"in the case of every nomination the question is entirely up to Republicans. Republicans have a three seat majority. They have the vote of the Vice President in a tie. What happens or doesn’t happen is entirely a matter decided within the Republican caucus. It is totally out of Democrats’ control."

~ Josh Marshall

#Hegseth #Trump #Republicans
/1

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/thinking-about-the-confirmations

"I’m seeing headlines and comments that Democrats failed to change the dynamic or knock any Republicans free. That’s a crazy standard since the dynamic is set."

Sure, the Democrats are the problem. The Republicans have total control, but both sides are — this is an article of faith — the problem. So the Democrats must be ipso facto and res ipsa loquitur the problem.

#Hegseth #Trump #Republicans
/2

"Pete Hegseth is the kind of guy that appeals to Trump, who mirrors his own failings and preferences. All the talk yesterday by kowtowing Republican senators that he is a 'change agent' who will help remake the military (and end 'wokeness') could not hide the fact that Hegseth is just the kind of angry, arrogant, retrogressive man who Trump adores."

~ Steven Beschloss

#Hegseth #Trump #Republicans #MaleEntitlement #MaleDomination #patriarchy
/3

https://www.americaamerica.news/p/snapshot-pete-hegseth-is-just-what

"Authoritarian states abound with examples of engineered incompetence, when leaders appoint individuals to Cabinet positions who lack the skill-set and high-level connections needed to succeed."

~ Ruth Ben-Ghiat

#Hegseth #Trump #Republicans #authoritarianism
/4

https://lucid.substack.com/p/pete-hegseth-and-the-autocratic-strategy

"This makes those individuals more dependent on the leader and creates more space for the leader’s powerful cronies to influence the institution to their own benefit (one could imagine that Elon Musk, who is an interested party due to his many defense contracts, might prefer Hegseth as Secretary of Defense over a tough and seasoned professional)."

#Hegseth #Trump #Republicans #authoritarianism
/5

"Every nominee for a Cabinet position communicates the values and intentions of an incoming administration. If Hegseth becomes Secretary of Defense, it will be another reminder that “Make America Great Again” is actually a crusade on an unprecedented scale to make America less safe and degrade the efficiency of the institutions designed to defend us, to the benefit of the autocrats Trump so admires."

#Hegseth #Trump #Republicans #authoritarianism
/6

"Donald and his transition team could have found other people to fill these roles who were less personally offensive, more qualified, but equally eager to betray their oaths to the Constitution in order to do Donald’s bidding, but they want to weaken our institutions and degrade people’s confidence in them. Putting the worse people in positions of power will more comprehensively achieve those goals."

~ Mary Trump

#Hegseth #Trump #Republicans #authoritarianism
/7

https://www.marytrump.org/p/the-first-domino

"Pete Hegseth is, by every measure, an abysmal nominee to run the American military. The Army National Guard veteran and former Fox News commentator has no experience managing enormous, complex organizations like the Pentagon and would, as secretary of Defense, be in charge of an $850 billion budget and 3 million active-duty and civilian personnel."

~ Rebecca Traister

#Hegseth #Trump #Republicans #authoritarianism
/8

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/inside-the-senate-battle-over-pete-hegseths-nomination.html

"His spotty professional record includes having been asked to step down from two nonprofit veterans’ groups whose budgets he reportedly ran into the ground. Questions about his personal behavior abound: He has been accused of rape (he reached a civil settlement with his accuser in 2017) and has a reported habit of excessive drinking, including while on the job and to the point of incapacitation in public."

#Hegseth #Trump #Republicans #authoritarianism
/9

"He has defended waterboarding and torture, advocated on behalf of alleged war criminals, and as recently as November he declared, 'I’m straight up just saying that we should not have women in combat roles.'”

#Hegseth #Trump #Republicans #authoritarianism
/10

"No qualifications? Even better!

Republican senators spent much of yesterday’s confirmation hearing twisting Hegseth’s vices into virtues and his negatives into notches."

~ Jay Kuo

#Hegseth #Trump #Republicans #authoritarianism
/11

https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/the-hegseth-horror-show