Pete Hegseth is now Secretary of Defense.
Over a month ago, when Trump nominated Hegseth, the Washington Post ran an article dismissing Bronze Stars. Just a few years ago, the same paper did a story on the significance of the Bronze Star. But, because Hegseth has multiple Bronze Stars, the Post now needed to dismiss their significance.
Hegseth is not a saint. He’s on his third wife. He had a history of drinking too much. There have been multiple allegations of infidelity. There was the incident at the hotel, but for which no charges were pressed.
There was also the well documented turn to faith. One of my long and on-going criticisms of a lot of politicians who claim Jesus is that they speak faith like they used a Rosetta Stone translator. Hegseth talks of his faith like he had a real conversion.
The attacks reeked of Kavanaugh style attacks. Yes, there were some public accusers. But there was also a lot of anonymity. There were attacks on his tattoo that were nonsensical and bigoted. There were attacks on his military valor and an attempt to dismiss his combat service. There was so much scurrilous, they needed to be stood up to. It is notable that almost every single attack the press and left amplified was based on anonymous sourcing while every on the record source disputed those same allegations.
The left vilifies and seeks to destroy everyone they do not like. See e.g. Clarence Thomas. The left gave a pass to Biden’s appointed DOJ Civil Rights Division, despite her lying about being arrested for assault. A press corps that protects Democrats, often defames Republicans. The bullies needed to be ignored.
In short, it is one thing for calls from the right to be listened to. But to give Democrats a heckler’s veto because the press amplifies their attacks needs to stop.
This is not to say there are legitimate concerns about Hegseth. Senator McConnell, in the statement about his no vote, makes serious points we should not ignore…