Defense Secretary (??!?) Pete Hegseth said a lot of crazy things during his recent speech on Tuesday to all those generals he commanded to come listen to him say those crazy things. As painful as it may be, you should hear what he said for yourself. But the part that really deserves attention is when he said the following, as reported by CNN:
“The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right policies … but if the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign.”
And that, right there, is the entire purpose of the speech. Competence is overrated, unwanted, and unnecessary. What Trump wants is obedience. Period. If Dear Leader says break the law, then you break the law. If Dear Leader says he wants a war, then by God, you find a way to start that war, whether it’s with some foreign country or with Chicago. If you’re saying that doesn’t make sense, you’re missing the point entirely. The right people don’t ask questions. The right people follow orders. Joyfully.
Think back to how horrified we all were when Hegseth was first nominated. But surely somebody that dense and woefully unqualified to lead one of the most powerful institutions on earth wouldn’t get through the confirmation process, right? Oh, but he did. And so did Bobby Kennedy as Health Secretary.
Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera…
Woefully incompetent people tend not to be very comfortable around those who are as competent as they are ignorant. Especially when they are placed in charge of really competent people. Because then their ignorance becomes almost blinding, as it is hard to miss. But when they are surrounded by others equally or more ignorant and sycophantic than themselves, then all feels right with the world. Everything feels just Trumpy and nice.
This is not about Make America Great Again. This is about unleashing unchecked mayhem and destruction. This may be worse than your ordinary fascism or authoritarianism because even fascist countries and authoritarians, as painfully brutal as they can be, tend to employ more qualified individuals than what we’re stuck with. Keep in mind that Hitler, as evil as he was, knew exactly what he was doing. He was evil, but he was not demented, and he had a plan. Same goes for Stalin. Same goes for Putin. And same goes for those they installed to carry out their mad designs. Because it’s hard to effectively carry out a plan, even an evil plan, with woefully incompetent and stupid people.
Sure, they say they have a plan. It’s Project 2025. And they are moving forward with it as best they can, pretty quickly. But what they keep stumbling against is the incompetence. The never-ending incompetence.
Which creates a maddening and frightening level of uncertainty. Because in truth, none of us really knows how this will end. Or when.
