Team USA in 2023 entered into a Strategic Comprehensive Partnership with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), but Pete was unable to name one country that belongs to it. Let’s chalk up this ignorance to his Ivy League education or PTSD or his magical redemption.
Pete is def qualified for, er, aspirational masculinity, but he won’t be sharpening the tip of the spear of America’s military.
…[M]ost of Hegseth’s answers relied on his vow to support “the warfighters” and their “lethality,” two words that have been floating around the Pentagon—as things full of helium will do—for years. Hegseth, to his credit, has learned how to speak fluent Pentagon-ese, the content-free language in which the stakeholders help the warfighters leverage their assets to increase their lethality. (I taught military officers for years at the Naval War College. I can write this kind of Newspeak at will.) As Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut noted, Hegseth might not be qualified to be secretary of defense, but he could squeak by as a Pentagon spokesperson1.
This morning team Russia attacked with drones and missiles and other stuff.
As of this writing, most of the ballistic and cruise missiles are flying toward targets in mostly northern and western areas of Ukraine, aimed at energy generation and natural gas storage facilities2. Something is burning on Kyiv’s main thoroughfare Khreshchatyk.
Ukraine’s 100 or so brigades are still unable to stop invaders in eastern Ukraine.
Z’s daily pep talk was typical meh, reminding me of Pete.
The GOP Is No Longer the Party of National Security. America’s allies and enemies watched as Trump’s pick for defense secretary failed to quell concerns about his character and qualifications (The Atlantic, January 16, 2025)
The all-clear signal was given shortly after 8 a.m..