T 2.0

watfly said:
Hirono is the worst. Doesn't she have a town to rebuild in her home state?

I caught some of Hegseth's hearing. I thought he was very knowledgeable. My only concern is his lack of executive experience. We're seeing just in 2025 how dangerous the lack of executive experience is with NOLA and LA. Bass was a PA and community activist before she ran for office.
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We need a disrupter and a warrior
 
kickingandscreaming said:
Ok, but how much of a concern? We heard from @dad4 how qualified Kamala was to be President. You weren’t moved by that as you didn’t vote for her. By far, the most destructive quality we are seeing in politicians is the support of DEI. If he supported DEI instead of merit, I wouldn’t support him. Also, if Hegseth spoke in the word salad fashion Kamala does, I wouldn’t support him. If you want to nitpick, sure. But California is literally burning to the ground because of the DEI support and nihilism of our politicians. I’ll admit it’s a very low bar to exceed - maybe no bar at all - but Hegseth is in another league compared to many of the leaders we have today even with his lack of executive experience.
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I believe he's probably qualified, I would just prefer he had executive experience. I also don't think we should use the Dem bar, its not low, its in the dirt.
 
watfly said:
I believe he's probably qualified, I would just prefer he had executive experience. I also don't think we should use the Dem bar, its not low, its in the dirt.
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What criteria are you using to come to the conclusion he is qualified? I don't see that he has done anything to say he can run an organization with a budget of $860B and 3M employees, that requires you to be on point 24/7 and requires an extensive international / geo political perspective.

He may be outstanding at the job, and I do adhere to the philosophy that a President should get his picks confirmed barring anything outlandishly disqualifying. So, he should get confirmed imv, but I don't think he is "qualified" by any reasonable measure, but 🤷‍♂️.
 
Hüsker Dü said:
In a 2018 conversation with author Michael Lewis, Steve Bannon revealed the main media strategy of the Trumpists: "The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit." Actually, that was hardly a secret. Trump's been doing this since he first ran for president. He spews so much crap-lies, exaggerations, outlandish claims and promises- that it's nearly impossible to keep track of it all.


Moreover, each outrageous falsehood and assertion provides cover for or distracts from the others. It's Trump's version of what's been called the "firehose of falsehood" model of propaganda utilized by Russia.
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"Finished top of my class... 3 degrees... full scholarship. First in my family to go to college." NONE of that was true.
"We've been to the border... well, not really, but I haven't been to Europe, either. What's your point?" Heels Up getting smashed on NBC.

Save your bullshit. You're nothing but a clown and all you do is reinforce it.
 
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whatithink said:
What criteria are you using to come to the conclusion he is qualified? I don't see that he has done anything to say he can run an organization with a budget of $860B and 3M employees, that requires you to be on point 24/7 and requires an extensive international / geo political perspective.

He may be outstanding at the job, and I do adhere to the philosophy that a President should get his picks confirmed barring anything outlandishly disqualifying. So, he should get confirmed imv, but I don't think he is "qualified" by any reasonable measure, but 🤷‍♂️.
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Has he failed any audits?
 
kickingandscreaming said:
View attachment 24510

Has he failed any audits?
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Ah, the audits. The DoD was audited for the first time in 2018, failed, and has failed them ever since - there's apparently 30 separate audits of which 6 have passed and 1 was qualified, so 23 fails I suppose. I'd like to know the plan for them all to be passed. I'd also like Congress to do its job and stop giving $860B to a dept that can't pass an audit without a time-bounded and approved plan to get it done (they did that and failed, so get serious now). Maybe they should only approve funding for those of the 30 that do pass, see if that puts a fire under the DoD to get their shit together, rather than just rubber stamping the give aways, i.e. about half of the DoD budget - 50% or $430B - goes to private companies. I bet you could save half that by making all DoD contracts cost+ based only, e.g. cost + 15%, no exceptions. Enough with the (corporate) socialism.

Some history
- the 1990 law (CFO act) required all depts to be audited, but exempted the DoD due to its complexity
- the 2010 NDAA specifically required to DoD to sort it out by 2017
- 2018 first audit, fail - rinse and repeat
- the DoD has assets of approx. $3T and liabilities the range of $2.5T to $3T; and an annual operating budget of $860B
All good though, Hegseth after his stint at the $10M non profit is the guy to sort this (audit) out ...
 
Again, zero time for the BS leftists who want to question qualifications after the Cabinet appointees who were approved last time - without their comment - and spent the last several years professing the sharpness of Biden.
 
whatithink said:
What criteria are you using to come to the conclusion he is qualified? I don't see that he has done anything to say he can run an organization with a budget of $860B and 3M employees, that requires you to be on point 24/7 and requires an extensive international / geo political perspective.

He may be outstanding at the job, and I do adhere to the philosophy that a President should get his picks confirmed barring anything outlandishly disqualifying. So, he should get confirmed imv, but I don't think he is "qualified" by any reasonable measure, but 🤷‍♂️.
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I stipulate to his lack of executive experience.

I was impressed with his knowledge of the issues at the confirmation hearing when he was given the opportunity to respond. His approach is a "warrior" based approach, bottom up approach (ie support our soldiers). I think it helps him that he has "been there, done that" on the battlefield. I will acknowledge if he ends up doing a terrible job. He's the nominee and we have to give him a chance.

We could play this game all day long. Like what qualified Karen Bass to be mayor of LA (other than to be elected)?
 
watfly said:
I stipulate to his lack of executive experience.

I was impressed with his knowledge of the issues at the confirmation hearing when he was given the opportunity to respond. His approach is a "warrior" based approach, bottom up approach (ie support our soldiers). I think it helps him that he has "been there, done that" on the battlefield. I will acknowledge if he ends up doing a terrible job. He's the nominee and we have to give him a chance.

We could play this game all day long. Like what qualified Karen Bass to be mayor of LA (other than to be elected)?
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The wars (major) of the future will be won by technology, whether cyber, autonomous systems, AI, advanced weaponry etc. Soldiers have a place in that but strategically the others will far outweigh boots on the ground. A SoD should be talking about that, along with obviously looking after military personnel and just as importantly veterans, but I digress.

Likewise the SoD is the CEO, responsible for the long-term vision and strategic direction of the organization, along with governance and culture.

Comparing an elected official with an executive appointment is not the same, and really just a strawman argument.

As I said, he should get approved with all the others Trump has nominated. We should, and I do, hope they are successful. That doesn't preclude me or anyone else from wondering as to their respective ability to do the job they are nominated to, based on their existing experience.

For Hegseth, he is well educated, rose to the rank of Major - which is about middle management, and has worked for conservative think tanks, non profits and political advocacy groups, wrote some books and became a pundit on Fox news. That doesn't speak to me as being "qualified" to run the DoD, and I'm not just talking about executive experience.
 
whatithink said:
The wars (major) of the future will be won by technology, whether cyber, autonomous systems, AI, advanced weaponry etc. Soldiers have a place in that but strategically the others will far outweigh boots on the ground. A SoD should be talking about that, along with obviously looking after military personnel and just as importantly veterans, but I digress.

Likewise the SoD is the CEO, responsible for the long-term vision and strategic direction of the organization, along with governance and culture.

Comparing an elected official with an executive appointment is not the same, and really just a strawman argument.

As I said, he should get approved with all the others Trump has nominated. We should, and I do, hope they are successful. That doesn't preclude me or anyone else from wondering as to their respective ability to do the job they are nominated to, based on their existing experience.

For Hegseth, he is well educated, rose to the rank of Major - which is about middle management, and has worked for conservative think tanks, non profits and political advocacy groups, wrote some books and became a pundit on Fox news. That doesn't speak to me as being "qualified" to run the DoD, and I'm not just talking about executive experience.
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Apparently, you didn't watch the hearing because Hegseth spoke about the move to technology. Technology doesn't run without the rank and file behind it.

Like I said we can play this game all day long. Austin was qualified and he went AWOL and was one of the architects of the colossal FUBAR Afghanistan withdrawal

More support for my theory that the left cares more about what could happen, rather than what has happened and is happening.
 
watfly said:
Apparently, you didn't watch the hearing because Hegseth spoke about the move to technology. Technology doesn't run without the rank and file behind it.

Like I said we can play this game all day long. Austin was qualified and he went AWOL and was one of the architects of the colossal FUBAR Afghanistan withdrawal

More support for my theory that the left cares more about what could happen, rather than what has happened and is happening.
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whatithink said:
As I said, he should get approved with all the others Trump has nominated. We should, and I do, hope they are successful.
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You said
watfly said:
I believe he's probably qualified, I would just prefer he had executive experience. I also don't think we should use the Dem bar, its not low, its in the dirt.
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but haven't mentioned any criteria for your assertion ... I just wondered
I believe he's probably qualified
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Slobodan said:
And in other news from the left, RuPaul Lemon drives the final nail in his network coffin with this meltdown...

nypost.com

Sour Don Lemon launches profanity-laced rant against MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe,’ Obama for cozying up to Trump: ‘F–k you!’

Fewer than two weeks after his first wild meltdown over President-elect Donald Trump, the erstwhile CNN anchor and short-lived X partner has again embarked on another stream of potty-mouthed invect…
nypost.com nypost.com
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It’s nice that in the interest of equity, black folks have their Keith Olbermann.
 
Hüsker Dü said:
You are useless as well, but I keep you around for comic relief. Add something constructive sometime.
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<<chuckle>>

BTW..changing the words around and trying to use my line against me doesn't have quite the same effect when
it's already been said. Nice try though. Try being original. Or just go have another drink.
 
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