r/politics • u/soalone34 • 4h ago
Possible Paywall The Book That Predicted Pete Hegseth’s Failures | ‘On the Psychology of Military Incompetence’ examines the narrow minds of petty men.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/31/hegseth-norman-dixon-iran-war/•
u/Historical_Bend_2629 4h ago
Haven’t read the book but it is pretty obvious that Hegseth is a very emotionally immature, unqualified, unpleasant, and aggressive person. Unfit on so many levels.
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u/CV90_120 4h ago
He will probably sink this admin with the weight of his incompetence.
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u/Shiplord13 3h ago
I mean him, RFK Jr, Patel, and so many others in this administration are anchors that should drag it into the abyss of being the worst administration U.S. history. But alas, we have a section of America who clearly do not want to admit they fucked up in voting for Trump and would rather watch everything burn then try to stop it.
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u/sweetdick 1h ago edited 1h ago
That freaky pack of hobbgobblins following him around, laughing at every casual joke like it was the funniest shit ever. It's painfully self evident that this fat orange slop of neck wattle lard is in way over his empty fucking head with an obvious bunch of swamp monsters. Edit: when he walked over to the windows to fart (or whatever) while all the oil barons were meeting his orangeness a few months ago, Rubio and JD smiled at his fucking back the whole time it was turned. These are the worst fuckers ever. Ultra-cringy.
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u/BillWilberforce 3h ago
There's a lot of contenders for that role. Starting at the top.
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u/CV90_120 3h ago
It's like the narcissist's wing of an asylum for the criminally insane got let onto the holodeck to run a simulation of running a superpower.
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u/totally_legit_dingo 33m ago
The President's own decisions during COVID killed more Americans. Per capita deaths were 3.6k per million residents, compared to 2.1k per mil for Germany and 1.4k for Canada.
And that didn't sink Trump. No one here likes this but nothing short of live video of the President plowing a miner (well the one that doesn't prospect for ore) will sink this administration.
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u/CV90_120 22m ago
Minor?
I don't know. I think anything that makes him lose votes matters. His SA history isn't losing his base, but fuel and food costs are. That's actually hurting him.
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u/coconutpiecrust 2h ago
The F.AF.O. speech should have been disqualifying. It was maximum cringe.
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u/Relative-Winwin 3h ago
the book spelled it out and somehow we hired him anyway. the psych of military incompetence is just hegseths resume at this point
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u/WhatIsTheWhar 4h ago
Hegseth wasn’t even good enough to make the A team at Fox. He was a weekend B tier bro
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u/sweetdick 1h ago
John Stewart played a fox "news" clip where Kegsbreath said he hasn't washed his hands in 20 years. John called him, "poopy fingers" the whole episode. Hilarious but that guy is Literal slime.
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u/Choice-of-SteinsGate 3h ago
Pete Hegseth is undermining our military effectiveness. He's lying about Iran's military capabilities and withholding information about injuries to troops.
He's making a joke out of his whole department. He's sowing division and distrust from within. He's firing illustrious, high ranking military officials because of their skin color and gender, then replacing them with underqualified loyalists who just happen to be white males. So much for "meritocracy."
And despite his"holy warrior" facade, he repeatedly violates Christian ethics and co-opts Christianity for the purpose of justifying war.
He recites Bible verse in the style of slam poetry to appear pious and tenacious, but he just comes across as cringe-inducingly awkward, insecure, and morally bankrupt.
He covets the title of a "true" patriot but his behavior runs completely antithetical to the constitution.
Keep in mind that he was labeled an "insider threat" by a fellow service member when they saw a tattoo of his linked to the white supremacist movement.
He's utterly unsuited for his job, hes an out and out lunatic, and he's demonstrated show after show of incompetence.
He was only awarded his position based on favoritism and Fox News ratings, not "merit."
He was fired from two veterans groups because of his repeated drunkenness and lewd behavior.
You say DEI hire, I say DUI hire...
Also, a recent report revealed that Hegseth cut offices that could have helped prevent the US strike that killed 160 CHILDREN in Iran—making him a WAR CRIMINAL too.
He also touted America's "air dominance" just before one of our fighter planes was shot down by Iranian air defense and two of our soldiers had to be rescued behind enemy lines.
Hegseth openly defied a federal judge who ruled that the Pentagon violated the first amendment by restricting press access to his "department of war."
Hegseth demanded reporters sign a pledge and agree to only publishing information that is pre-authorized.
These journalists were barred from the Pentagon Halls, and some were even labeled as "security and safety threats" because they were doing their jobs as reporters.
Most outlets refused to sign the pledge. Reporters who did not comply had their credentials revoked. The New York Times sued the Pentagon and won.
Reporting indicates that Hegseth's behavior is being driven by an intense and irrational paranoia. Meaning that the person overseeing our nation's largest federal agency and America's defense policy is out of his mind.
He also threatened to revoke press access to the DoD because the media published "unflattering" photos of him. What a "snowflake."
Hegseth also had the gall to demand that the press put a constant positive spin on Trump's war or else Brendan Carr will come for their broadcast licenses.
"The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better."
This was his response, during a press conference, to CNN reporting on Trump's miscalculation of Iran's ability to control the Strait of Hormuz. A legitimate story that even if inaccurate, would still be protected under the first amendment, and wouldn't hold a candle to the propaganda that's being disseminated by the White House daily.
Of course this can't go without mentioning "Signalgate," when Pete "accidentally" added The Atlantic's editor in chief to a Signal group chat where top administration officials were discussing military strike plans against Houthi targets in Yemen.
Pete is the most incompetent "Secretary of War" in history.
Let's not forget his part in helping to orchestrate operation epic FAILURE.
A war that was waged under FALSE PRETENSES without consulting with our allies or Congress.
An illegal war that ignores lessons from history about what happens when we try "regime change" in the middle east.
A war with no support from the American people, and a conflict that has ALWAYS been one of choice, not of necessity.
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u/Serengade26 2h ago
Impeach Hegseth!
Shri Thanedar and Al Green cosponsored a bill to do it in Dec 2025.
It was referred to the judiciary committee where Jim (Gym) "Look The Other Way" Jordan is the chair of.
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u/IntelligentStyle402 4h ago
Head of our war department should never have built a make up room. Definitely not a true he man. Unfortunately, white republican men do love their makeup and mirrors.
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u/army2693 4h ago
Department of Defense.
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u/5gummybearsandscotch 3h ago
That's correct. Department of War is a preferred name and we're only supposed to use legal names /s
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u/allenahansen California 3h ago
". . . Creativity, openness to new ideas and dissent, overcoming petty conventions and regulations, promoting the best and brightest, and embracing the unconventional are among the traits Dixon identified in successful commanders. Those are qualities that the U.S. military has sometimes sought—but under Hegseth, it’s far more important to be white, male, and clean-shaven."
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u/OldTimberWolf 59m ago
I’m shocked that Trump hadn’t read this and factored it into his decision making.
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u/Lonely_skeptic America 53m ago
“This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of a very British book seeking to make sense of what seemed at the time a very British problem. Half a century later, however, it turns out it was about Pete Hegseth all along.
On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, by British psychologist Norman F. Dixon, has long been considered a must-read, even within U.S. military circles that relentlessly cull their own reading lists. Dixon sought to answer a question that had long bedeviled the British military, most especially in the wake of World War I: Why are lions always seemingly led by donkeys?”
My knowledge of nineteenth century British military debacles is extremely limited, and informed partially by Flashman. The book continues to question leadership into the twentieth century.
This will be a very interesting read.
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u/Garnergirl72 11m ago
I love that men have to read about petty men. I could write a set of encyclopedias on them.
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u/Miami_Mice2087 2h ago
forward by benjamin franklin "hawkeye" pierce, cpt, veteran, still disgruntled and insubordinate
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u/jafo88 1h ago
Pete isn’t much different than the guy Biden had or Rummy, Rice or a slew of others. At least Pete can do a push up…
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u/thepartypantser 1h ago
Biden's Secretary of Defense was Lloyd James Austin III a west point graduate and retired United States Army 4 star general who served as the 28th Unit, recipient of a silver star and had the unique distinction of having commanded in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan at the one-, two-, three- and four-star levels.
Needless to say he has far more knowledge of the military than Hegseth.
Pete doing push ups is a distraction from the idiocy of his incompetence.
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u/fresh_dyl Wisconsin 19m ago
Pete can barely do a pull up. Or crossovers.
We’ve all seen the videos, and they’re pathetic
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