Earlier this week, Hegseth & Trump assembled the nation’s generals, admirals, and senior enlisted advisors at Marine Corps Base Quantico for a commanders’ call. We’ve all seen the reports and watched the clips; I don’t have much to say other than “Well, that was predictable.”
Every commander’s call I sat through over the course of a 24-year Air Force career, regardless of the announced subject, always came down to a lecture on personal appearance and grooming standards. My fellow officers and I were always insulted and offended; I know the captive audience at Quantico, who endured similar talking-down-tos as they came up through the ranks, must have sat there in disbelief — disbelief that they still have to endure shit like this now they’ve reached the highest levels of command; disbelief that the civilian authority to which the military must answer is so petty and small-minded. And racist. And sexist.
I wouldn’t read too much into the lack of applause and cheers during Hegseth or Trump’s speeches — that’s standard behavior for members of a military formation, which the Quantico event was. I wish I could say the military will resist being deployed against Americans, as Trump and Hegseth seem determined to do, and will stand up for and protect minority and female soldiers, airmen, sailors, and Marines; alas, I don’t think it will. Nor, legally, can it.