You know, there was a little part of me that thought I'd write a little bit about the Jack Smith 1/6 report, but honestly--no. People who care already have a good idea what it's all about (and can even tell you about missing pieces FWIW) and people who don't care--don't care. I've developed a kind of "you can lead a horse to water" sense of these revelations, and I don't think I could find a better example of why than today's Senate confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense.
Hegseth came into the hearing with a cloud of controversies hanging over his nomination. But after he was questioned for more than four hours, Republicans came away feeling optimistic that Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Army combat veteran, would be confirmed to lead the Pentagon.
“He comported himself extremely well and made a strong argument for why he ought to be the next secretary of defense,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., adding he will “work quickly” to get Hegseth confirmed.
I would like to know what Senator Thune thought the "strong argument" was, because I'm not sure the hearing actually demonstrated that he was in any way particularly well-qualified or that he had some unique qualities that overrode his various personal controversies. But if what we have is a not-especially well-qualified serial adulterer and accused rapist who bankrupted a couple of NGO's being selected by a not-especially well-qualified serial adulterer and accused rapist who bankrupted several companies, well, you might as well talk about the weather as judge him on any set of serious criteria.
Sure, "advise and consent" is part of a US senator's job. Sure, you could try and say that having an unfit person running the DOD is a national security problem. But you see that sign in the picture up above--where the word "military" is misspelled?
Yeah. The bare minimum of caring--it just isn't there. Someone couldn't be bothered to proofread. The FBI isn't really bothered to vet--a total Kavanaugh-style job. Hegseth didn't care if he sat with Democratic senators. His accuser might like to talk to GOP senators about his conduct but maybe they don't want to know any more than they already do.
Democratic senators tried to get answers about his judgment and views. Notably, Sens. Hirono and Duckworth nailed him on his understanding of the job.
To what avail?
Instead of being framed as a question of responsibility to get the best person for the job, the GOP frames whether Hegseth is confirmed as a matter of "winning". As in, even getting an unqualified or not-especially great candidate installed in an important cabinet role is a "win", because they don't want it to appear that Trump was wrong and should have picked someone more experience, competence, sobriety, sexual continence, etc.
Republicans have given up caring about whether something is done right, because with little digital pressure, Charlie Kirk or some other conservative influencer can whip up a million MAGA moron march to dog them to the ends of their patience and they don't want that smoke.
It's also a culture war thing. Think about it--they've decided a possible rapist is better than "woke", whether ever that word means to them.
And that is also how Trump got through two impeachments, two federal Special Counsel investigations, two defamation civil cases that cemented him as a sexual abuser, a civil tax case and a hush money trial that demonstrated his sleazy corruption--they don't care.
It's enough to make you think about what the hell they are even doing in the Senate. That is a rhetorical question--and also, not.
2 comments:
I would like to know of any successful job interview where the applicant promises to stop drinking, if they get the job?!! Above all else, the man is in serious denial about his addiction to alcohol.
I was seeing a dry drunk up there who was too in denial to stay that way. Sadly, the same goes for his attitude about women. He was basically in "say anything" mode.
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