The Hegseth dysfunction

It seems that Hegseth may be forced to end his bid for Secretary of Defense due to his alcoholism and history of sexual abuse and mismanagement of nonprofits.  On one level this is as it should be.  I could probably live with Hegseth if he was well qualified for the job but got quietly soused most nights at home or treated his wife poorly.  But Hegseth seems to be such a dysfunctional, corrupt person that he should not be put in charge of DOD even if he was otherwise well qualified. 

The main problem with Hegseth’s candidacy, however, is that he is totally unqualified to manage the Pentagon and to oversee the country’s war planning efforts.  Indeed, he is apparently willing to purge the senior officer corps to eliminate some combination of “wokeness” in the top ranks and disloyalty to Trump, despite the effect that such a purge would have on military readiness and planning capabilities, and on the political neutrality of the military.

I am sure that there are some top Pentagon officers and civilians who are not up to their jobs.  Perhaps there is a deep cultural problem inside the military that selects for officers who are overly cautious, or bureaucratic, or prone to flattering their superiors.  I have no idea.  Still, understanding modern warfare takes a lifetime of study and experience, and figuring out how the Pentagon needs to be reformed and where the internal leverage points are takes more than a raging alcoholic with strong moral views on gays and women and blacks in the military.

Most Republican senators know all this.  Putting an unqualified ideologue in charge of the Pentagon is a way to give comfort to our authoritarian rivals around the world.  Yet, as with Gaetz, they are also likely to approve an equally unqualified replacement nominee without the lurid, soap opera baggage.  We need to let Republican senators know they will be held publicly accountable for the damage they do to all our public agencies by confirming Trump’s recklessly unqualified nominations.