A Secretary of Defense who knew what he was doing would have read that speech before he gave it and then made sure to coordinate with the White House and NSC before reversing some 80 years of U.S. policy and leaving Europe in the lurch while the biggest war since the 1945 was underway.
It seems quite possible that he did though?
Who says he didn’t and everyone was ok with it?
When will this wrecking ball cause enough carnage that it is stopped? Where is the collective will at in America. Where is the red line?
It's as if said Secretary of Defense's only skillset was that he had been able to harness his bouts of verbal diarrhea to earn a living.
They work for Putin, not US. Who would’ve ever thought that in less than 24 years we’ve gone from fighting the Axis of Evil to joining it. Mind boggling
"We have always been at war with east Asia." Isn't that how the quote goes?
I think it cannot just be a slip. JD Vance speech was in tune, in terms of contents and un-diplomacy.
Idiot. Think he's drinking yet? 🤣
No surprise. The least qualified Secretary of Defense proved to be far in over his head immediately out of the gate. U.S. diplomacy is dead, and I've never in my 67 years been so afraid for the future of our country and the world order that has allowed me to feel more or less safe most of my life.
Chaos is a ladder
The Secretary of Defense was hired by a dumbass who faked, lied, and cheated through his entire life.
I heard people call this a “ rookie mistake”. That is how incompetent unserious and unprepared this guy is for this position. He has sat on a couch and spewed dribble - that was his “ job”. Accountability???
*on weekends
🤣🤣🤣yes! Less news focus mor FLUFF
Any one with a brain would have done that
Unless... it's their plan to do exactly that.
That’s what happens when they completely unqualified people in charge.
Written by a MAGA 1/6/21 Defender speech writer
He’s used to reading a teleprompter without knowing what he’s about to read.
That was the plan all along. Coordinated between Musk & Putin at he behest of Trump
Just one more example illustrating a Secretary of Defense who has a dearth of expertise for his job
He knew exactly what he was doing. Don't be naive.
Aligning with Russia for his own self interest in robbing Ukraine of its mineral rights. Yeah, we know.
I love that you think Hegseth can read
He’s a graduate of Princeton and Harvard.
I'm just calling the guy an idiot. But, you know Dubya went to Yale and Harvard and he's a certified genius. /s
They literally have no idea what they are doing, but the bravado and stupidy to think they do. My hope is that at some point they screw up so bad that the Republicans in congress will turn on them.
Ha ha ha
The Republicans are not going to turn on them.
Nope. Not unless they’re threatened with a primary. That seems to be the only thing Rs care about. The horror of being primaried.
Dunning Krueger effect. All of them.
Don’t hold your breath
Lol, I said hope 😄
I think that will happen when enough GOP voters get affected. It won’t take too much longer.
Your Friday evening humor is the best. "Knew what he was doing"
Is he saying he didn’t know what was in it??!!
Perhaps he was drunk when he delivered it
That’s asking a lot from a drunk weekend couch surfer from fox n frens!!! Bloviating Arschlochs rarely perform better than eejit ignoramii. 🤬🤬🤬
The Trump/Musk admin is full of loose cannons. Some days they fire on our own citizens and other days they fire on our allies.
I’m RAGEFUL!
The COWARDLY Senators confirmed that SOB!
No words suffice.
Can we panic yet?
Opinion | When I look at Europe today I believe they have abandoned our fundamental shared democratic values and they do not value the extraordinary blessings of liberty Here is why my speech will not mention Russia or China by Vice-President J.D Vance
Pretty shoddy on all levels. But …. Working with a guy who makes the three stooges look like geniuses will get you that.
That should be on a billboard outside of every Republican senator's office.
“knowing what you’re doing” seems to be below dead last on the White House’s list of job requirements.
And, he either didn't read it -or- read it and didn't understand he was speaking gibberish.
Trump said he was fine with it. These guys have no clue.
Hegseth isn’t smart enough to do that. He can only read off a teleprompter
Nah, he's intelligent but, more importantly, full of himself, making for a potentially dangerous combo. Even worse, it seems like his minor taste of celebrity on Fox gave him a puffed up sense of self importance.
No intelligent person runs two veterans orgs into the ground financially Not one. TWO orgs. Intelligence requires an ability to learn
He’s also got a major drinking problem. Not a good combo
Don’t underestimate evil intent.
Tom, I don't think I have enough ways to say "yes." I hope it's not an illegal word tomorrow.
You can tell someone called the MAJ and made him walk that shit all the way back to grovel to the “commander in chief” the next day. He was popping off like he was hosting a damn tv talk show. “Didn’t Trump want me bc of my fine opinions, after all?” No son, that wasn’t why.
Do we know that he didn't?
There apparently is no “process” established in this WH, even for questions you have been yakking about for a year
Unfortunately we have a Fox News host running DOD like The Five.
It is quite astonishing seeing this from across the pond
America no longer an ally Europe or Britain can trust. One thing that’s coming out of this is we do need to spend more on our own defences. A good thing. Build a better European military. America losing friends and allies fast.
Knew what he was doing? Hegseth knows what he’s doing. He’s purposefully taking a far right/isolationist stance. There’s no reason to act like it’s a mistake.
Knowing what one is doing is an affirmative disqualification for public service in America's Golden Age
This whole administration is a train wreck.
When you accept their motivation is the destruction of the United States, all of their decisions and actions make perfect sense.
I have a feeling that speech was coordinated from the White House.
Who wrote the speech?
Hegseth and Vance are dangerously stupid.
YES! It is as simple as that!
Heheh may be stupid. Vance is evil.
C’mon, give Pete a break! He was drunk.
What? He believes what he said. Trump told him to believe it and say it. Whatever Trump wants, Trump gets.
Maybe he didn't keep his promise about the drinking?
He’s a first day in front of the kids student teacher whose mentor teacher is nowhere to be found. His fellow first day student teacher Mr. Vance is in the next classroom. They are both so ill- equipped for this and unlike w student teaching, there is no veteran teacher to rectify the mistakes made.
Hey c’mon now, he was a Fox News show talking head so he must know what he’s doing.
He and Vance seem to be on the same page.
You're assuming that "knowing what he is doing" is a qualification for a Defense Secretary. The only people you have to coordinate with are Musk and Trump, who is way too far gone into mental derangement to do anything but play with Sharpies. Oh and order a big chandelier for the Oval Office.
Fox News host, dude.
They believe they intuitively know what to do.
Duh
Well he only arrived 2 minutes before he was to speak! Alcohol was on his breath. Sound familiar! 🙄
We withdrew from nato on Election Day. If the Europeans were waiting for an official proclamation to know that Amagaca ain’t on their team anymore then they deserve their fate.
He can’t really read.
Thoughts on this Tom? Do you agree with the stance and will you be referring to it as the Gulf or America? bsky.app/profile/thea...
What do you expect from a DUI selection.
You found the problem in the first 10 words…
In Europe we have no other choice than to assume that the USA are no longer our allies but our adversaries.
Canada getting there too. Americans joining the assholes of the world club.
💔💔💔
Would that be before or after polishing off a bottle of bourbon
He was drunk before that?
He is out of his league. Why would he accept this job knowing he is so unqualified!
Narcissism and power.
He thinks he is qualified. The Dunning-Kruger effect.
"Meritocracy"
I was wondering the same thing.
Pride. Arrogance. Malice. It's quite a long list, really.
He's just emulating Trump. The first time Trump reads a speech is when he's reading it on the teleprompter. FWIW, I thought Hegseth sounded like he was back on the couch on the Fox set, expounding on "whatever", and thinking he made sense.(He never made sense; he just liked to hear himself talk).
The goal WAS EXACTLY THAT: leave Europe in the lurch. So you might say that he knew what he was doing. They all know what they're doing. "Let's start negotiations in 3..2..1..⚠️NEWSFLASH: Putin gets everything he wants & Ukraine is at fault for getting invaded. Ok, negotiations can start... NOW!"👏💔🗽⚰️
He was busy at the Biergarten all afternoon.
We no longer have a qualified SecDef. Now what?
Embrace the suck :/
I'll drink to that. I'm sure Hegseth is.
Secretary of Defense who knew what he was doing would have taped off the sauce before starting the new gig. Instead of drinking fingers of brown liquid in a rocks glass during a press event
Did that happen?
A question on Europe military if you will, could Poland alone beat Russia? Russia seems like a paper tiger based on what has happened in Ukraine. The combined forces of Europe seem like a certain victory to this observer. Am I mistaken?
At the point where Russia is now - yes. Although they have called in North Korea. And China has interests in the minerals in occupied Ukraine. So it is the backdoor deals with these other nations that is sustaining Russia right now. Europe needs to wake up. The States is all bluster and no action.
Gotta watch North Korea in this mess.
Just a complete disaster! Who could predict that when you confirm a totally unqualified and not ready for prime time candidate that this would happen?
Man, I hate to sound doleful and pessimistic but it sure feels like the beginning of a dark and tragic time. A genuine Secretary of Defense would never stir the pot like that. Damn it.
One who wasn't pounding Scotch, either
That ship has sailed far away.
But, all the best people…
THEY CANNOT READ. THEY CANNOT THINK.
Oh, I think he practiced that speech over and over. You give him too much credit Tom.
Pete Hegseth is an alcoholic who can’t function normally.
The DEI hire we have as SecDef has no clue what he's doing. Serious question. Who is actually running the military?
Ah, the good old days of cabinet members that knew what they were doing.
He can do a lot of push-ups and he loves Trump. Practically MAGA royalty.
He was probably drunk
Not in this administration
Europe has been friends with the US/Canada for more than 80 years, even without NATO and now Trump just wants to kill everything with them.
You seem to assume sobriety?
But then he would have missed Happy Hour. You can see the bind he was in.
Right...someone in Congress called Hegseth speech " a rookie move" but I'm sorry Hegseth cannot be afforded the grace of being referred to as a "rookie". He was was deemed unqualified and unfit during his confirmation and those remain the only appropriate references for his performance.
Wait, who wrote the speech? Stephen Miller? Not Trump obviously, maybe Vance?
Dunning-Kruger Effect on display by US leaders in Europe
What makes you think that he didn't?
A President who knew what he was doing would never have appointed such an unqualified dipshit, but thats sort of just the entire story of the second Trump Presidency.
Were he qualified, he would have known better. But that’s the point. He doesn’t know better. He’s a dumb tool. He will walk headlong into dissolving European security, and US national security maintained through mutually trustworthy alliances.
That's the thing about hubris. It very often obscures the possessor from their actual capabilities.
There probably was an applicable Twilight Zone episode for today’s madness.
Rod Serling was a savant
Ahem…. only the MAGA-cult not everyone (thankfully)
Yep. That your secretary of defense. Greatness !
Too bad we don't have one of those
I don't think the White House has a policy process. If that's the case, no one knows what is US policy, and no one _can_ know.
Yeah, but the American people "clearly" wanted him to be a real life version of SNL's Fox and Friends Ainsley Earhardt while doing the job of being the Secretary of Defense.
He really Scotched it
How do we know he DIDN'T coordinate with the White House and NSC? Perhaps the speech was intended to be that way in order to test the reaction internationally. WTF am I writing. There is no way Trump would be that conniving. Right?
I think it's a valid question. I don't know why Tom so confidently assumes that Hegseth's speech didn't come from someone in Trump's inner orbit.
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It is contradicting what other American representatives are saying - for instance General Kellogg. This isn't the place for "a test". This plus the horribly incompetent appointments it has made. The American administration is coming off looking incompetent and losing allies.
He’s SUCH a doofus 🤦🏼♀️
Anyone who thought this drunk asshole knew what he was doing is equally culpable. It’s a goddamn embarrassment.
Sounds like something someone could write a book about
Intermediate step 1: Touch grass Intermediate step 2: Consult someone with relevant knowledge LOL - I've read your book, I've read Steve Benen's, I paid attention to his confirmation, he's a twat who thinks his high OBP means he's Rod Carew
We just ended trust with our EU allies. If EU is appalled by your new policy, they trade elsewhere. Watch for decline in US orders. Boeing, Cat etc.
As well as Canada and Mexico. The United States isn't making many friends. They have become untrustworthy.
Winter is here.
People who know what they are doing are disqualified from working for this administration.
Have they walked it back? I’ve been busy and hadn’t heard.
In Pete Hegseth’s defense he may simple have been too drunk or busy beating up his wife or girlfriend So already a grueling schedule PTL
Who wrote it?
Near perfect understatement.
Heghseth is a DUMBASS! End of story!
The things they say make headlines. What they do, not so much. Then people shout:"They do what they say they're gonna do" and I think: "do they really? Or do they make you think they're doing it?"
Its all verrrry reality show-esque
Maybe I have read too many spy novels, but it is becoming more evident to me that the Russians in one form or another have penetrated the highest levels of our government.
Not your imagination. It's Trump's plot to his White House reality show.
You make it sound as if today’s White House has any interest in upholding 80 years of U.S. policy, never mind being cognizant of it in the slightest.
Coordinating with Tulsi Gabbard's NSC? Somehow I do not think that would make it better.
He owned the libs though, didn't he ? Mission Accomplished
I felt completely owned. 🤣
🤣
I'm already fucked with my snap. Now This asshat without any finesse or diplomacy, is gonna make it so everyone thinks we're a mark or an enemy. Great
But they're gonna go even bigger, it'll be terrific, with bombs like we never saw before, a big, beautiful World War III.
^presumes the White House knows what _it_ is doing.
Reminds me of a time when a president fired a bunch of people who are in charge of maintaining our nuclear weapons only to backtrack the next day when he realized his mistake.
Link. www.cnn.com/2025/02/14/c...
I feel as if I stepped on a banana peel, and slipped into the pages of a distopian sci fi novel that I cannot find my way out of. Then I hear strains of "Hey you, can you hear me..." and I gotta get out of this place, if it's the last thing I ever do" and run smack into a page corner and fall over.
Um, pretty sure he does know what he's doing.
And what is that? Beyond alienating allies?
Add this There will be a report off an as’n ploy on the felon by a Ukrainian, foiled by Russia…the felon yanks all support for Ukraine. Threatens NATO with US NATO withdrawal if cont’d support for Ukraine…book it!
You are the past. You don't exist. A stale odor of a corpse already buried.
Oh, honey, don't give up. Maybe you can resurrect your integrity one day! Until then, talking to its ghost on the interwebz is not a great look.
No I am sorry I will not sit on your face and take a dump. Go back to your usual hobos and Democrats.
Hegseth is so far out of his depth 😳
But the Logan Act is really just kind of a "guideline".
Granted he was likely drunk and just back from a fling with a staffer.
It only makes sense if they're working for Putin and their goal is to destroy the American republic. See Musk and Putin joining sides in the upcoming German elections. Doesn't it seem probable that Musk's engineers have given Russian intelligence unfettered access to at least Treasury's computers?
We’re in shock here after the speeches by Hegseth and Vance.
Did you see this one? www.mediaite.com/trump/trump-...
He's in so far over his head it's embarrassing... what a moron...
That's what happens when more than 1/2 of the legislative body abdicates their duty to advise and consent.
"Meh, it's just a speech. I talked on TV for hours every weekend. How hard could it be?"
But kakistocracy doesn't work this way, Tom.
but idiocracy does.
HE/THEY don't care. It WAS/IS/WILL BE totally obvious, and there aren't enough spines to go around to stop this.
Evidently Hegseth was later seen at a presser drinking scotch in front of the cameras. So he's obviously checking somewhere else.
Or, you know, *cared* about what he was doing. Besides trying to perform on TV for the boss.
Republicans belong to Cowards Are Us ...
Sooner or later many will realize both are 'playing us' His object is to further overt unity with the German right wing, a sick plot. Also worth noting Tom, is a certain podcaster to remain unnamed that ranted on today about "Trumps cognitive decline" regards Hegseths comment etc. Its a BS torrent
Aren't we supposed to give him extra points because he's White and hits Women? I'm pretty sure there was an EO about that.
No no it is good for them to know the US can’t be counted on to be on the right side for this administration.
Get ready, considering the bench, we will witness a cascade of mistakes
the celebrity apprentice administration is talking hillbilly - I am looking to relocate to a country on the other side of the East American Ocean.
Ya think? You know a tree by its fruit, I keep saying…
Is he claiming he didn’t know???
Plus, didn't have to reverse himself after Vance contradicted him? They are stupid, dangerous amateurs...
True but this regime doesn’t care about any of that. If they start WWWIII, it’ll just make Jesus return sooner.
I can forgive him for not coordinating with the VP (he's an asshole)
But he’s their “warrior mentality” dude. Omg. What a mess.
We're going to have so many moments like this, with an incompetent thugocracy in power.
…who knew what he was doing
But he felt so good going to a big boy meeting and saying all those important things!
Becoming more and more interested in a Checkoslovakia’s Velvet Divorce and this Russian’s idea.
Also wouldn't be drinking what sure looked like bourbon while on camera at the podium, no? What an embarrassment. (And Vance was just as bad, from what I saw/heard.)
