Because he really is unfit.
I knew Pete Hegseth fifteen years ago when he was a young, pro-Iraq war veteran, moving in
Weekly Standard/Project for a New American Century circles. He seemed to be an effective proponent of neoconservative foreign policy, and some of us wanted to think well of him and give him a hand on a promising career. I even weighed in (ineffectually) on his behalf when he ran for the Republican nomination for senator in Minnesota—against, as I recall, a Ron Paul–supporting America First type.
But as sometimes happens, my judgment and that of others was mistaken. Hegseth turned out to be
personally untrustworthy, intellectually shallow, and politically opportunistic. He moved on and was encouraged to move on out of our world, and ended up in the orbit of Fox News and Trumpist sycophancy, where he fit in well.
The general reaction of others who knew him back when is summarized in a text I got last night. This is from someone who’s seen it all, who has a cynical view of politics, and who expects the corridors of power to be populated by opportunists and phonies. He’s not the type to get upset about second- or third-raters being appointed to high office. But still, he couldn’t quite believe
this nomination. Under the subject line “Good Christ,” my friend wrote simply: “I wouldn’t let this creep dog-sit for me. Now he’s going to be the Secretary of Defense?”
But don’t believe me, or my dog-loving friend. Let’s just have a full exploration and public scrutiny of Hegseth’s background, and let people make up their own minds based on the evidence as to whether he should be in charge of the United States military.
Another friend emailed last night wondering if we should make a fuss about Hegseth. Wouldn’t it be better to have an incompetent showman rather than a more able Trumpist as secretary of defense? Wouldn’t the first perhaps be able to do less damage than the second?
It’s not a ridiculous position.
But Hegseth would be an ultra-loyalist, and would go along with everything Trump and his apparatchiks in the White House want. He would enable all of Trump’s plans to politicize and degrade our military, about which
we’ve already seen a glimpse. It’s impossible to imagine him raising any objection regarding the host of things Trump plans to do, from using the military to round up immigrants to intervening to promote politically aligned general officers.
History suggests that shallow opportunists who have become mindless loyalists can be as dangerous as more impressive ideologues in helping effectuate the authoritarian project.
So it’s worth having this fight. It could prevent a really bad secretary of defense from taking office. But it also could establish the principle, early on in this second and far more dangerous Trump term that lies ahead, that the opposition will fight. And that it can win.