Excellent summation of the bind these selfish, unprepared goons have put us in. But it brings front and center a confusion I can't resolve: How can so many men and women( i.e.House Representatives and Senators) who have taken an oath to preserve our laws and civic understandings REPEATEDLY abdicate their sworn stewardship and support the policies and actions of people who are, at a minimum, incompetent, and even worse, are observable criminals and grifters?!!! It boggles the mind.
Our congresspeople are equally at fault- the Trump Republicans(all Republicans) because they are equally selfish, morally compromised. My mind is not boggled.
Because, unfortunately, they are an accurate reflection of the MAGA voters who put them there. If you go against Trump, Trump decides you need to be primaried so that you are out of Congress, and the MAGA voters will back up that choice.
They need to worry just as much about being voted out by the people when they finally realize that their needs are not being met. Another few dings to the kitchen--table economy ought to take care of that. There even comes a time when "owning the libruls" gets too costly.
At some point, if any of these people had any principles, they would say "enough" and tell Trump to do his worst because they were finished supporting him. Right now, even Tillis and Cornyn are only making talking points that aren't translating to votes.
I think the oath problem is fairly easy to understand. They are unscrupulous people hellbent on achieving power for their own purposes and that Oath of Office was merely a hoop to jump through on the way to that power. The Founders were rightly afraid of Cabals coming to power and destroying the Republic. The rest of us need to come together and vote to put them out of office in November and again in 2028 - or we are doomed to this endless cycle or lather, rinse, and repeat.
Agree. The Dems need to unite on an overall strategy that includes focus on not just affordability but incompetence & corruption. Most voters (outside of MAGA die hards) are fed up & looking for real leadership out of this MAGA-induced chaos.
It does boggle the mind; a bunch of sheep (Republicans) following their incompetent leader(s) over the cliff… again and again and again.
All that said, I support our men and women in uniform. I do not support the lack of leadership or a plan by this Administration in charge of our great military. All of whom will not answer oversight questions directly or honestly. I know my two Senators will not be voting for more money and both of them highly respect our military.
The Pentagon already has a large pool of funding that it hasn't touched, yet it asks for more. In business, if you don't use all of the funding allocated, not only do you get no more, the excess is frequently clawed back!
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Hegseth is grossly incompetent. I am in agreement that he should have been removed after Signalgate. Blaming Biden is always their default response to this and anything else.
When I phone my horrible Senator Chuck Grassley about the outrage du jour, the canned reply that I receive in return manages to somehow blame Biden (not mentioning trump at all).
It reads like total BS to me, but I have to assume that blaming Biden for everything “works” with Chuck’s GOP base.
When will they realize that Joe Biden is no longer the president and is no longer the one making policy? Besides, even if he did, the current president could have corrected the problem in question.
So Hegseth wants an additional $37-plus billion dollars to partially pay for a war that no one except Trump and Netanyahu wanted. Would that money (which adds to the deficit) have paid for full SNAP benefits? Subsidies so families could get insurance under the Affordable Care Act? Medicaid benefits for children and adults? Protection for our national parks and monuments? Aid to Ukraine in their fight against Putin's invasion?
Hegseth is incompetent as are every other Cabinet member. They were chosen specifically for that reason to satisfy Putin IMHO. Pretty sure the frequent calls between Trump and Putin were not made to discuss the Weather.
Hegseth is not only incompetent, he's a nasty piece of work. We used to use the term "rude, crude and socially unacceptable". He is surely all of those.
It's nice to see Hegseth slapped around by the Democrats, but he's still in office and shouldn't be, under other circumstances. We really must impeach the perpetrator and then clean house. C'mon Congress . . . act.
So true! Hegseth is just a religious fanatic who wants the US military as his white nationalist crusade force. It is infuriating that such a grossly unqualified person has such power. If there were any integrity left in this modern R party, they would impeach him. We can see that integrity is nonexistent.
I believe it was before the hearing, although the announcement of the signing by the secretary of energy? was this week. And, in true Trumpian fashion, he changed the terms of the deal after both sides had signed it.
How exactly were we prepared for a major war when we apparently dangerously depleted our munitions in a minor war? So our military was a paper tiger all along? So then where did the money go? I think I know the answer, and so do you. Scandalous. Major reforms are needed before we give the Department of War one drop more of money that is needed for the American people.
And kill the legislation to link our military industrial complex with Israel.
I am reminded of the Iraq War when our troops were being killed by roadside bombs and it took at least two years, as I recall, to provide them with newly fortified transport vehicles. We would have lost WWII at that rate! Meanwhile our soldiers were putting plywood panels scavenged from shipping crates on the bottom of their vehicles, and I guess Americans were going shopping -- at least, that's what Shrub told them to do.
Our congresspeople are at fault- the Trump Republicans(all Republicans), the majority- equally selfish, morally compromised. The signs were loud and clear all along waiting for the effects to hit.. as they do and will. A faster boil is happening as it gets to the American people.. maybe will rouse them above their sleepy partisanship.
Hegseth never should have been confirmed in the first place, nevermind getting to the Signal thing.
Dear Republicans in Congress, please, please, I beg of you…..reconsider what will really happen to you if …dump’s threat (that keeps you kneeling) should become known publicly. “We the people” already know that he has threatened you in some way…..
We the people will take that into consideration if he goes public.
What is more important? Your fate or that of the United States of America?????????????
In order to shame them, the people first have to feel guilt that their actions were wrong and they know they were wrong. So many of the MAGA do not feel that their actions were wrong, so they do not feel any guilt and they cannot be shamed by pointing out their actions.
Hegseth came off like a sweaty schoolboy caught with pictures he ought not have. What an embarrassment that such a sad excuse for a secretary of defense is in charge of this debacle.
I’m not sure the American people are paying attention to this. I guess we will see in the mid-terms. In Texas we are thrilled that Talarico is in a dead heat with that idiot Paxton. My question is why isn’t Talarico kicking Paxton’s butt? As a country we’ve become weak mentally, physically, and now economically and militarily. Our enemies are paying attention even if the we are not.
The Trump administration’s incompetence is a MAGA-wide example of the Dunning-Kruger effect enhanced by a bottomless pit of official and personal corruption. Let’s hope Karma is swift and devastating.
Democrats. Still "playing nice" with these thugs. In what other administration have so many high-ranking officials treated Congress with such contempt...and gotten away with it?
Excellent summation of the bind these selfish, unprepared goons have put us in. But it brings front and center a confusion I can't resolve: How can so many men and women( i.e.House Representatives and Senators) who have taken an oath to preserve our laws and civic understandings REPEATEDLY abdicate their sworn stewardship and support the policies and actions of people who are, at a minimum, incompetent, and even worse, are observable criminals and grifters?!!! It boggles the mind.
Our congresspeople are equally at fault- the Trump Republicans(all Republicans) because they are equally selfish, morally compromised. My mind is not boggled.
Because, unfortunately, they are an accurate reflection of the MAGA voters who put them there. If you go against Trump, Trump decides you need to be primaried so that you are out of Congress, and the MAGA voters will back up that choice.
We are suffering the consequences of the politics by nihilism. edit: changed 'toe' to 'the'... damnable spellcheck!
They need to worry just as much about being voted out by the people when they finally realize that their needs are not being met. Another few dings to the kitchen--table economy ought to take care of that. There even comes a time when "owning the libruls" gets too costly.
At some point, if any of these people had any principles, they would say "enough" and tell Trump to do his worst because they were finished supporting him. Right now, even Tillis and Cornyn are only making talking points that aren't translating to votes.
I think the oath problem is fairly easy to understand. They are unscrupulous people hellbent on achieving power for their own purposes and that Oath of Office was merely a hoop to jump through on the way to that power. The Founders were rightly afraid of Cabals coming to power and destroying the Republic. The rest of us need to come together and vote to put them out of office in November and again in 2028 - or we are doomed to this endless cycle or lather, rinse, and repeat.
Agree. The Dems need to unite on an overall strategy that includes focus on not just affordability but incompetence & corruption. Most voters (outside of MAGA die hards) are fed up & looking for real leadership out of this MAGA-induced chaos.
It does boggle the mind; a bunch of sheep (Republicans) following their incompetent leader(s) over the cliff… again and again and again.
All that said, I support our men and women in uniform. I do not support the lack of leadership or a plan by this Administration in charge of our great military. All of whom will not answer oversight questions directly or honestly. I know my two Senators will not be voting for more money and both of them highly respect our military.
The Pentagon already has a large pool of funding that it hasn't touched, yet it asks for more. In business, if you don't use all of the funding allocated, not only do you get no more, the excess is frequently clawed back!
Time for some major housecleaning. Vote them out. If they don't serve us and their oaths of office, don't vote for 'em.
Once again, Jen, excellent journalism: thanks for keeping us informed...
from a very impressed Contrarian subscriber.
A suggestion, please. Thousands of us are not on Twitter and have no intention of joining. When you insert a video posted on "X" it doesn't allow us to view it without signing up. Please find some other way of posting a video so that those of us who have no interest in this mechanism can see it.
There are Substack platforms that will support this.
Hegseth is grossly incompetent. I am in agreement that he should have been removed after Signalgate. Blaming Biden is always their default response to this and anything else.
When I phone my horrible Senator Chuck Grassley about the outrage du jour, the canned reply that I receive in return manages to somehow blame Biden (not mentioning trump at all).
It reads like total BS to me, but I have to assume that blaming Biden for everything “works” with Chuck’s GOP base.
When will they realize that Joe Biden is no longer the president and is no longer the one making policy? Besides, even if he did, the current president could have corrected the problem in question.
So Hegseth wants an additional $37-plus billion dollars to partially pay for a war that no one except Trump and Netanyahu wanted. Would that money (which adds to the deficit) have paid for full SNAP benefits? Subsidies so families could get insurance under the Affordable Care Act? Medicaid benefits for children and adults? Protection for our national parks and monuments? Aid to Ukraine in their fight against Putin's invasion?
Could it have saved 700,000 lives lost (so far!) in Africa due to end of USAID (engineered by that great humanitarian elon musk)?
Yes. USAID's budget was much less than $37 billion.
....And it did way more good in humaintarian aid than this illegal war, which from all evidence, has done no good for anyone and won't.
waiting for the MAGAS to put it together, however, that would require knowing what 2 plus 2 is
Republicans — not just Trump — own our entry into this quagmire.
They own it. They own it. They own it.
Hegseth is incompetent as are every other Cabinet member. They were chosen specifically for that reason to satisfy Putin IMHO. Pretty sure the frequent calls between Trump and Putin were not made to discuss the Weather.
Hegseth is not only incompetent, he's a nasty piece of work. We used to use the term "rude, crude and socially unacceptable". He is surely all of those.
It's nice to see Hegseth slapped around by the Democrats, but he's still in office and shouldn't be, under other circumstances. We really must impeach the perpetrator and then clean house. C'mon Congress . . . act.
So true! Hegseth is just a religious fanatic who wants the US military as his white nationalist crusade force. It is infuriating that such a grossly unqualified person has such power. If there were any integrity left in this modern R party, they would impeach him. We can see that integrity is nonexistent.
Did the deal to satisfy Saudi Arabia’s nuclear ambitions come before or after this hearing???
I believe it was before the hearing, although the announcement of the signing by the secretary of energy? was this week. And, in true Trumpian fashion, he changed the terms of the deal after both sides had signed it.
Bibi says "jump" and Trump says "how high"?
How exactly were we prepared for a major war when we apparently dangerously depleted our munitions in a minor war? So our military was a paper tiger all along? So then where did the money go? I think I know the answer, and so do you. Scandalous. Major reforms are needed before we give the Department of War one drop more of money that is needed for the American people.
And kill the legislation to link our military industrial complex with Israel.
I am reminded of the Iraq War when our troops were being killed by roadside bombs and it took at least two years, as I recall, to provide them with newly fortified transport vehicles. We would have lost WWII at that rate! Meanwhile our soldiers were putting plywood panels scavenged from shipping crates on the bottom of their vehicles, and I guess Americans were going shopping -- at least, that's what Shrub told them to do.
You write so cogently, integrating aspects of discussion to make them available to the reader. I truly enjoy your columns. Thank you for your voice.
Our congresspeople are at fault- the Trump Republicans(all Republicans), the majority- equally selfish, morally compromised. The signs were loud and clear all along waiting for the effects to hit.. as they do and will. A faster boil is happening as it gets to the American people.. maybe will rouse them above their sleepy partisanship.
Hegseth never should have been confirmed in the first place, nevermind getting to the Signal thing.
Dear Republicans in Congress, please, please, I beg of you…..reconsider what will really happen to you if …dump’s threat (that keeps you kneeling) should become known publicly. “We the people” already know that he has threatened you in some way…..
We the people will take that into consideration if he goes public.
What is more important? Your fate or that of the United States of America?????????????
To MAGA Republicans? Their own fates look how so few of them seem to do anything contrary to the administration until they have nothing left to lose.
Correct! But do you change people's minds by shaming them? https://leavingmaga.org/
In order to shame them, the people first have to feel guilt that their actions were wrong and they know they were wrong. So many of the MAGA do not feel that their actions were wrong, so they do not feel any guilt and they cannot be shamed by pointing out their actions.
That, sir, appears to be a lot of the problem. Without integrity, ethics, or character, leveling shame just does not work.
Hegseth came off like a sweaty schoolboy caught with pictures he ought not have. What an embarrassment that such a sad excuse for a secretary of defense is in charge of this debacle.
I’m not sure the American people are paying attention to this. I guess we will see in the mid-terms. In Texas we are thrilled that Talarico is in a dead heat with that idiot Paxton. My question is why isn’t Talarico kicking Paxton’s butt? As a country we’ve become weak mentally, physically, and now economically and militarily. Our enemies are paying attention even if the we are not.
The Trump administration’s incompetence is a MAGA-wide example of the Dunning-Kruger effect enhanced by a bottomless pit of official and personal corruption. Let’s hope Karma is swift and devastating.
The karma needs to be voter induced.
Democrats. Still "playing nice" with these thugs. In what other administration have so many high-ranking officials treated Congress with such contempt...and gotten away with it?