Well, we stopped respecting him on the day he was confirmed. But his staff did, at first. Now? They don’t. He doesn’t deserve respect. He’s all about machismo and manliness, which have nothing to do with skills and service. It’s all a façade. And he certainly has no clue about how to handle a war. So, here we have his latest moniker, courtesy of his staff. Thanks to Raw Story:
Pete Hegseth has been given a new nickname by staffers comparing him to a former Department of Defense head. The current DoD chief and long-time Donald Trump supporter has been branded “Dumb McNamara,” a reference to Robert McNamara. McNamara served as the Department of Defense head to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, and it seems the comparison is not at all favorable. The Zeteo Substack post, First Draft, reported Hegseth had received the nickname as a result of the recent undertakings of the Trump admin in Iran. The nickname for Hegseth has spread from various staffers and officials, who are now calling the Iran war “Hegseth’s war“.
Ouchies. No, that’s not at all flattering. He really is flubbing all over the place. The comment about “we negotiate with bombs” was a *really* bad idea. It says he’s a clueless warhawk that doesn’t see anything that would potentially get this war to at least a pause, if not a stop. Yes, we don’t think it’s going to stop any time soon, but comments like that just inflame the opposition. He’s one of the ongoing people who doesn’t think before flapping his gums.
The “Hegseth’s war” term coined by insiders marks another McNamara comparison, with the Vietnam War referred to as “McNamara’s war” at the time. The nickname has spread rapidly, according to The Bulwark team. “However, the nickname ‘Dumb McNamara’ has spread within the US government due to Hegseth’s cheerleading of the war and bombing blitzes – overzealous bloodlust and enthusiasm for military fiasco that reminds American officials of, well, a very stupid version of Robert McNamara,” they wrote. “‘We negotiate with bombs,’ Hegseth said Tuesday. ‘You have a choice, as we loiter over the top of Tehran.’
Ok, so I gave away part of the previous quote. Nevertheless, it’s something to be considered. It’s beginning to appear that the only ones who think he knows what he’s doing are himself and Trump. Petey Boy is excessive. And the war has been a debacle from the moment it was conceived. Why doesn’t he go over there himself, if he’s so macho manly? And as one of my readers said, send ICE over there, too.
“It’s Trump’s war, to be sure, but as things continue to go south, it’s easy to see the president’s Iran bloodbath getting framed as ‘Hegseth’s war,’ in the way Vietnam famously became ‘McNamara’s war.'” Despite his comments on the Iran war, Hegseth has been thrown under the bus by the Trump administration for the current failures.
Trump was taking press questions after swearing in new Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin in the Oval Office when he gave a frank response about the status of the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East, which has now reached its fourth week and left 13 troops dead and 232 service members wounded. “I don’t want to say this, but I have to. I said to Pete and General Caine, I think this thing [the war] is going to be settled very soon. They said, ‘Oh, that’s too bad.’ Pete didn’t want it to be settled,” Trump said.
I cannot see General Caine saying something like that. Petey Boy, maybe, but it still seems unlikely. Trump is trying to CYA because he started it in the first place. This whole war makes no sense. Attacking Iran has made things worse, not better. We can look at the closing of the Strait as an example. That’s hurting everyone, not just us. When will the next shoe drop?
See you soon!
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise that among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest-working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
