Summary

Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth, a Fox News presenter with minimal managerial experience, as defense secretary has stunned the Pentagon.

Hegseth has been a vocal critic of the military, calling for a purge of generals and questioning the appointment of Gen. Charles Brown as chair of the joint chiefs of staff.

Hegseth’s nomination is seen as a boost for the far right in Israel, as he has shown support for territorial expansion and suggested the construction of a new temple on the Temple Mount.

  • DaddleDew@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Placing people in positions of power based on personal loyalty over competence. This is how dictators secure their power. It also usually completely cripples the country’s ability to function at every level but the dictators don’t care about that.

  • enbyecho@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I guess on the plus side when China invades Taiwan we won’t have to honor our long-standing commitments and get our hands dirty defending our allies I mean economic partners

    • ikidd@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      With TSMC in Taiwan still the only chipmaker worth its salt in the world, that’s not going to happen. They’ll have every carrier group there the second China sticks it’s pickles across the line.

      • curiousPJ@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Trump believes Taiwan “stole” chip making technology from the states. And judging from most Republican’s general stupidity on this matter… They think majority of the semiconductors are produced in China. Because to them Taiwan == China.

  • Allonzee@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I think this is pretty funny in a the capitalist propagandizers are running the nuclear state insane asylum kind of way.

    • Billiam@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      You better worry about how many will obey when he orders them to be used on American soil.

      • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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        2 days ago

        Anyone who’s been on a military base should be very worried about that answer. It’s Fox News 24/7, in both recreational and professional areas.

        • peopleproblems@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          I always hear a different story. One side says the soldier/airman/sailor/(are Marines just grunts?) is supposed to carry out all lawful orders by their superior, and the other is to protect the constitution.

          National Guard and Coast Guard aside (which are technically state militaries, but Congress has recently given the President to authority to Federalize them without the governor consenting), it seems to me that one of the things a service member should have learned was that the military cannot operate domestically.

          Now, I’ve met some smart officers, and some really dumb officers, and a lot of… People who survived enlistment and they all swear up and down that the reality comes to what happens when a gun is pressed against your head. Do you die for your country (as is your job) or do you commit treason risking that punishment in the future.

          I like to imagine there’s a super top secret elite of the elite who are basically selected because at some point faced with that question and they take the bullet and become involved with an organization like Tenet.

            • peopleproblems@lemmy.world
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              1 day ago

              You haven’t seen Tenet? Boi, lemme introduce you to one of my favorite movies of all time.

              People can crap on it all they want but when you rewind it to check what you already saw happen again your brain gonna be like “oh holy shit I need to see that AGAIN!”

              Sorry. I really like Tenet.

        • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          2 days ago

          People seriously do not understand the degree of nationalistic propaganda anyone on a military installation is subjected to.

          Every poster, every event, every song, every sale ad for the commissary or other on-base stores, daily national anthem blasted over Giant Voice systems.

          It’s not just the military members themselves exposed to it; it’s their spouses and children; people are raised from birth in this environment. It’s every retiree who got a job back on the same base they retired from active duty on.

          • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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            2 days ago

            There’s also a definite undercurrent of being put-upon special people separate from the civilians who don’t know what it’s like to sacrifice for “freedom”. It’s not a good atmosphere to rely on when an autocrat, who is their legal commander in chief, and who their media propagandizes for, tells them to do something that they theoretically should refuse. There’s so many avenues to just do it.

  • nieminen@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    So he’ll cripple our military by installing loyalists and removing competent leaders by Totally bypassing existing procedures in the Pentagon… Wonder if any foreign adversaries will decide to test our strength once this is done… Love this timeline. Give me more.

    • samus12345@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I’m not seeing much benefit for them. If their goal is to destabilize the US, we’re doing the job ourselves far better than they ever could. And if their goal is to conquer territory? The US is pretty isolated and it would be difficult to maintain control unless it was Mexico or Canada invading. Oh, other than Alaska, Russia could attempt to annex it. Trump might even just hand it over if they ask!

      • tmyakal@lemm.ee
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        20 hours ago

        As an individual territory, the U.S. is isolated. As an empire, we have bases on every continent. The risk isn’t being killed. It’s being declawed.

        Not advocating for American imperialism, just clarifying the point.

      • nieminen@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        100% agree, also, I think we’ve come across each other before. Love the tag and pic. Metroid is my favorite series.

        • samus12345@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          Sadly, Dread was not for me. Too much twitch reaction and pattern memorization required to progress, not enough exploration. Hoping I’ll like Prime 4 better!

          • nieminen@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            Haven’t played all the way through personally, but I enjoyed it. There was a skill gap for me though via the same twitch reactions 😂.

            We’ll just pretend the other m didn’t happen. But yes been looking forward to MP4 for SOOOOO long. Honestly gonna miss the Wii controls, thought they worked really well for Metroid.

  • villainy@lemmy.world
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    If they’re stunned by this then they’re gonna be catatonic for the next 4 years. I wonder what effect that’ll have on national security…