Pete Hegseth is next. Mark my words.

[mr715]

The only thing keeping him at Defense is the organizational interia he has created with his ridiculous Dept of War Oorah chest thumping.

The moment there is the slightest pushback from the GOP orthodoxy, he will "misspeak" and implicate Trump and will be fired.

Then he shall be appointed "Special Envoy to the Shield of Europe" and slink back to Planet Fitness to do half pull-ups and set off lunk alarms

[Goonch]

1. ;-{).....

[mr715]

5. And then there is Rubio's shoes...

Which is just another perfect metaphor.

The imperial Axis of Rubio-Hegseth-Graham has more than a lot of compensatory psychic issues.

[Goonch]

9. ;-{).....

[mr715]

10. Unaltered Image, too.

Pretty scary for the Viceroy of Venezuela, the Generalissimo-in-Exile in Cuba, his Excellency, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States, Vizier of Iran (May Allah Be Pleased With Him), and National Security Advisor to Emperor Trump, Rex.

The most powerful national security official in the United States, after nearly 60 years, is a clown wearing daddy's shoes. Almost literally.

[vapor2]

47. NO ONE tells me what shoes I have to wear

[gordianot]

37. His shine must be a major aid in using the urinal.

[mr715]

38. I think he's more a pee-in-the-stall sorta energy.

[NH Ethylene]

39. I'm sure he thinks he is poised to run for president.

Even minus all the evil deeds he has gone along with, when you sell every iota of your soul, experience becomes a liability.

[mr715]

40. It is all about the post-Trump order.

And I agree. When you sell your soul, how clever the deal you made doesn't make a lick of moral difference.

As an aside, I think the office of Chief Diplomat is a strong position to run for president from. When Sec. Clinton ran, one of my talking points was that I wanted a diplomat president, not a CEO president.

Of course I also supported her when she was a Senator and ran, so my preferences are biased. The upshot is Sec. of State is an august position from which he could (and will) launch a run for President. He represents a cowardly faction of the Republican party, but one that has successfully insinuated itself into the halls of power at the expense of their dignity.

He is somewhere between Vance and Pence in terms of sensibilities. And he clearly knows the magic words to say to make the snakes dance.

[GenThePerservering]

11. This cartoonist tends to make everybody

look too good and mostly the same. He should have that idiot facing his fake image in the mirror.

[Goonch]

35. Yup, Hegseth looks childish and unfocused

[leftstreet]

2. LOL

Then he shall be appointed "Special Envoy to the Shield of Europe" and slink back to Planet Fitness to do half pull-ups and set off lunk alarms

[Skittles]

14. it's just crazy good effective writing

[mr715]

4. Happier.

I'll be happy there are fewer people in the Pentagon masturbating into mirrors.

But happy is a relative thing.

Why do you ask? Do you care?

[Skittles]

16. aw man I HATE IT when I miss the trolls

but that's a great response!

[mr715]

18. I wanted to read it so, so bad.

Felt the spirit move me there.

[mr715]

19. Also thank you.

[peggysue2]

6. I can easily envision Kegseth toppled

Because we all know Agent Orange isn't taking responsibility for this mess.

[mr715]

8. No, I think we saw that with Bessent today

You know, when he saw a ghost?

Hegseth explicitly articulated a war crime, so he is on borrowed time. Don't get me wrong, the US has had some disconcerting tolerance for crimes against humanity, but we don't like them being expressed without a Kissinger accent.

Or a Cheney.

Or a Bolton.

Okay, nevermind. Maybe it isn't the war crime thing.

I just intuit his schtick is getting tired. With Noem's departure, I figure Hegseth is the easiest odious figure to replace with a functionary with fewer psychosexual issues.

[GenThePerservering]

12. He definitely shares Barbie's love of

self-mythologizing.

[mr715]

15. The two best South Park parodies

Noem also had her bad full of toys to "self mythologize" and she had the opportunity to mythologize with Cory Lewandowski.

As I expressed to the poster that was removed, I suspect Hegseth does a lot of "self mythologizing" in front of a mirror.

[Skittles]

17. YOU GOT THAT RIGHT

WHAT A COUPLE OF VAIN ASSHOLES

[peggysue2]

13. Trump doesn't care about war crimes

He pardoned military guys convicted of war crimes in Afghanistan during his first term.

But losing? Being perceived as a loser, a bungler. He cares about that a lot.

So IMHO, Hegseth can rant on about No Quarter all he wants but the first real evidence that gets by the censors that Trump's excursion/incursion is a gigantic f**k-up, an obscene waste of American lives and treasure (not to mention global security), Donnie will cut Hegseth loose in an eye blink while blaming him for the entire fiasco.

But then, I also believe that Hegseth's schtick is, indeed, getting old. A guy who needs a make-up room at the Pentagon doesn't exude a lot of manly confidence.

Maybe we're living through a version of Killer Klowns from Outer Space.

[Johonny]

20. This is Marco and his war, at least Trump will claim

I assume when the time comes poor Pete with get the Noem treatment by Kennedy. This is a fucking disaster for the GOP and they all know it. Well, maybe Trump doesn't because he's rock stupid.

[mr715]

21. Oyah, this is Rubio.

And Rubio is a chickenhawk. Hegseth is the perfect low IQ patsy to implement the old school, neocon Rubio agenda while keeping his hands relatively clean.

Much of this is kabuki Vance v. Rubio and where the GOP really want to be after time claims his due in Donald.

My money is on Rubio, because Vance is offensive to all sense and sensibility.

[Johonny]

22. Much like Miller

I think Rubio is smart enough to win the blame game. Pete isn't, just like Noem wasn't.

[mr715]

23. Yeah.

I think Stephen Miller is a bit different because he is entirely an operator of borrowed power.

Ostensibly Noem, but especially Rubio and Hegseth, have real power that comes with their theoretical independence from the executive office of the president.

Miller can be fired and we might perceive a change in policy / posture, but his firing is entirely an act of politics - not governing.

Rubio, the mediocrity, is a genius in a room with Hegseth and Noem. I never took him seriously, but I do now.

[Cosmocat]

27. Last sentence is spot on

Rubio us a servient half wit, beclowning himself like the rest of them wearing the Florshiems but is disciplined enough to know what not to say, which makes him the cream of the crop in this tin of mule puke.

[calimary]

29. So is the first sentence.

“Stephen Miller is a bit different because he is entirely an operator of borrowed power.”

Stephen Miller.



I CANNOT wait til that bastard finally gets his.

[Ocelot II]

30. Sometimes he has a look like he can feel his soul departing his body.

I think he knows he's in the shit up to his neck but doesn't know how to get out and is afraid to try. So he wears his Florsheims like clown shoes and tries to look as small and inconspicuous as possible in meetings, like a rabbit hiding in the grass hoping the hawk won't see him.

[mr715]

36. "Lie back and think of Cuba"

[The Madcap]

24. Hegseth and Pirro are boosting the economy.

The liquor economy, anyway. Otherwise, we would have nowhere to turn when it all caves in.

[mr715]

25. Didn't Hegseth go cold turkey?

Pirro, meanwhile, went wild turkey.

[Ocelot II]

32. Maybe, but there's a thing called a dry drunk.

[BattleRow]

26. Kindred spirits....

[quakerboy]

28. As the disaster that is the war on iran becomes more clear

He will be who they attempt to put the blame on.

I dont think it will work though.

[Figarosmom]

31. Yeah all that lobster is going to be the excuse

Not the fuck up in Iran. Maybe that's why Condoleezza was there.

[mr715]

33. 3-tiered fruit plates.

Helluva warfighter snack.

I bet they had canapes.

[Norrrm]

41. Maybe even Oz's crudit platter?

[mr715]

42. Even Hegseth's DOD couldn't afford that.

[Norrrm]

43. That 'e' with the mark does not show up. It certainly makes the word look different

crudite without the mark.

[Figarosmom]

44. Yeah I'm sure of it

[mwb970]

34. He is so bone-crushingly stupid.

Even for a trump appointment, this guy is a childish idiot.

[UTUSN]

45. If only, but the wish list is long, beginning with the a-hole at the top.

[vapor2]

46. HOPE you are right but 47 really loves how he looks on tv

[returnee]

48. No worries.

Witcoff and Kushner can pick up the slack.

[Jbraybarten]

49. only what matters to donnie in a given moment is what matters to him as far as anything goes...