Sunday, May 03, 2026

Hegseth and Blanche, two of Chumps goons

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth embarrassed himself before both houses of Congress last week.  Jeff McCausland (MS NOW) notes:


Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s testimony to the House and Senate Armed Services committees last week was his first appearance before Congress since U.S. military action began against Iran.

So far, this conflict has resulted in the deaths of 14 American service members, including one whose death was not combat-related, and a reported cost of over $25 billion. These hearings were originally scheduled as a routine review of the administration’s proposed $1.45 trillion Pentagon budget for fiscal 2027 but ended up being the first opportunity lawmakers had to question Hegseth about the war.  

But this was not “routine” and was a critical moment for the nation’s security. The American people are threatened by an ongoing conflict that could easily escalate and is already having a dramatic effect on the global economy. The nation is potentially facing its greatest energy crisis in history, and Hegseth’s testimony cast doubt on his fitness for the position of secretary of defense. 

The testimony was disturbing from the onset for his combative and argumentative style, as he immediately lashed out at lawmakers from both parties. Hegseth began the hearing with a formal statement that argued “the biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless, and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans.” 

This was hardly a serious effort to demonstrate his understanding of defense economics or elicit support from members of Congress concerned that the proposed massive Pentagon budget — a 45% increase over 2026 — would have serious implications for the nation’s debt, which already exceeds $39 trillion. If enacted, this budget would expand the force by 44,000 troops, provide significant pay raises and boost procurement of new ships, aircraft, and weapons by 76%. Hegseth further deferred nearly every question about individual program costs.


Hegseth has no experience to be Secretary of Defense.  He makes about as much sense as Secretary as he did on FOX "NEWS" weekends.  Mac William Bishop (ROLLING STONE) notes Hegsteh's glaring lack of intelligence and history:


Half a century after the end of the Vietnam War, the United States finds itself again locked in a conflict with a surplus of kill counts but a deficit of strategy. The official response is to flood the zone with facts and figures, signifying nothing.

America's defense secretary is interested only in the imaginary past he has created, in which the reason the U.S. loses wars is because of "wokeness," and an imaginary present in which the United States' latest boondoggle overseas has been a resounding, historic success. He believes that the real problem with the Trump administration's precipitous intervention in Iran is that people are criticizing it.

  "The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans," Pete Hegseth told Congress on Wednesday.

With all due respect to the man who calls himself the secretary of war, words alone do not lose battles any more than they win them. And one need not possess the political and strategic acumen of Napoleon Bonaparte to find it problematic that the nation's top defense official believes his primary adversary in a war with Iran is in Washington, and not Tehran.

There's ample evidence that in three months of undeclared war, the U.S. and Israel have destroyed a large amount of Iranian military equipment. There are entire rooms full of analysts and military personnel whose sole job is to compile reports cataloging this destruction.

You can ask various officials at different times, and they will describe America's progress with mathematical certainty: Iran's military is 92 percent destroyed. Or 100 percent. Or whatever. The U.S. has carried out more than 13,000 strikes, according to Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell. It has destroyed 158 Iranian ships. It has hit 90 percent of weapons factories. It has killed the 86-year-old cleric who ran the country, and a significant portion of the Islamic Republic's top leadership.

 All of this sounds quite meaningful. In truth, it's "got the sizzle but not the steak," as Tom Waits put it.

No matter how the Pentagon graphs the stats, what precisely have America's bombs accomplished in Iran strategically? The administration is quick to say it has already met its goals, listing a number of half-truths (that the Iranian Navy is "destroyed") while glossing over the conflict's central issue: the status of Iran's nuclear program.


Hegseth has no clue.  He should have been fired long ago.  Instead, he bumbles along day after day making Chump come off a bigger joke than usual.  Robert Tait (GUARDIAN) notes:

Since Donald Trump’s first term, they have been viewed comfortingly as the “adults in the room,” a last line of defense against the impulsive whims of a president with access to the nuclear codes.

Now – after an unprecedented wave of firings that has been compared by some to Stalin’s purges – the Pentagon top brass no longer seem like such a reliable bulwark.

Since Trump returned to office in January last year, Pete Hegseth, the rumbustious defense secretary who has made it his mission to remake a military ethos he denounced as “woke”, has fired or forcibly retired 24 generals and senior commanders, with no performance-related reason given.

About 60% have been Black or female, an approach seemingly driven by the administration’s proclaimed onslaught against “DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) hires”.

Yet the officers forced out have had impeccable reputations. The most recent victim was Gen Randy George, the army chief of staff, ousted last month reportedly after he refused to obey Hegseth’s instruction to strike four officers – two Black men and two women – from a list of prospective promotions.

The spate of firings began in February last year with the termination of General CQ Brown as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, a figure that serves as the main interface between the armed forces and the civilian leadership.


Experience -- that thing Hegseth lacks.  And he's going wild as he fires anyone with actual experience.  Chump's letting him run wild so this is on Chump as well.  This takes place as Chump and Hegseth scramble to redeploy US troops.  Sam Levine (GUARDIAN) reports:


Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw more US troops from Germany after stunning European leaders and some senior members of his own party by last week announcing the withdrawal of 5,000 soldiers from Germany.

The move left 30,000 US troops still in the country, according to CNN. But Trump threatened on Saturday that more cuts were coming. “We are going to cut way down, and we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000,” he told reporters on Saturday.

[. . .]

The Republicans who chair the armed services committees in Congress, Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama, released a joint statement on Saturday saying they were “very concerned” by the possibility of reducing troops in Germany.


Republicans and Democrats in Congress are speaking out on the move.  For example, Ashleigh Fields (THE HILL) adds:


Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) on Sunday criticized the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany following a public spat with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. 

Last week, the German chancellor said that Washington was being “humiliated” by Iran amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in remarks condemned by President Trump. 

Crow said, “It appears as though this decision was made because Donald Trump was upset by a comment made by the German chancellor, like he is getting emotional and angry about this, and he’s making really consequential troop decision — troop movement decisions based upon being upset by the comments of a foreign leader, which is no way to run a foreign policy,” during an appearance on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.”

“So, we’re looking into it, and we’re going to make sure that any movements, if they do occur, are actually in our interests,” the House Democrat added. 



From one Chump goon -- Hegseth -- to another -- Todd Blanche. Devlin Barrett (NEW YORK TIMES) reports on acting attorney general Todd Blanche:


Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, on Sunday sought to contrast the Justice Department’s indictment of the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey over a social media post with other instances in which people have shared the same message, saying that the department had gathered additional evidence during an 11-month investigation.

Mr. Comey was indicted last week over a photo that he posted on Instagram in May 2025 of seashells on a beach that spelled out “86 47,” which the department characterized as a threat to the president. The charge was the second attempt by the Justice Department under President Trump to prosecute Mr. Comey and the department’s latest effort to pursue charges against the president’s perceived enemies.

Asked on NBC’s “Meet The Press” whether others who displayed the same numbers, or bought or sold T-shirts with the same message, would face the same prosecution, Mr. Blanche said no.

The “86 47” message, Mr. Blanche said, is “posted constantly — that phrase is used constantly.” He added, “Every one of those statements do not result in indictments.” What makes Mr. Comey’s case different, he argued, is other evidence collected, which he said he could not describe.


Blanche wasn't the only one on MEET THE PRESS this morning.  Senator Adam Schiff also appeared.  Max Rego (THE HILL) reports:

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) sought another grand jury indictment of James Comey because acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wants to stay in the post full-time. 

Schiff told host Kristen Welker on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the DOJ sought the indictment, which a grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina returned on Tuesday, because Comey is a “political opponent” of President Trump. 

He also listed other reasons, saying, “It’s the fact the president has called upon [Comey] to prosecution. It’s the fact that Todd Blanche wants to keep this job.”

“It’s the fact that [former Attorney General] Pam Bondi didn’t successfully bring a case against one of the president’s enemies,” added the California Democrat, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. 


Let's wind down with this from Senator Adam Schiff's office:


Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker to debunk President Trump’s false claim that his Iran War is consistent with the War Powers Act and not a violation of the Constitution, while laying out the price the American people have paid for the war at the gas pump and in the lives of U.S. service members.

Schiff also slammed the Trump administration’s continued weaponization of the Justice Department under Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, deriding the “seashells case” brought against former FBI Director James Comey as evidence of Blanche’s attempts to win Trump’s favor and nomination.

In addition, the Senator said that Democrats need to fight fire with fire on redistricting while reiterating his commitment to seeing Democrats pass a national ban on gerrymandering in the wake a Supreme Court decision this week that gutted the Voting Rights Act and resulted in calls by Republican state legislatures to embark on a new round of partisan redistricting.

View the full interview here.

Key Excerpts: 

On the unconstitutional Iran War and Trump’s claim it is over for purposes of the War Powers Act:

[…] This war was unlawful and unconstitutional from the start. We didn’t have to wait 60 days to reach that conclusion, because under the Constitution, only Congress can initiate a war or authorize a war or declare war. The only exceptions are if the United States is attacked or there’s an imminent threat of attack, then the president can take action in the near term. That’s when the 60-day clock begins if there’s a legitimate reason to begin the war at the start. And there wasn’t here. This is a war of choice, which has now brought a terrible cost in 13 service members who lost their lives, scores of others injured, many seriously injured. Highest gas prices now in years. It’s pushed inflation up to a high in several years. And of course, the opportunity cost is that we can’t invest in hospitals and health care and things that would improve the quality of life for Americans.

On Trump’s weaponization of the Justice Department:

[…] I was a prosecutor for almost six years. I never saw such a weak case. And I think Kristen in the future in the Department of Justice, if anyone ever suggests bringing a case this weak, there will be a new name for it. They will be called seashells cases. Are you telling me we should bring another seashells case? I think this case is likely to be thrown out even before it goes to a jury. It will absolutely be thrown out by the jury. But the fact that we’re spending time on a seashells case, and the top leadership of the Justice Department is so focused on it means they’re not focused on violent crime cases. They’re not focused on rape cases and child trafficking, their focus no, on James Comey and seashells. And it’s the American public that suffers.

On the priorities of the Blanche Justice Department:

[…] We’re seeing indictments, as we saw in New York, dismissed against a corrupt mayor or mayor facing corruption cases or allegations because he’s willing to help the president on an unrelated issue, like immigration. I’m talking about the former mayor of New York here. These kinds of abuses mean that the department isn’t going after oil companies that are price gouging. It’s not going after companies that are abusing consumers. It’s not protecting us from monopolistic conduct in the market. It is instead focused on the president’s agenda of retribution, and that’s a terrible use of resources and a terrible precedent to set.

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The following sites -- plus Ann's "Con man JD Vance" --  updated:


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