The Trump Presidency 2.0

[Salt USMC]

I'll give you 1/3.

Sorry man. I’m out of practice

 

[Marauder06]

Pete Hegseth is a DEI hire #changemymind

I don't understand the statement. Is this satire?

 

[Muppet]

 

[ThunderHorse]

Pete Hegseth is a DEI hire #changemymind

 

[Marauder06]

I mean, I read that Daily Kos article too and I hope there's more to "Hegseth is a DEI hire" than that tripe.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Rubio writes with the same speech pattern as Trump!

 

[ThunderHorse]

I mean, I read that Daily Kos article too and I hope there's more to "Hegseth is a DEI hire" than that tripe.

I learned from this article that he also attended the Kennedy School of Government and received a Masters in Public Policy. Are we not told that the Kennedy School of Government is a prestigious college within Harvard?

The article also didn't talk about his time on Wall Street which was the entire time he was the CEO of the two veterans advocacy groups. But point is I learned something from the article haha.

 

[Marauder06]

I learned from this article that he also attended the Kennedy School of Government and received a Masters in Public Policy. Are we not told that the Kennedy School of Government is a prestigious college within Harvard?

The article also didn't talk about his time on Wall Street which was the entire time he was the CEO of the two veterans advocacy groups. But point is I learned something from the article haha.

I mean I guess Harvard is OK if that's all you can get into ;)

Yeah, a Princeton-Harvard academic convo is pretty solid. Both of those programs are prestigious and competitive. This goes back to a point I've made several times that most of the people who make the major decisions for our country go to a handful of schools--mainly (but not exclusively) the Ivies and the Academies (or both) and it's in our interests to invest time and effort into the young people at those schools to make sure that the military isn't just an abstraction for them.

 

[Locksteady]

I learned from this article that he also attended the Kennedy School of Government and received a Masters in Public Policy. Are we not told that the Kennedy School of Government is a prestigious college within Harvard?

The article also didn't talk about his time on Wall Street which was the entire time he was the CEO of the two veterans advocacy groups. But point is I learned something from the article haha.

And a graduate of two Ivy Leagues, even, the first being Princeton (EDIT: oops, looks like @Marauder06 already touched on this point a minute or two before this post! ).

Agreed that his spread doesn't match the typical background for this position, but his personal past conduct seems to be the biggest of the red flags, just going off the basic reading I've only now done on him.

 

[Marauder06]

Well it's not Harvard Extension School like one of our infamous ex-members liked to tout ;)

@AWP remembers...

 

[SpongeBob*24]

Pete Hegseth is a DEI hire #changemymind

You are right. Dedicated to Expose Incompetence. We need that right now.

All joking aside, his only disqualification I could find was serving within the last 7 years as on occifer, and both Mattis/Austin had that waived.

End state - I'll be ok if all he manages to do in the next 4 years is hunt down those behind enforcing the jab on our warriors and making them pay.

 

[ThunderHorse]

I mean I guess Harvard is OK if that's all you can get into ;)

Yeah, a Princeton-Harvard academic convo is pretty solid. Both of those programs are prestigious and competitive. This goes back to a point I've made several times that most of the people who make the major decisions for our country go to a handful of schools--mainly (but not exclusively) the Ivies and the Academies (or both) and it's in our interests to invest time and effort into the young people at those schools to make sure that the military isn't just an abstraction for them.

It's also in our interests to severely limit the F-1s that are approved for those schools (especially MIT and Cal Tech).

 

[ThunderHorse]

And a graduate of two Ivy Leagues, even, the first being Princeton (EDIT: oops, looks like @Marauder06 already touched on this point a minute or two before this post! ).

Agreed that his spread doesn't match the typical background for this position, but his personal past conduct seems to be the biggest of the red flags, just going off the basic reading I've only now done on him.

The only thing that seems to stick out is his "alcohol abuse" and the had two divorces. But I literally had never heard of this guy until after Trump was elected the second time, maybe I'm memory holing stuff because supposedly he thought about nominating him for SECDEF then SECVA the last time? If public drunkenness is a problem, like we literally have events in the Army where binge drinking it encouraged. And also corporate America and in banking? Alcohol is on the low end of substance abuse items.

 

[Devildoc]

I mean I guess Harvard is OK if that's all you can get into ;)

Yeah, a Princeton-Harvard academic convo is pretty solid. Both of those programs are prestigious and competitive. This goes back to a point I've made several times that most of the people who make the major decisions for our country go to a handful of schools--mainly (but not exclusively) the Ivies and the Academies (or both) and it's in our interests to invest time and effort into the young people at those schools to make sure that the military isn't just an abstraction for them.

Hah-vahd. Meh. It's not Duke . I'd rather go to that place in New Haven.

In all seriousness, I'm less impressed that he got in that he thrived and was successful, even by a skewed curve that those schools have he was on the right side. Clearly a highly intelligent man.

 

[Locksteady]

The only thing that seems to stick out is his "alcohol abuse" and the had two divorces.

Oh, then you definitely missed some things man, especially if you're putting alcohol abuse in quotes as if he didn't pass a basic threshold for it - much less the bar (hehe) for someone appointed to make potentially catastrophic life-or-death decisions using the world's most powerful military in history. After reading what I found below, I can see more of why several of his own Republican colleagues even had some reservations about his appointment to SecDef.

Apparently, he was pushed out from both of the veterans advocacy groups he ran. The first, Veterans for Freedom, for mismanaging funds and losing the trust of donors (apparently while managing less than ten employees), and the other, Concerned Veterans for America, for routinely showing up to official events trashed to the point of passing out, being literally carried out of venues, and even calling for the deaths of entire religious groups.

From Wikipedia:

In a whistleblower report, former CVA employees said Pete Hegseth was frequently heavily intoxicated during official events to the point of having to be restrained, passing out, and shouting slogans calling for the death of all Muslims. The report also said that he sexually pursued female employees and under his leadership the organization ignored allegations of sexual impropriety, including allegations of sexual assault. According to reporting by The New Yorker, mismanagement and alcoholism concerns led to Hegseth's forced resignation from CVA in January 2016.

So yes, I think on paper his educational and military pedigrees don't look bad, but I think it's reasonable for anyone to be leery of appointing someone who would've have been disqualified on personal conduct and alcohol abuse alone from accessing or working in a good percentage of the national security activities he'll now be in charge of overseeing and directing.

 

[TLDR20]

Oh, then you definitely missed some things man, especially if you're putting alcohol abuse in quotes as if he didn't pass a basic threshold for it - much less the bar (hehe) for someone appointed to make potentially catastrophic life-or-death decisions using the world's most powerful military in history. After reading what I found below, I can see more of why several of his own Republican colleagues even had some reservations about his appointment to SecDef.

Apparently, he was pushed out from both of the veterans advocacy groups he ran. The first, Veterans for Freedom, for mismanaging funds and losing the trust of donors (apparently while managing less than ten employees), and the other, Concerned Veterans for America, for routinely showing up to official events trashed to the point of passing out, being literally carried out of venues, and even calling for the deaths of entire religious groups.


So yes, I think on paper his educational and military pedigrees don't look bad, but I think it's reasonable for anyone to be leery of appointing someone who would've have been disqualified on personal conduct and alcohol abuse alone from accessing or working in a good percentage of the national security activities he'll now be in charge of overseeing and directing.

I cannot emphasis this enough, he didn’t have a Ranger tab despite being an infantry officer for his entire military career. Somehow this keeps getting ignored because he has tattoos that were totally normal in the infantry particularly in the mid 2000’s, and he gets drunk and cheats on his wives, and acts like a frat boy. Totally normal infantry antics, the lack of a tab is what is concerning to me, not the questionable alcohol related issues, serial adultery, or any other totally normal infantry stuff. We are just gonna let a tabless infantry officer slide to own the libs?
Standards folks. He didn’t meet it.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

the lack of a tab is what is concerning to me,

Are you saying that it’s generally accepted that an Army Infantry Officer should go through Ranger school in a certain timeframe and that he either didn’t go, or could not pass the school?

 

[TLDR20]

Are you saying that it’s generally accepted that an Army Infantry Officer should go through Ranger school in a certain timeframe and that he either didn’t go, or could not pass the school?

Yeah. An Army infantry officer should have a Ranger tab. Ideally before their first unit. For sure before they make Captain. I’m also semi kidding. It is fun to call the SecDef a tabless bitch.

 

[TLDR20]

Are you saying that it’s generally accepted that an Army Infantry Officer should go through Ranger school in a certain timeframe and that he either didn’t go, or could not pass the school?

I honestly thought it was a requirement for a long time. In the Q course I never saw an officer(student) without a tab, I just always assumed that any officer I saw around base without a tab wasn’t infantry. I was inn the Army probably 3-4 years and I’d never met an infantry officer without a tab. I still don’t know of very many. One of my best friends failed out as a 2nd Lt, for pushups I think, and as soon as he showed up to his unit got sent back, and it was made pretty clear to him how his time would go without a tab.

 

[TLDR20]

I am being serious about the tattoos, adultery and alcohol related problems. I don’t know if I can think of 10 total dudes I worked with that didn’t have a questionable tattoo, particularly with a crusader theme, an ex-wife or something sketchy, or who hadn’t made an absolute fool of themselves over alcohol. Different generation I guess. Crusader crosses were a thing there from 04-08 for sure. Those things are whatever to me. I know a lot of guys I’d die for with those tats that I don’t believe are actually calling for a genocidal crusade, shit I came pretty close to having one myself….

I don’t think a guy like our tabless Major friend have any business running an organization like the DOD because they don’t actually know how to run a gigantic organization. If you just want to watch it burn down, cool, he might do that. I have a feeling he will be one of the first to get axed though. I think the way people tried to bitch and moan about his tats and drinking was idiotic. I think he is/was a terrible choice, but we will see. I hope I am wrong!