Hegseth highlights [With Comment by John]

I wrote about my own association with Pete Hegseth in “Pete Hegseth reports for duty” and “I drank with Pete.” I wish him Godspeed in his Senate confirmation hearing to serve as Secretary of Defense in the Trump administration.

The confirmation hearing commenced this morning. I have taken a look at highlights and lowlights posted on Twitter by Vigilant Fox. Senator Tim Kaine brought us a low low lowlight. If I get the gist of his line of questions, he wanted to know if Pete has stopped beating his wife.

Senator Tim Sheehy defeated incumbent Jon Tester in Montana this past November. Senator Sheehy is a graduate of my high school alma mater. He stood out from the crowd in high school even before he headed off to the Naval Academy and his distinguished service as a Navy SEAL officer and team leader. In the clip below Senator Sheehy inquired into Pete’s qualifications to lead from the point of view of the men and women serving in the military.

JOHN adds: I watched portions of the hearing, as I was able. The contrast was stark: Republicans asked Hegseth about military policy, the Democrats didn’t ask anything, but used their time to retail the various smears that have been mounted against Pete from the beginning. I saw no evidence of anything new, and no evidence of any interest on the part Democrats in how the Pentagon is run, other than their devotion to DEI, or more broadly in any national security issue. That suggests that the lines are drawn as we expected: all Republicans will vote to recommend Hegseth’s confirmation, and all Democrats will vote to oppose it. The nomination will proceed to the Senate, where Pete will be confirmed on close to a pure party-line vote.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses