46 Comments
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Nancy G Leveson's avatar

This has nothing to do with DEI. It is simple and plain bigotry, misogyny, and racism. What happens when these hateful acts discourage people of color from enlisting? They are already having trouble making their quotas.

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Susanna J. Sturgis's avatar

But DEI *exists* because of "bigotry, misogyny, and racism." Of course there's a connection!

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Judy CZUBATI's avatar

Trump would gladly institute a DRAFT

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Lauren's avatar

It does and doesn't at the same time. Keep in mind Hegseth has SIGNIFICANT disabilities and disorders-his alcoholism. Most of it is simple bigotry, misogyny, racism, ableism, etc. Keep in mind the Founding Fathers weren't all Christian, and some had disabilities. Don't let the trumpers realize that. I'd like to see what a 23 and me report would reveal about Hegseth's DNA. Odds are he's not the pure white he wants people to think.

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Marliss Desens's avatar

Toddler Hegseth believes that if he cannot see these people they cease to exist. Clearly, he does not know of the old maritime superstition that re-naming a ship is bad luck. It is also an abomination, as he tries to wipe out courageous people. He needs to see their names everywhere he goes. What a small, petty man he is--one who knows that he will never demonstrate even a fraction of the courage that these people did.

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Judy CZUBATI's avatar

I did not know that re-naming a ship is bad luck but it does make sense.

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K S's avatar

To be clear, Harriet Tubman WAS a warrior! From the Smithsonian Ian website: “On June 2, 1863, Harriet Tubman, under the command of Union Colonel James Montgomery, became the first woman to lead a major military operation in the United States when she and 150 African American Union soldiers rescued more than 700 slaves in the Combahee Ferry Raid during the Civil War.”

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Steven Beschloss's avatar

Right you are. Thanks.

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Susanna J. Sturgis's avatar

Hegseth and others of his ilk believe that "warriors" are by definition white and male. It would take the rest of the month -- or maybe the year? -- to list all examples to the contrary.

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Dawn Kiilani Hoffmann's avatar

I agree with you! It is a good thing trump does not read, he would have the Smithsonian take that down!

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Cynthia Turner's avatar

We need to continually stand up to defend our history of legendary Americans. Just like we do in our sports world, our sports legends in the past we're ground breaking because of a turning point in history. We have an obligation to future generations to have an honest history of what truly was.

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Karen Bennett's avatar

I am so angry! I wrote something a few weeks ago about a case involving my Dad’s company that went to Scotus on appeal. I noted that Thurgood Marshall had voted ‘for Dad’. All of these ships were named for heroes! Something that neither Hegseth nor Trump will ever be.

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Steven Beschloss's avatar

Heroes v losers.

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Karen Bennett's avatar

Amen to that.

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Karen Estby's avatar

We hold these courageous people in our memories and they will still be there long after Hegseth passes to oblivion.

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Steven Beschloss's avatar

Exactly.

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Ellen Deschatres's avatar

Thank you for tackling these subjects. They are hard to understand and even harder to realize fully. Each time someone like Hegseth takes a wrecking ball to our beautiful and honored traditions that affirm our deepest and healthiest and most generous affirmations concerning our fellow travelers, I die just a little. I want to curl up in a corner and face the wall, because the wall is blank. It is my monument to grief and courage and fear. It is non-accusatory, and it is open and ready for what could next be written. It can take the sorrow I project onto it and not allow it to remain. It is patient and understanding. It knows no evil. It is the one steadfast place to name my sadness. Grief doesn’t stick to it, neither does anger or hatred. It knows that what we will write on our collective wall of democracy next is really up to us. So I guess the final question is: Can we erase from the walls of our history and democracy what men like Pete Hegseth are writing?

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Steven Beschloss's avatar

Hang in there. Remember the grief is only because you know there's a better America to get to...

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Ellen Deschatres's avatar

Thank you.🙏

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Judy CZUBATI's avatar

He is not actually a “man”.

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Lauren's avatar

He's a toxic piece of excrement.

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Mary Greenwald's avatar

Only if we have trials and put them in prison. He may not be a Haldeman/Erlichman yet, but we have time to get ALL the truth.

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Monet Lion's avatar

“Only the weak are cruel.

Gentleness can only be expected from the strong. “ Leo Buscalia

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Marina Oshana's avatar

Bigotry coupled with ignorance. A toxic combination.

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Marina Oshana's avatar

In fact, it's worse: Bigotry with ignorance that is feigned, cynical, callous, small-minded and weak. If Hegseth wasn't so insecure, perhaps he'd recognize what it actually means to be a warrior.

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Sharon C Storm's avatar

I really despise his continual use of the term “warfighters”.

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Mary Greenwald's avatar

Wait until someone reads the list of women for which ships have been named to Trump. He will rename them all: Sacagawea, Gabriella Giffords, Amelia Earhart, Sally Ride, Mary Sears (her research enabled submarines to hide), Rear Admiral Grace Hooper, Eleanor (and Franklin) Roosevelt, Leah H. Sutcliffe Higbee ( US Navy Nurse).

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Diane's avatar

In June 2020 during Trump 1.0, he said he would "veto the annual defense policy bill if it included language renaming any military bases named for Confederate generals after Union generals...". This was during the George Floyd protest period. My, my, what a difference 5-yrs makes!!! 🙄🤬🤬

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Jenny C McCune's avatar

They want to erase us all. Unless you are white straight male Maga the rest of us don’t exist. Don’t count. Don’t count us out though. We will fight for what is right and get our America back. Stand up and speak out.

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Marliss Desens's avatar

Hegseth will gladly try to erase any white male who does not support the Trumpian agenda. You may recall that they have removed pictures of General Mark Milley from the Pentagon.

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Lauren's avatar

It's worse than you think. 1 has to be CIS, white, ABLED, KKKKristian, etc. Note that means no one with glasses/contacts. It's the Eugenics regime. Don't let them realize that first Eugenics happened when whites first came to the US.

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flo chapgier's avatar

So childlike.

Nothing that they will try will erase anything done before them, but their acts will stay also.

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Judy CZUBATI's avatar

So childish and very, very PETTY.

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flo chapgier's avatar

Lol, totally !!!

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Susan B's avatar

Could this Sec Def be ANY more hateful? I can see why it's bad luck to rename a ship. Surprised the John McCain name is still there but lucky for him his gender & color was the right (white)one. Heaven help us. Thank you Steven

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Susan Linehan's avatar

"but no one was left to speak out for me" is getting closer and closer and closer.

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Dawn Kiilani Hoffmann's avatar

How dare they? This is the point! They want to pretend that they are bold when it is quite the opposite. As long as they (think they) are safe (for now) they can do anything with impunity. Nope. Proven otherwise lots of times already - the major proof that POTUS&Co. are wimps is the fact that bullying is their thing (when he&Co. have backing), and POTUS was a dodger for any military service. A Warrior ethos...! Really? Whose dictionary are they using? Even an upside down dictionary cannot pull tricks on meanings of words like this. The reason we are in this compromised position as a country folks, is because we have never cleaned out the systematic oppressions that the DEI policies were slapped in place to cure. It was a bandaid. We need to REFORM Democracy, people! Big time. We all have blind spots and bias; find them and eliminate them the best you can, and then do it some more. It is easy to be angry at the outrageous bu*****t, but they make it easier not to examine one's own practice of the same paler versions of greed, racism and misogyny. Some wear it loudly others just practice it at an "acceptable " level. BTW, NONE of it is acceptable, in case you are wondering. The sooner we come clean of it all the better off we will be - all of us. Those whom we need to remember were busy doing things that needed to be done. Not only do we need to remember what they did and how they did it, but follow their examples of their best works. We need to find our own versions of it, and get busy.

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