Morning Jolt: Pete Hegseth’s Tattoo Isn’t a Reason to Oppose Him

TODAY'S JOLT IS SPONSORED BY
PORTFOLIO BOOKS

WITH JIM GERAGHTY

November 20 2024

Pete Hegseth's Tattoo Isn't a Reason to Oppose Him

On the menu today: There are fair objections and concerns to secretary of defense nominee Pete Hegseth, but a Jerusalem Cross tattoo isn't one of them. Read on.

Not All Symbols with Right Angles Mean the Same Thing, People

If you're a U.S. senator and you're not sure whether to vote to confirm Pete Hegseth to be the next secretary of defense, you can and should ask tough questions.

Hegseth is indeed young, and while he served honorably in uniform, he's never run a large organization, and organizations don't get any bigger than the Department of Defense, America's largest employer with 1.3 million active-duty service members, 750,000 civilian personnel, and more than 811,000 National Guard and Reserve service members. The task of streamlining the byzantine and sclerotic bureaucracy and its obscure and disorganized finances — seven consecutive failed audits and counting! — is gargantuan, and there's not a lot of time for on-the-job training. That task has bedeviled many more-experienced ...

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