base or nearby golf clubs in the area if time and schedule allow. The golf course provides a good recreational option for relaxation and networking among military leaders.

Yep, R125 pipes in with her little explanations often. “No, actually THIS is what he meant, not what you heard. But THIS.”

[quote]The golf course provides a good recreational option for relaxation and networking among military leaders.

And a good opportunity for them to shoot the shit about what they heard from Hegseth and Trump this morning.

The phrase “all enemies, foreign and domestic” has never been more important in our history as a country.

No? You do YOUR homework, bitch/R141. You really don’t know what you’re fucking taking about. But please do continue to spread open your legs and air out your cunt flaps with this bullshit as much as you possibly can.

Spin, spin, spin away, bitch.

R141 I wish I could count the number of eye rolls on that golf course.

No beards, no facial hair will be allowed in the military. How soon for the general public? We all know it's the perfect mask.

I did not see the speech. I am just reading what is no here. Was there actually a racial element mentioned out loud? People keep mentioning it, but what was actually said to infer that they were referring to race? Or even women in the military?

"The golf course provides a good recreational option for relaxation and networking among military leaders."

I wouldn't be surprised if their CIC joined them for a couple of rounds. A great day will be had by one and all.

So don't be surprised if the CIC's golfing buddies do exactly as they are told when Trump tells them to massacre American civilians in blue cities because of "the enemy within."

[quote] Was there actually a racial element mentioned out loud? People keep mentioning it, but what was actually said to infer that they were referring to race? Or even women in the military?

Not a thing. Nothing at all, dear. Rest easy.

R119 what did Sontag say? About what or who?

What a joke!

r148, Hegseth was clear that they were implementing new physical fitness standards that all "men" would need to pass, and women that met them as well. But they will be geared towards men, so the number of women passing will ostensibly be small. "If women meet the standards, then fine. If not, oh well!".

Nothing racial directly, but both he and Trump bleated on repeatedly about abolishing "crap DEI" standards, "woke crap" and EO processes. You can read into that what you will.

Don't be silly, R160; Trump only golfs at his own clubs.

Burnt Orange drooled over there being two "n-words," and lamented not being allowed to use them.

Kegsbreath (thanks, knitting cult lady for that moniker) has no dick.

His pathetic cocklet gets all hard at thought of “commanding his generals” to shoot American civilians.

Honestly, someone needs to shove a saber down his gullet and give him the “warrior’s death” he is so loudly clamoring for.

The only troops with beards are African-American men with in-grown facial hair. It was a racist policy decision announced months ago.

Wait, Hegseth says beards are inconsistent with military readiness?

What does he say about alcoholism?

And how about white supremacist tattoos like yours, Pete? They okay?

Hangover face.

R145 Too much caffeine, doll?

[quote] We were not respected with Biden. They looked at him falling down stairs every day – every day, the guy’s falling down stairs – and I said, that’s not our president. We can’t have it. I’m very careful, you know, when I walk down stairs, I walk…very…slowly. Nobody has to set a record. Just, try not to fall, ‘cause it doesn’t work out well. A few of our presidents have fallen, and it became a part of their legacy, you know. Walk nice and easy. You don’t have to set any records. Be cool! Be cool when you walk down, but don’t…don’t bop down the stairs. The one thing with Obama…I had zero respect for him as a president, but he would bop down those stairs, I’ve never seen…da-da-da-da-teh-deh-bop-bop…I’ve never seen…he would go down those stairs, bop-bop, he wouldn’t hold on, he’d go down those stairs, I said, it’s great! I wouldn’t want to do it. I guess I could do it, but eventually, bad things are gonna happen, and it only takes one. A year ago, we were a dead country. We were dead. This country was going to hell. We had nothing.

BTW—I was born on that base.

My god, r163. He’s ready for a padded cell isn’t he?

They will "Gaddafi" him, R157.

I was conceived at Fort Belvoir and born at Sandia Air Force Base.

R137 Commercial aviation is unaffected by a government shutdown. They will be able to fly back to theater regardless of the shutdown.

So it's over? I'm free to go now?

R168 What if there are no DoD/DoW funds available to purchase return tickets* on commercial flights if/when the Federal government shuts down at midnight 9/30? I think that is what R137 may have been implying.

* unless roundtrip tickets were already purchased

Trump and Hegseth are the worst people to be in their current positions.

Do we think the top brass fly commercial? Or do they just order up one of their own planes? They were summoned to DC for an official event, not a vacation.

R148:

"An entire generation of generals and admirals were told that they must the parrot the insane fallacy that 'our diversity is our strength' ... they were told females and males are the same thing."

Wow. Some of you just know absolutely nothing about the military. They don’t “order up their own planes.”

Every shutdown is different in terms of what gets shutdown. If you’ve been through one, you’ve been through one.

That said, I can’t imagine the government golf courses will stay open.

I applaud OP's use of "cringeworthy" and not the Zennial "cringe". 🎆🌈🌞

He is a shameful embarrassment

R170 Travel arrangements are almost always made as round-trip flights, paid at the time of booking. And even during a shutdown, the Department of DEFENSE would authorize the expenditures as critical to national security. It's pretty important to have our field commanders actually out in the field.

Some of them can hitch a ride on a military transport already going in their direction, but they can't easily commandeer a plane just to transport a few people. That would be an egregious abuse of power and resources. They'll fly commercial.

And no, R172, the military's leadership doesn't simply call up a plane. It's a few hundred people. The DoD has a handful of blue-and-white jets for command staff stationed around the world, but not enough for everyone to have their own plane. That would be a ridiculous amount of aircraft.

In the end those generals are going to lose everything anyway and this was their last chance to storm the stage and take down these criminals.

Heather Cox Richardson correctly comments:

[quote]Either one of those speeches, in full view of the American public and foreign governments, would be enough to torpedo an administration before Trump.

This double standard is killing us. Are we finally getting past the notion that the MAGAts are just joking, and what would sink another administration is just a lotta laffs with Trump?

R181, I think it’s a slow burn. It is slowly setting in to those who didn’t realize it before that Trump cannot be serious and everything is a game to him. This was not the time for him to appear so unserious. This was not the time to waste millions of dollars of resources and people’s time in what ultimately was another vanity project. This meeting was not for the generals, it was a very public and disastrous attempt to make Trump look like a king, commanding all of the generals of the world’s greatest army to his side.

He was woefully unprepared and thought his usual schtick would do. It didn’t. And it actually made him look worse. How could this flop possibly be the commander and chief of a the room full of much better men in front of him? It really highlighted how absolutely unqualified and childish both of them are.

[quote]It is slowly setting in to those who didn’t realize it before that Trump cannot be serious and everything is a game to him.

Considering this was obvious from day one of his first term – "the biggest inauguration crowd in history" – anyone who is now slowly realizing it is not possessed of the intellectual faculties to help us combat him.

[quote] The phrase “all enemies, foreign and domestic” has never been more important in our history as a country.

Trump loves the part about “domestic’ enemies but he is oblivious to the fact that the oath refers to enemies of the Constitution, not of the Republican Party. Right now, he IS the domestic enemy, and most of the generals know it.

[quote]Trump loves the part about “domestic’ enemies but he is oblivious to the fact that the oath refers to enemies of the Constitution, not of the Republican Party.

Not even the Republican Party, since he couldn't care less about it. The paranoid putz means perceived enemies of Donald Trump, the one and only person he cares about.

R182 Well said. It came across as a stunt.

But the real danger is that he is convincing the Republican Party that Democrats are “domestic enemies.” He can’t use political violence without its support.

Even if you believe the Democratic Party is the actual enemy, using the United States military against Americans in American cities is a rubicon most people, no matter their affiliation, want to cross. That is the exact act that coined the phrase “crossing the Rubicon.” If it’s indeed that serious, that is what the National Guard is for, not the U.S. military. The fact that that is exactly what Trump intends, shows how absolutely unhinged he is and that he sees himself as Julius Caesar.

How many of those grnerals voted for Trump, or, put another way, how many refused to vote for Harris? Trump and Hegseth knew their audience and were probably expecting the same automatic raucous reaction they usually get from supporters.

Before the end of the week we'll hear that Trump is furious and is blaming Hegseth for another public fiasco, the first one being the military parade.

I was told that calling people "the enemy within" caused "political violence"!

“Stop liking women and black people you guys! Fags too! They all suck!”

[quote]Either one of those speeches, in full view of the American public and foreign governments, would be enough to torpedo an administration before Trump.

Here’s a good use for deep fake: Take that speech and make it look like Clinton or Obama said it. Then release it to the MAGAs. See them explode in rage.

[quote]All in all, an utterly embarrassing address. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The assembled military leaders likely already knew that Hegseth is unqualified for his job, and they could mostly tune out the sloganeering that Hegseth, a former TV host, was probably aiming more at Fox News and the White House than at the military itself. What they could not ignore, however, was the spectacle that President Donald Trump put on when he spoke after Hegseth.

[quote]The president talked at length, and his comments should have confirmed to even the most sympathetic observer that he is, as the kids say, not okay. Several of Hegseth’s people said in advance of the senior-officer conclave that its goal was to energize America’s top military leaders and get them to focus on Hegseth’s vision for a new Department of War. But the generals and admirals should be forgiven if they walked out of the auditorium and wondered: What on earth is wrong with the commander in chief?

[quote]Trump seemed quieter and more confused than usual; he is not accustomed to audiences who do not clap and react to obvious applause lines. “I’ve never walked into a room so silent before,” he said at the outset. (Hegseth had the same awkward problem earlier, waiting for laughs and applause that never came.) The president announced his participation only days ago, and he certainly seemed unprepared.

[quote]Trump started rambling right out of the gate. But first, the president channeled his inner Jeb Bush, asking the officers to clap—but, you know, only if they felt like it...

[quote]In 1973, an Air Force nuclear-missile officer named Harold Hering asked a simple question during a training session: “How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?” The question cost him his career. Military members are trained to execute orders, not question them. But today, both the man who can order the use of nuclear arms and the man who would likely verify such an order gave disgraceful and unnerving performances in Quantico. How many officers left the room asking themselves Major Hering’s question?

Trump is probably looking into firing all the generals and admirals who were there

[quote] I did not see the speech. I am just reading what is no here. Was there actually a racial element mentioned out loud? People keep mentioning it, but what was actually said to infer that they were referring to race? Or even women in the military?

R148, I've read that Hegseth's remarks about beards and grooming might be a dig at Black servicemen. Due to the nature of the hair of African-American men's hair, close and frequent shaving can result in irritated skin and ingrown hair.

Also, when Hegseth spoke about getting rid of the "woke," I immediately thought of General Charles Brown, whom the racist, sexist, irresponsible imbecile picked in his first term as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After George Floyd's murder, Brown put out a powerful and moving video for his sons and African-American men. That's why he was fired by the racist, sexist, irresponsible imbecile in his second term.

Just wait until people start watching Kathryn Bigelow's The House Of Dynamite, especially these generals. The horror of that scenario will make Dump's performance yesterday even more frightening and out of touch.

It’s the kick off to fill blue cities with patrolling-controlling-trigger happy military in time for Oct 18 ‘’No Kings’’

[quote] Why didn't he just have a chat with the Generals on Signal? We know he knows how to use it

Nominally...there is always the risk Kegseth would include Russian generals, Pakistani generals, his mother and his mistress in Signal chats.

R195. I also believe Trump and his people will research many of the generals and exaggerate any past issues to threaten or fire. When and if this meetup happens again THOSE GENERALS WILL APPLAUD!

The words "woke" and "DEI" refer to everything that is not cis white Christian conservative and male.

Is Fox news reporting on these speeches yet?

My favorite nicknames for Hegseth, used by posters on military reddit: "Kegsbreath" and "WhiskeyLeaks."

I saw on Fox analyst say Pete’s speech was one of the best military speeches in history.

🙄

Oh yeah Fox glorifying yesterday’s event-they have a choice?

JD has such a manly beard. Surely, he’s exempt.

One theory I heard as to why they were all dragged there is that Kegsbreath wasn’t getting replies to his incessant emails about this stupid shit, so he wanted to pull rank and make sure his dumb shit was acknowledged.

He basically wanted to show them who’s boss and humiliate them for his own ego.

How’s that work out, ya dickless loser?

...and he wanted his "speech" to be seen on every tv station in the country to prove what a hardass he is

Well. It looks like Whiskey Pete does indeed have these generals by the balls. We can anticipate shots fired at some Oct. 18 no kings demonstrations.