The first Secretary of Defense was James 'My Name Means Supercarrier' Forrestal, Under-SecNav and then SecNav through WWII. Hegseth would hate him, of course, because Forrestal was pro-integration and also, you know, won wars - both things Hegseth is not.
Forrestal also struggled with depression and mental illness late in life, ultimately taking his own life by jumping out a 16th floor window. So Hegseth would probably consider him a weakling and a wimp for being depressed all the time.
It just highlights so clearly the contrast between a generation that had the confidence that came from having walked through the greatest passages of arms in human history and came out the other end thinking, "maybe 'defense' is a better word" and these insecure manchildren afraid of seeming 'woke.'
My lefty friends say it’s just that they wanted to obscure the fact of American empire.
something something "Pax Romana" something
I sometimes wonder if Pete Hegseth is ever sober enough to think that he disgraces the seat George C. Marshall once sat in and feels his souls shrivel contemplating the titanic gap between Marshall's achievements for his country and Pete Hegseth's sad embarrassment of a career and character.
I honestly do believe most people who do the world ill realize what they are doing is wrong - otherwise they wouldn't try so hard to justify it.
He probably hates Marshall because the Marshall plan was woke and helped the "wimpy" Europeans. It was also aid to help both sides, and these people only see things in a transactional way. Although one can argue they hate all of that generation because they think the wrong side won the war
Of course the sad reality is that Hegseth has no opinion of Marshall or how he stacks up against the man, because our Sec. of WAR scarcely knows who the guy was.
Marshall saw armed conflict as a last resort and supported the 'soft power' of Voice of America and economic aid.
Because unlike Hegseth, he had the experience of organizing and leading - he was Army Chief of Staff - the army of a nation at war. Fundamentally these were men who *knew* large-scale war in a way few Americans alive still do. And they rightly feared it.
Marshall also credited his experience running a regional branch of the CCC.
And he was also very much not afraid to speak the hard truths to people above him. He did go toe to toe with Pershing in the first WWI to say poor logistics were killing Americans needlessly. We were lucky to have a man like Marshall in charge, who this admin hold in contempt.
Yes! He insisted FDR not address him by his first name and declined invitations to Hyde Park.
That’s the kind of thing that led Sarah Paine to say that the WWI conscripts were the original greatest generation, who saw the failures of leadership in a Great War and were determined not to repeat them. I never thought that way until I heard her say it.
now we get a bunch of yahoos who wanted to ban all recreational activities on base because "the original document posted on Reddit said it was meant to “Follow the Secretary of Defense guidance to focus on warfighting.”" taskandpurpose.com/news/army-ku...
These are the natural heirs to the dipshit McCarthy-ites who smeared Marshall in his time.
he might have heard of the Marshall Plan, but I'd bet good money Hegseth has no idea whom it was named after.
Idk, maybe we need to give this thing a chance...ok ok ok, no need to throw stuff
The unexamined life is not one worth living
I might just steal this line... tyvm 😎
I think he does, and it makes him really angry, insecure, and wants to drink even more than he already does.
He doesn't even rise to the level of George C Scott, here
something something war delightful to those who never etc etc
My father didn’t serve in WWII (Marine recon scout, Pacific theater, I know plenty about PTSD) so a bunch of hateful weenises could become asshat fascists.
Reminds me of Lee Marvin, WWII Marine sniper and actor, pissed off that cops arrest gay ppl in bathrooms
My grandfather didn't get a Purple Heart in France, and my grandmother didn't shoot a literal fucking Nazi in her literal fucking living room to protect the literal Jewish family hiding under the floor, ditto.