From the day that Donald Trump first nominated Pete Hegseth to serve as his Secretary of Defense, it was widely viewed as a dangerously inappropriate proposal to elevate a completely unqualified Fox News weekend host with a history of abusing both alcohol and women.
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Hegseth’s experience for the job that Trump sought to give him was his junior officer ranking in the Army twenty years ago, and his management of two military related non-profits that both fired him for his incompetence and malfeasance. But he met Trump’s prerequisites, which were that he would do or say anything that Trump told him without regard to the truth or the welfare of the nation, and that he looked good on TV.
SEE THIS: Pete Hegseth Spends Thousands for a Pentagon Makeup Studio to Fortify America’s Military Might
Following Trump’s declaration of war against the City of Los Angeles, Hegseth appeared before the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. His testimony was about as rife with ignorance and dereliction as one would expect from such an unfit official. He came utterly unprepared for the inquiry that he knew he would face. That includes not having any data regarding the Pentagon’s budget proposal that the Appropriations Committee was expecting.
To make matters worse, Hegseth was also stumped by questions he should have anticipated. Particularly those about Trump’s unlawful deployment of National Guard troops and Marines in response to an overwhelmingly peaceful protest against the hostile excesses of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) in Los Angeles. And in an exchange with Rep. Pete Aguilar, Hegseth provided a chilling demonstration of just how clueless he is about his duties…
Rep. Aguilar: The legal basis that the president used cites three examples in circumstances for the Guard. Invasion by a foreign nation; a rebellion or dangerous rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States; or the president is unable with regular forces to execute the laws of the United States. Which authority is triggered here to justify the use?
Hegseth: I don’t know. You just read it yourself, and people can listen themselves. But it sounds like all three to me.
"Sounds like all three to me" — Pete Hegseth suggests the United States is under invasion by a foreign nation, prompting the need for troops in Los Angeles
REALLY? Let’s examine these one at a time, shall we?
Invasion By a Foreign Nation:
There is no evidence whatsoever that any foreign nation had invaded the United States. Hegseth mentioned the presence of some Mexican flags, but that does not infer that the government of Mexico had anything to do with the protests, and they certainly did not. There were no Mexican troops or military assets deployed to take over the U.S. The notion is downright preposterous.
A Rebellion Against the Authority of the Government of the United States:
None of the protesters came anywhere near attempting to usurp the authority of the U.S. government. They were merely exercising their rights as stated in the First Amendment to the Constitution to “petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Which can only be seen as a rebellion by the tyrannical tendencies of the Trump administration, where Trump regards anything critical of him as treason.
The President is Unable With Regular Forces to Execute the Laws of the United States.
The leadership provided by the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, and the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, were more than sufficient to deal with the sometimes rowdy behavior of a few protesters. If Trump was invoking this excuse for his military incursion, than he was, in effect, conceding that he was the one who was unable to execute the laws that he swore to uphold. Which shouldn’t surprise anyone, considering that he literally admitted that he doesn’t believe he has any obligation to do so.MORE HERE: WTHF? When Asked ‘Don’t You Need to Uphold the Constitution,’ Trump Replies ‘I Don’t Know.’
Later in his testimony, Hegseth was asked about the costs associated with the deployment of troops to clamp down on the people’s right to protest. He tried to dodge the question, but was pressed on it until he finally allowed an aide to provide the answer…
“After persistent questioning about the cost of sending National Guard members and Marines to Los Angeles in response to protests over immigration raids, Hegseth turned to his acting comptroller, Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, who said it would cost $134 million.”
With that amount of money, we could house and feed more than 4,000 homeless veterans for a year. We could provide more than 9,000 veterans with healthcare for a year. Or we could oppress and intimidate a few hundred advocates for migrants’ civil rights for a month. Spending money on this deployment is an even worse allocation of funds than Trump’s ludicrous and vain $45 million birthday parade that he’s throwing for himself in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. For which he is also threatening anyone who dares to protest it.
Hegseth is not the only member of Trump’s Quack Cabinet to malign the protesters in Los Angeles. His Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, also took a swipe at them and wound up hitting the entire population of the city, saying that L.A. “is not a city of Immigrants, it’s a city of criminals.” Really? All 4,000,000 of them?
However, the views of Noem and Hegseth are not shared by the American people. A new poll has found that “47% of U.S. adults disapprove of deploying the Marines to LA, with 34% approval…45% disapprove the National Guard deployment, while 38% said they approve.”
Not that Trump or his cronies care about what the American people think. But maybe this will get some Republicans in Congress to grow a spine and reject Trump’s totalitarianism. Keep hope alive.
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- Pete Hegseth’s Lawyer: His Misconduct Was Due to Stress, So Let’s Make Him Secretary of Defense
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