I can't help but try to imagine who/what...maybe serve as his replacement. Sort of along the lines of ' how low can Trump go'. That is not to say that I will be sorry to see him go. It's interesting to watch Trump's desperation as he does all of these panicked pending amputations as it were..as tho' he can somehow prevent the sepsis of accountability from reaching the true source of systemic infection... Himself.
These headlines brought an immediate smile to my face…haven’t even read the article yet! It’s well past time for this unqualified, ignorant poser to be removed!!! Thank you Jack for brightening my morning…now to the article!
Christie...thank you. I'm glad it brightened the morning!
One thing I'd ask you to hold in mind:. The piece isn't a victory lap. It's a pattern analysis... and the conclusion is deliberately uncomfortable: Hegseth being removed is not the story.
The precedent he set is the story. A Secretary of Defense fired a four-star general during a shooting war with no public explanation...and the institution absorbed it.
Whoever replaces him inherits that power. Whether we like the replacement..or not.
That's the part I want readers thinking about long after Hegseth is gone. Because the man leaves. The machinery he built...doesn't.
Enjoy the piece...and let me know what you think after you've read it through.
Jack loved this as always! Will you write something about the Kash Patel fiasco or is that most likely determined as well (I think it is). It’s astonishing to me how psychiatric issues and neurocognitive issues have now been normalized or “sanewashed” by reporters who refuse to question what many of us are seeing.
In our home, we frequently talk about why Hegseth needs to go. So many reasons. The lack of regard for OPSEC, the Christo-fascism being brought into the Pentagon, the failure to act as a leader, the racist/misogynist actions, the sheer incompetence. But, wondering if a Vance buddy gets the nod from the top. I agree with you that the Fox news person should be saving up packing boxes, only a matter of time. Good reason to be #HoldingFast
Roberta...the Vance question is the one I keep coming back to.
If Driscoll gets the nod..it won't be a Trump pick...it'll be a pick Trump couldn't say no to.
That's a different administration than the one that started in January 2025...whether anyone acknowledges it...or not. Glad the household conversations are running. That's where the real thinking happens!
Trump does have an edge with a “Vance” pick. If the person picked doesn’t fall in line with Trump’s ever changing moods and vibes of the day, Trump can easily throw Vance under the bus (again) by playing the blame game.
Holy fucking shit.. they sideline the people who actually know what they’re doing and Kegseth is out there looking like the misogynistic Nazi loving fucktard that he is.. I just want our country back. I want normalcy and people in place who actually know what the fuck they’re doing. Not some posers who just want to look good and do absolutely fucking nothing except dig us deeper into a giant pile of shit. Dumbt just wants to blow shit up so he can look like a real man.. that Orange Dumpster Fire is a weasel dick.. he’s the first person who will hide while our country burns to the ground.
I'm expecting Kash Patel to go first. Minorities and women are always the first to be sacrificed. Noem and Bondi are gone and Patel is getting terrible press. Of course they deserve it!
When Trump fires Hegseth, that's a real message. If even white guys are going, wow.
“The question is not whether Pete Hegseth survives.
The question is whether the institution he leaves behind does.”
This sentiment shadows my mind like a haunting cloud lingers over the mountains in the northern part of my state after a rain storm. What will be left of this country for my grandkids weighs heavily on my heart and mind.
Hogsbreath, like his boss, were mistakes waiting to create carnage and chaos in utero. Your last sentences, Jack, are prophetic in a way that is uniquely your style! I look for these writing “tells” - they set the “tone” for rereading your articles. The devil is in the detail of your articles but your wisdom is in the “tells” I look for.
Another day, another article, another set of clues and arrows guiding my thoughts and musings. You so remind me of a professor I had in grad school. I took his Neuro Linguistics Processing course. Fascinating “stuff!” Too bad he’s passed - I would love to have a Socratic conversation with him after we read your articles. I miss the friendship we developed after I graduated.
Can’t argue that point, Jim! When he is gone but still alive, I think he should be made to watch Americans RIP all the signage, gold and TACKY crap off of OUR buildings and monuments!!!
You know, I’ve observed, either personally or via photos, that many super wealthy people mistake gaudiness for class!!!! Yrump is top of his “class” for his “trash” 😉🫣
It would be hard to imagine that Driscoll would be worse than kegsbreath. The fact he was working with the general to improve the military would indicate he has some decency. It would be gratifying if the fired leaders could be brought back but my guess is that none would be willing to come back as long as drumpf is still the prez. Will belong for the signs...
From your mouth to God's ears, Jack! I've been calling my red hats since Pete was made Secretary of Defense. There is no War, the congress never approved such. It was a name created to assauge his fragile male ego. So that, his makeup stand in the Pentagon, his nationalist tattoos, ridiculous pressers is beyond whatI can handle. Then his sheer ignorance boggled my mind. How on earth could congress ever approve this? I was flaming mad at his firing of General George and the others. Who does multiple firings on the same day, while in the middle of a war of choice? However, the replacement!?!?!!
As Jojo recently wrote on a different topic, the bar is so low it is below sea level. Yep, we are there. How low can we go? It's a horrifying game of limbo.
Although I will cheer Hegseth’s departure, I want to get a sense of how Driscoll will be. He appears to have way more cred, professionalism and bona fides. That said, will he have the cajones to bring back the folks that shouldn’t have been fired in the first place? Attempt to fix the damage wrought by his immediate predecessor? Stand up and say no when appropriate?
I also find it very intriguing that t is likely acquiescing to jd. Almost as if he knows he’s cooked, maybe not long for this world. Interesting dynamic.
In my opinion, most institutions can survive a bad person… but only if that bad person has not totally weakened the supports underneath (see djt & his previous admin). It looks like we need to wait on that verdict. Only a fool (probably a drunken one), pulls the crap that Hegseth and even Patel have pulled and that accountability leads straight to the top. What kind of a mess will we find once there are truly decent, democracy loving ppl in charge? I’m pretty sure what the public sees is only the tip of the iceberg. Buckle up for some rough seas ahead.
Thanks Jack. Am loving seeing the patterns more clearly!
Believing ‘he’ would have been fired long ago it surprises me of the paranoia this WH team has. Diaper Don says he doesn’t drink alcohol yet many of his loyalists apparently do, and to excess. Something is so off here. Typically paranoia is accompanied by illegal drug use not alcohol or in several of these cases alcohol abuse. Theory: because these appointees absolutely do not know what their job descriptions are, like kids in a candy store, they cannot decide which sugary substance to take (not buy but take), thus they do not know what to do unless a ‘puppet master’ either gives them free reign or tells them what to do. The illogical diversions of this WH clown cluster along with complete incompetence is so obviously diversionary it’s mind boggling. Thank you for the breakdown Jack. Steady as we go, and the sooner the better.
Can’t argue with the logic but timing is off. I think he’ll be gone after Trump’s birthday celebrations where his “look” will give Trump a feeling of security beside a “good looking“ man. Simple? Shallow? Naive? Yes, to the men involved and the conclusions drawn. The one thing that could hurry the ouster is a worsening f-up in and around Iran.
Yes,it will be interesting to see how the ushering out of Pete H. goes down. Trump doesn't measure by competence but by loyalty and optics. It speaks volumes to me that the second term is filled with such incompetence and grift. These are the loyalists to Trump. I didn't love his first term but there was a modicum of integrity. No signs of that kind of lifeform this time around. I will be watching. #Holdfast
God this feels like high school nonsense only with bigger stakes and civilians and military personnel dead and counting. Somehow those deaths get lost in the politics of this WH game playing. It’s a lose-lose as we wait for incompetent cabinet members and the commander in thief to exit. What a bloody shame
I can't help but try to imagine who/what...maybe serve as his replacement. Sort of along the lines of ' how low can Trump go'. That is not to say that I will be sorry to see him go. It's interesting to watch Trump's desperation as he does all of these panicked pending amputations as it were..as tho' he can somehow prevent the sepsis of accountability from reaching the true source of systemic infection... Himself.
Sher'..the "how low can Trump go" question is the right one...and I'd reframe it slightly.
Trump doesn't replace people with worse versions because he wants worse. He replaces them with people LESS likely to resist the NEXT request.
That's a different calculus... and it produces the same result.
Your sepsis metaphor is sharp! The amputations don't save the patient. They just delay the diagnosis.
-Jack
And those less likely to oppose him or outshine him.
The only shine on trump is his face varnish.
👍💙
These headlines brought an immediate smile to my face…haven’t even read the article yet! It’s well past time for this unqualified, ignorant poser to be removed!!! Thank you Jack for brightening my morning…now to the article!
Christie...thank you. I'm glad it brightened the morning!
One thing I'd ask you to hold in mind:. The piece isn't a victory lap. It's a pattern analysis... and the conclusion is deliberately uncomfortable: Hegseth being removed is not the story.
The precedent he set is the story. A Secretary of Defense fired a four-star general during a shooting war with no public explanation...and the institution absorbed it.
Whoever replaces him inherits that power. Whether we like the replacement..or not.
That's the part I want readers thinking about long after Hegseth is gone. Because the man leaves. The machinery he built...doesn't.
Enjoy the piece...and let me know what you think after you've read it through.
#HoldFast
-Jack
Jack loved this as always! Will you write something about the Kash Patel fiasco or is that most likely determined as well (I think it is). It’s astonishing to me how psychiatric issues and neurocognitive issues have now been normalized or “sanewashed” by reporters who refuse to question what many of us are seeing.
In our home, we frequently talk about why Hegseth needs to go. So many reasons. The lack of regard for OPSEC, the Christo-fascism being brought into the Pentagon, the failure to act as a leader, the racist/misogynist actions, the sheer incompetence. But, wondering if a Vance buddy gets the nod from the top. I agree with you that the Fox news person should be saving up packing boxes, only a matter of time. Good reason to be #HoldingFast
Roberta...the Vance question is the one I keep coming back to.
If Driscoll gets the nod..it won't be a Trump pick...it'll be a pick Trump couldn't say no to.
That's a different administration than the one that started in January 2025...whether anyone acknowledges it...or not. Glad the household conversations are running. That's where the real thinking happens!
#KeepHoldingFast
-Jack
Married to a 26 year AF veteran, you KNOW there are a lot of conversations about the DoD.
Trump does have an edge with a “Vance” pick. If the person picked doesn’t fall in line with Trump’s ever changing moods and vibes of the day, Trump can easily throw Vance under the bus (again) by playing the blame game.
Holy fucking shit.. they sideline the people who actually know what they’re doing and Kegseth is out there looking like the misogynistic Nazi loving fucktard that he is.. I just want our country back. I want normalcy and people in place who actually know what the fuck they’re doing. Not some posers who just want to look good and do absolutely fucking nothing except dig us deeper into a giant pile of shit. Dumbt just wants to blow shit up so he can look like a real man.. that Orange Dumpster Fire is a weasel dick.. he’s the first person who will hide while our country burns to the ground.
I'm expecting Kash Patel to go first. Minorities and women are always the first to be sacrificed. Noem and Bondi are gone and Patel is getting terrible press. Of course they deserve it!
When Trump fires Hegseth, that's a real message. If even white guys are going, wow.
“The question is not whether Pete Hegseth survives.
The question is whether the institution he leaves behind does.”
This sentiment shadows my mind like a haunting cloud lingers over the mountains in the northern part of my state after a rain storm. What will be left of this country for my grandkids weighs heavily on my heart and mind.
Hogsbreath, like his boss, were mistakes waiting to create carnage and chaos in utero. Your last sentences, Jack, are prophetic in a way that is uniquely your style! I look for these writing “tells” - they set the “tone” for rereading your articles. The devil is in the detail of your articles but your wisdom is in the “tells” I look for.
Another day, another article, another set of clues and arrows guiding my thoughts and musings. You so remind me of a professor I had in grad school. I took his Neuro Linguistics Processing course. Fascinating “stuff!” Too bad he’s passed - I would love to have a Socratic conversation with him after we read your articles. I miss the friendship we developed after I graduated.
He gets in line behind Kash Patel, but Trump is too involved in trying to destroy the world to notice his cabinet is dysfunctional.
Jim, I often wonder if the dysfunctional nature of Yrump’s world comforts him like Scrooge McDuck was comforted by his gold coins?
Trump's ego is satiated by anything gold!
Can’t argue that point, Jim! When he is gone but still alive, I think he should be made to watch Americans RIP all the signage, gold and TACKY crap off of OUR buildings and monuments!!!
You know, I’ve observed, either personally or via photos, that many super wealthy people mistake gaudiness for class!!!! Yrump is top of his “class” for his “trash” 😉🫣
It would be hard to imagine that Driscoll would be worse than kegsbreath. The fact he was working with the general to improve the military would indicate he has some decency. It would be gratifying if the fired leaders could be brought back but my guess is that none would be willing to come back as long as drumpf is still the prez. Will belong for the signs...
#HOLDFAST
Teri
From your mouth to God's ears, Jack! I've been calling my red hats since Pete was made Secretary of Defense. There is no War, the congress never approved such. It was a name created to assauge his fragile male ego. So that, his makeup stand in the Pentagon, his nationalist tattoos, ridiculous pressers is beyond whatI can handle. Then his sheer ignorance boggled my mind. How on earth could congress ever approve this? I was flaming mad at his firing of General George and the others. Who does multiple firings on the same day, while in the middle of a war of choice? However, the replacement!?!?!!
As Jojo recently wrote on a different topic, the bar is so low it is below sea level. Yep, we are there. How low can we go? It's a horrifying game of limbo.
Although I will cheer Hegseth’s departure, I want to get a sense of how Driscoll will be. He appears to have way more cred, professionalism and bona fides. That said, will he have the cajones to bring back the folks that shouldn’t have been fired in the first place? Attempt to fix the damage wrought by his immediate predecessor? Stand up and say no when appropriate?
I also find it very intriguing that t is likely acquiescing to jd. Almost as if he knows he’s cooked, maybe not long for this world. Interesting dynamic.
In my opinion, most institutions can survive a bad person… but only if that bad person has not totally weakened the supports underneath (see djt & his previous admin). It looks like we need to wait on that verdict. Only a fool (probably a drunken one), pulls the crap that Hegseth and even Patel have pulled and that accountability leads straight to the top. What kind of a mess will we find once there are truly decent, democracy loving ppl in charge? I’m pretty sure what the public sees is only the tip of the iceberg. Buckle up for some rough seas ahead.
Thanks Jack. Am loving seeing the patterns more clearly!
Great clues to watch for! Really hoping step #5 comes arrives asap. Next- Patel? Please!
Believing ‘he’ would have been fired long ago it surprises me of the paranoia this WH team has. Diaper Don says he doesn’t drink alcohol yet many of his loyalists apparently do, and to excess. Something is so off here. Typically paranoia is accompanied by illegal drug use not alcohol or in several of these cases alcohol abuse. Theory: because these appointees absolutely do not know what their job descriptions are, like kids in a candy store, they cannot decide which sugary substance to take (not buy but take), thus they do not know what to do unless a ‘puppet master’ either gives them free reign or tells them what to do. The illogical diversions of this WH clown cluster along with complete incompetence is so obviously diversionary it’s mind boggling. Thank you for the breakdown Jack. Steady as we go, and the sooner the better.
Can’t argue with the logic but timing is off. I think he’ll be gone after Trump’s birthday celebrations where his “look” will give Trump a feeling of security beside a “good looking“ man. Simple? Shallow? Naive? Yes, to the men involved and the conclusions drawn. The one thing that could hurry the ouster is a worsening f-up in and around Iran.
Welp...... Patel filed his "lawsuit"......
Yes,it will be interesting to see how the ushering out of Pete H. goes down. Trump doesn't measure by competence but by loyalty and optics. It speaks volumes to me that the second term is filled with such incompetence and grift. These are the loyalists to Trump. I didn't love his first term but there was a modicum of integrity. No signs of that kind of lifeform this time around. I will be watching. #Holdfast
God this feels like high school nonsense only with bigger stakes and civilians and military personnel dead and counting. Somehow those deaths get lost in the politics of this WH game playing. It’s a lose-lose as we wait for incompetent cabinet members and the commander in thief to exit. What a bloody shame