Today I watched part of Pete Hegseth's Senate confirmation hearing after Donald Trump nominated him to be Secretary of Defense in his administration.
It didn't take long for me to conclude that what I'd been hearing about Hegseth was absolutely true. He's spectacularly unqualified to lead our nation's military.
Leaving aside the credible accusations against Hegseth of sexual assault, habitual drunkenness, and inability to competently manage two small non-profit organizations that he was in charge of, Hegseth came across as the weekend Fox News host that seems to be the only reason Trump chose him to head up the Defense Department.
Meaning, he is skilled at evading tough questions, has no commitment to truth, and can recite the MAGA party line with an eloquence honed by his time as a right-wing television personality.
I'm sure Trump was thrilled with his performance before the committee, even though a Politico story accurately describes what happened.
Sex assault allegations? Blame “left-wing” media.
Issues with drinking? Those are anonymous smears.
No women in combat? That’s not what I said.
Pete Hegseth used a pattern of denials, memory holes and attacking the “left-wing” media at his Tuesday confirmation hearing for Pentagon chief as he sought to counter controversial issues in his past. And that strategy may work for him — along with Donald Trump’s other troubled nominees.
The president-elect’s Defense secretary pick brushed off questions he didn’t want to answer about everything from the possibility of Trump issuing illegal orders to alleged financial mismanagement in his previous management jobs. He said mainstream news outlets were the reason that allegations of sexual assault and reports of excessive drinking came to light. And he carefully reversed himself on previous comments disapproving of women in combat and gay people in the military.
What struck me about the portions of the hearing that I watched was Hegseth's mentions of "wokeness" in the military, which were echoed by some Republican senators. I paid particular attention to this because I've almost finished reading an excellent book by Tim Urban, What's Our Problem? A Self-Help Book for Societies.
Urban spends quite a few pages decrying what he calls Social Justice Fundamentalism, which he distinguishes from Liberal Social Justice. I agree that Social Justice Fundamentalism is a danger to our society, because usually, or at least too often, advocates of this extreme leftist perspective try to shut down open debate and free expression of competing views.
For example, criticizing Critical Race Theory, which sees racism as embedded in the very fabric of American society, frequently causes someone to be called a racist just because they have reasonable objections to Critical Race Theory.
But I deeply doubt that this is what has been going on in our military, which appears to be focused on DEI: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. The problem is that Fox News and Republican politicians, notably Trump, have been effective at conflating the excesses of Social Justice Fundamentalism with the mainstream goals of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion -- which is firmly in the realm of Liberal Social Justice.
A bit of Googling turned up a recent article that supports this contention. Is the American military too "woke"? concludes, no.
A theme that keeps dominating certain corners of media commentary is the idea that the U.S. armed forces have become “woke.” In today's vocabulary, this implies that the American military has been overtaken by ideological imperatives that push a far-left political agenda.
Allegedly, U.S. enlisted personnel and officers are being subjected to compulsory exercises in groupthink that devalue the American historical experience, spread contempt for traditional American values and diminish the appeal of military service in favor of other alternatives.
From time to time, concern about political bias in the American armed forces has been voiced both by liberals and conservatives. Some liberals have warned against infiltration of the enlisted ranks by right-wing extremists who regard the American government as fundamentally illegitimate and deserving of overthrow.
Some conservatives have warned against Marxist or postmodern ideas being adopted by government agencies, including the Pentagon, and foisted on officers and enlisted personnel whom they claim are quietly gritting their teeth in resentment.
...For the past 50 years, the United States has had an all-volunteer force. That means that the sociological diversity of the armed forces cannot be imposed by fiat in the same way that a force based on conscription can operate.
Diversity means that the American military is open to all races, genders, gender identities, nationalities and so forth -- but the force is made up from persons who self-select military service as a profession (at least temporarily, although some make a career of it). Recruitment rates therefore are less revealing of the true diversity in the armed forces than are retention rates.
In addition, there is a misunderstanding of what training sessions in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) are intended to accomplish, in or outside of the military. If effectively presented, these sessions are not indoctrinations in political messaging, but awareness-raising opportunities for informed discussion and sharing of experiences.
Granted, some bureaucracies excel in reducing nuanced issues into wood chip fragments of imbecility. But this outcome from DEIB information is neither inevitable nor desirable. Civilian workplaces have developed successful programs in support of diversity, and there is little or no evidence that the Pentagon has failed to meet acceptable standards of professional competency in this area.
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