Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Taking A Stand that Will Hurt

A problem of ethical values when a person of power threatens a person or company to get them to do something they want done. Typically, it is an action by the weakest of people who by themselves can not stand alone. One company Takes a Stand Against Pete Hegseth, The Atlantic Anthropic PBC is an […]

Trump DoD joins the ‘60s

Back in the 1960s, college antiwar protests included protests against ROTC and other military training programs. Now I see where “Whisky Pete” Hegseth also wants to shut down graduate military education on university campuses. “Beginning next fall, the Defense Department will discontinue graduate-level professional military education, fellowships, and certificate programs at Harvard, according to the […]

Why we have laws governing armed conflict

Like Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump, I never had to serve in combat. But I’ve read enough history to understand why laws governing conduct of war have emerged. Secretary Hegseth thinks these laws are a sign of weakness and shouldn’t apply to the US military. I’m calling bullshit. But don’t take it from me, take […]

No agenda, no attenda

That was my motto about meetings when I was a professor and associate dean. A leader respects the time of their colleagues. Not so for Pete Hegseth. “Nothing good is likely coming out of this,” said one Democratic political scientist on Thursday regarding reports that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has called a meeting of […]

Pete Hegseth: DUI DEI hire

Pete Hegseth was a DEI hire. GOP affirmative action to insure that incompetent alcoholics aren’t discriminated against. Here’s Mike Brock (paywalled, so no link) on the colossal blunder that is Pete Hegseth: “The core argument against DEI initiatives has always been straightforward: institutions should hire based on merit alone, without regard for demographic considerations. That […]

Nothing to Bragg about

Pete Hesgeth, Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, thinks that Fort Liberty should go back to its previous name, Fr. Bragg. “Fort Bragg, one of the largest Army bases in the US, was named for Braxton Bragg, a general in the Confederacy and slave owner who lost nearly every battle he was involved in during the […]

Pete Hegseth knows nothing about Marxism

“Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, has repeatedly criticized policies allowing gay people to serve openly in the US military, calling them part of a “Marxist” agenda to prioritize social justice over combat readiness.” LOL! I’m absolutely confident that Hegseth hasn’t read a word of Marx or Marxist economics. I’m equally […]