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"In a more sensible and serious world, Mark Kelly would take Pete Hegseth's job as secretary of defense."
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/mark-kelly-military-trump/685065/?link_source=ta_bluesky_link&taid=692625bbe17101000147bb83&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=edit-promo&utm_medium=social&utm_source=blueskySenator Mark Kelly Is in the Wrong Job
He should be secretary of defense.
By Tom Nichols
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth apparently thinks that Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona is in the wrong job. Kelly was one of six Democratic legislators who released a video reminding the officers and enlisted people of the U.S. military that they are bound by their oaths to disobey illegal orders. Now Hegseth wants to recall Kelly, a decorated combat veteran and former astronaut, back to active duty in the Navy so that Kelly can be court-martialed for what Hegseth sees as riling up the troops against the commander in chief.
Hegseth has a point: Maybe Kelly shouldn’t be in Congress. But the secretary is wrong about putting the senator back in the naval service. In a more sensible and serious world (and, yes, I know this is not the one we live in right now), Hegseth would be fired—and Kelly would take Hegseth’s job as secretary of defense.
Snip
All of these secretaries were competent men with records of achievement before coming to the Pentagon. They were professionals and patriots who cared about the security of the United States and the people who served in uniform. Hegseth, by comparison, is a dude-bro sporting some questionable tattoos, a creation of television who’s acting as if he won The Apprentice: The Nuclear-Weapons Season. He seems to believe that his job is hectoring young men about being fat and forcing Black men out of the military for having beards. He has no understanding of national strategy, and no real experience managing anything.
Snip
The Trump White House knows that Hegseth is nothing like Forrestal, or Aspin, or even Rumsfeld, for that matter, and that he is unqualified to do anything but push-ups. This realization is probably why Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll, and not the actual head of the Pentagon, is the person meeting with the Russians in Geneva trying to stop the biggest war in Europe since 1945. Trump seems to like Hegseth, but the administration also seems to be taking care not to let Hegseth near anything breakable or dangerous.
Sniip
He should be secretary of defense.
By Tom Nichols
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth apparently thinks that Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona is in the wrong job. Kelly was one of six Democratic legislators who released a video reminding the officers and enlisted people of the U.S. military that they are bound by their oaths to disobey illegal orders. Now Hegseth wants to recall Kelly, a decorated combat veteran and former astronaut, back to active duty in the Navy so that Kelly can be court-martialed for what Hegseth sees as riling up the troops against the commander in chief.
Hegseth has a point: Maybe Kelly shouldn’t be in Congress. But the secretary is wrong about putting the senator back in the naval service. In a more sensible and serious world (and, yes, I know this is not the one we live in right now), Hegseth would be fired—and Kelly would take Hegseth’s job as secretary of defense.
Snip
All of these secretaries were competent men with records of achievement before coming to the Pentagon. They were professionals and patriots who cared about the security of the United States and the people who served in uniform. Hegseth, by comparison, is a dude-bro sporting some questionable tattoos, a creation of television who’s acting as if he won The Apprentice: The Nuclear-Weapons Season. He seems to believe that his job is hectoring young men about being fat and forcing Black men out of the military for having beards. He has no understanding of national strategy, and no real experience managing anything.
Snip
The Trump White House knows that Hegseth is nothing like Forrestal, or Aspin, or even Rumsfeld, for that matter, and that he is unqualified to do anything but push-ups. This realization is probably why Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll, and not the actual head of the Pentagon, is the person meeting with the Russians in Geneva trying to stop the biggest war in Europe since 1945. Trump seems to like Hegseth, but the administration also seems to be taking care not to let Hegseth near anything breakable or dangerous.
Sniip
Much more: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/mark-kelly-military-trump/685065/?link_source=ta_bluesky_link&taid=692625bbe17101000147bb83&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=edit-promo&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky