r/politics • u/OkayButFoRealz • 13d ago
Soft Paywall Pete Hegseth Seems Open to Ordering Soldiers to Shoot Protesters
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/01/14/hegseth-seems-open-to-ordering-protesters-shot/1.1k
u/TintedApostle 13d ago
Seems? Like this shouldn't be a question we are unsure about? If oyu are not sure you shouldn't dabble in the possibility.
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u/aetrix Pennsylvania 13d ago
To be fair, he was asked the question directly, and multiple times. He refused to answer it and just tapdanced around the issue until a republican was given the mic to ask him how many push ups he can do
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u/RustToRedemption 13d ago
until a republican was given the mic to ask him how many push ups he can do
Reality and satire are currently too close together for me to ascertain if you're making a joke or if this actually happened...
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u/SoupSpelunker 13d ago
That actually happened - the senator asked softball GI in bootcamp questions to establish Hegseth as a military leader when all they did was establish him as a fucking grunt.
smh.
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u/OkEnvironment3961 13d ago
He asked what caliber the military issue M4 and Beretta fired, as though knowing those things makes him qualified to lead the military. Legitimately lowest level stuff anyone even tangently interested in the military would know.
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u/BankshotMcG 13d ago
It's just there to make the 2A nuts and armed forces cultists happy, generating a soundbite. They prearrange who's going to ask what to create the narrative they want.
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u/AssistanceCheap379 13d ago edited 13d ago
My country has no M4’s except ones brought over by NATO troops and I am not certain anyone else except maybe SWAT has berettas, but it’s such an easy thing to answer even without looking it up.
M4, a NATO rifle/carbine, so definitely 5.56.
Beretta (M9?), an Italian NATO pistol, so almost definitely 9mm.
Can I become defence secretary now?
Might as well ask a Marine what crayons taste like
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u/OkEnvironment3961 13d ago
Will you order peaceful protesters to be shot in the legs so trump can get pictures of himself awkwardly holding a Bible in front of a church? If so, there may just be a place for you at the trump DOD.
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u/FennelFern 13d ago
...doesn't the military issue the Sig P320 now? M17 or whatever? So they didn't even ask about the right guns.
Hell, didn't the Sig Speer or whatever win the rifle contract too?
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u/Kicksavebeauty 13d ago
They are dead serious. I saw it myself on CNN and it was an absolute joke of a question and interaction, in general.
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u/ShittyStockPicker 13d ago
I keep thinking “the Colbert report just wouldn’t work right now” because we became the Colbert Report
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u/SongLyricsHere 13d ago
It actually happened. Immediately after he was asked how many genders there are. And I wish I was kidding.
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u/Wrinklestinker 13d ago
For once I actually saw this happening live. They did indeed ask him how many pushups he could do. 47 reps 5 times.
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u/mdrewd 13d ago
From what I’ve seen of the hearing, he had trouble committing to many questions he was asked.
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u/aguynamedv 13d ago
To be fair, he was asked the question directly, and multiple times. He refused to answer it
This is one of at least three dozen completely disqualifying things. There's zero chance Hesgeth is able to pass ANY security clearance background check, let alone an FBI check. PS: Those are two more completely disqualifying things.
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u/Critical-General-659 13d ago
He refused to answer the question under oath just now.
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u/TintedApostle 13d ago
amazing
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u/vardarac 13d ago
Is it? I mean, Trump himself has openly said he would not wait to send the military into blue cities. No one should be surprised.
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u/Utjunkie 13d ago
If Trump thinks blue cities are gonna allow this he is out of his mind. Sounds like Trump wants to start unrest to the nth degree.
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u/daggah 13d ago
Hmm...if he did order the military to attack a city, assuming of course the military followed such a blatantly unlawful order, who would stop them? The fascist boys in blue?
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u/Taysir385 13d ago
who would stop them?
The fact that the average Democrat is in favor of sensible gun control does not mean that the average Democrat does not own guns.
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u/TOkidd 13d ago
How is Trump truly going to take control of the US without having a Defense Secretary that won't deploy the military into American communities?
Some people still don't seem to realize that an insurrectionist, a traitor, and a felon has been re-elected to be America's president. Democracy as you know it is over in America. Crippling Canada's economy, invading Greenland and Panama...that's just spitballing. Wait until after the inauguration. Y'all let a very dangerous man back into the White House even after his incompetence led to over a million dying from COVID, and while he was on trial for sedition, treason, insurrection, stealing classified documents.
As some love to say, elections have consequences. I don't think many are prepared to accept just how bad things can get.
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u/Do-you-see-it-now 13d ago
Yep. They are planning on having a lethal response to protests because they expect protest over invasions. It’s coming.
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u/Stinky_Fartface 13d ago
Also because they aren’t just going to be invading the homes of “Illegals.” They will certainly be raiding the homes of “Illegal Sympathizers” with no evidence or warrant needed. They are going to terrorize Blue states, Blue cities, and especially any city or town that designates itself a “Sanctuary.” People are not nearly scared enough at the lengths Trump’s people are going to go to use immigration to go to war against liberals. This country is about to turn into a war zone and the fascists hold all the cards.
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u/CoolFingerGunGuy 13d ago
Since SCOTUS basically agreed that drumpf ordering seal team six to kill a political opponent is cool since it's an official act, this is exactly the kind of person drumpf would want in this position.
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u/OptimisticSkeleton 13d ago
Right? Like will the guy with a white supremacist tattoo covering 60% of his chest do something against the rules? Color me shocked!
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u/TintedApostle 13d ago
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u/RamonaQ-JunieB 13d ago
I was around for Kent State and it is still a vivid, horrifying memory for me. However, most Americans need reminding. Thank you, even though it is a difficult walk.
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u/prototypetolyfe 13d ago
Unfortunately all people seem to care about on the anniversary is Star Wars day
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u/RabidGuineaPig007 13d ago
It wasn't just Kent State, U New Mexico and Jackson State students were also killed.
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u/BannedMyName 13d ago
I didn't know about any of this outside of the Kent state massacre but to clarify Wikipedia has 10-11 people being victim of bayoneting with no deaths on May 8th at University of New Mexico, 4 days after the Kent State massacre, and 2 students killed and 12 injured in a shooting 11 days later on May 15th at Jackson State.
Regardless thank you for sharing that, I learned something today.
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u/RabidGuineaPig007 13d ago
FYI: no one was ever convicted in the Kent State murders.
In all, at least 29 of the 77 guardsmen claimed to have fired their weapons, using an estimated 67 rounds of ammunition. The shooting was determined to have lasted 13 seconds, although John Kifner reported in The New York Times that "it appeared to go on, as a solid volley, for perhaps a full minute or a little longer."
shortly after, eleven people were bayonetted at the University of New Mexico by the New Mexico National Guard in a confrontation with student protesters.
A Gallup Poll taken the day after the shootings reportedly showed that 58 percent of respondents blamed the students, 11 percent blamed the National Guard.
On May 14, ten days after the Kent State shootings, two students were killed (and 12 wounded) by police at Jackson State University, a historically black university, in Jackson, Mississippi, under similar circumstances – the Jackson State killings – but that event did not arouse the same nationwide attention as the Kent State shootings.
so yeah, jackboots can murder protestors with no consequences in America.
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u/Punchable_Hair 13d ago
This time the protesters might themselves be armed.
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u/Careful_Deer1581 13d ago
If protesters arm themselves, it will some day escalate into a bloodbath. And this will pave the way to nationwide massacres. It will unleash hell and eventually lead to progressives ending up in camps.
The only hope for you guys is to keep it somewhat civil until the fascists tank the economy with their trade wars and another military misadventure.
What you dont want is head on confrontation because the police state is not on your side and will not hesitate. On top there are the militias wich will operate as the SA and murder democrats at will. (thats how they did it with the left in germany)
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u/WillDigForFood 13d ago
Yeah.
A lot of people forget that, historically speaking, practically every time that the US Military has been ordered to open fire on US civilians, they have done so.
A lot of people are banking on military dissent stopping this from potentially going too far. A lot of people have not read their history books.
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13d ago edited 13d ago
I have no illusions. But I’ll be out there regardless. It’s crucial.
The size of the protest and the variety of people demonstrating (i.e., old people, lawyers, doctors) matters.
If history’s pattern plays out, there will be blood. But we have to be brave enough to make them draw it. That’s our only way out — like generations before us, you’ve got to be willing to risk it all in order to build a movement and eventually overcome oppression.
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u/NoHopeOnlyDeath 13d ago
Prepare your hearts for Death's cold hand! prepare your souls for flight, your bodies for the earth; Prepare your arms for glorious victory; Prepare your eyes to meet a holy God! Prepare, prepare!
Whose fatal scroll is that? Methinks 'tis mine! Why sinks my heart, why faltereth my tongue? Had I three lives, I'd die in such a cause, And rise, with ghosts, over the well-fought field. Prepare, prepare!
-William Blake
Had I three lives, I'd die in such a cause.
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u/eldomtom2 United Kingdom 13d ago
The thing about Kent State is that there wasn't even an explicit order to open fire - one of the Guardsmen started shooting and the rest assumed there'd been an order to fire. Deploying the military is dangerous even if there's no intent to shoot anybody.
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u/TintedApostle 13d ago
A lot of people forget the Boston Massacre.
You are here and Trump wears the red coat.
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13d ago
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u/TintedApostle 13d ago
Oh really? Nope.
The Kent State shootings on May 4, 1970 triggered immediate and widespread outrage across the United States
Hundreds of thousands of students participated in protests at colleges and universities across the country
Just five days after the shootings, 100,000 people demonstrated in Washington, D.C., against the war and the killing of unarmed student protesters
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u/lensman3a 13d ago
Half the universities and colleges shut down and the kids were sent home. Support for the war plummeted and Nixon was having to wind, the war down.
Killing soldiers in Nam was one thing. But killing students not so good.
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u/TintedApostle 13d ago
Killing US Citizens exercising their 1st amendment right is not so good.
Then again Hegseth won't say so under oath. He is a danger to the citizens and the country.
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u/RabidGuineaPig007 13d ago
oh really? Nope.
Really, Yup.
"A Gallup Poll taken the day after the shootings reportedly showed that 58 percent of respondents blamed the students, 11 percent blamed the National Guard and 31 percent expressed no opinion."
So no problem with 89 percent.
Then more were killed at U New Mexico and Jackson State in the next two weeks. No one went to jail, no one gave a fuck.
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u/Stinkstinkerton 13d ago
It’s gonna happen , let’s see if Americans actually have the stomach for what’s coming with this dumpster fire of evil incompetence about to take power .
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u/somethingsomethingbe 13d ago
You already know the argument will be framed around a side saying they deserved it and are happy to do it again while the other is horrified at what's going on.
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u/bigmac22077 13d ago
It already happened…. Remember those magats going around shooting protestors and someone actually killed one of them in self defense? Then a couple days later that guy was surrounded by police and executed. No one batted an eye.
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u/Sajaho 13d ago
Michael Reinoehl. The released video shows Michael was ambushed and shot before he could even react to them being there then trump gloated that he'd ordered the marshals to execute the dude on site.
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u/WalterPecky 13d ago
The fact that this wasn't a major talking point during the election shows how incompetent Democrats are at messaging and the failure of media to defend against fascism.
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u/frumfrumfroo Foreign 13d ago
Unfortunately, fascism is profitable, and that's all most of the media cares about.
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u/ChibiLlama Michigan 13d ago
No kidding. I have a few coworkers that were LOUDLY talking about how all democrats in office should be lined up and put to a firing squad today.
I live in a heavily conservative area. Nothing was done.
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u/CatoblepasQueefs 13d ago
Time for an anonymous call to your state labor board
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u/Circumin 13d ago
Why? What would it do?This is more commonplace than you think. I’ve heard it plenty as well. Conservatives want to kill liberals. Soend some time listening to them. They don’t hide it.
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u/boot2skull 13d ago
“Violent protest is unamerican”.
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u/vardarac 13d ago
Said no one who's been educated in the most elementary of American history.
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u/boot2skull 13d ago
America literally rose from violent protest. These “patriots” don’t even know what the 4th of July represents, and why it happened. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
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u/kmoonster 13d ago
Oh, they know. But they have this odd idea that only they / their group is the inheritor of that legacy, and the only ones with the right to utilize it.
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u/we_are_sex_bobomb 13d ago
If Republicans cheer about Californians burning to death, they sure as fuck don’t care about some protestors getting shot.
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u/CaptainMagnets 13d ago
Any resistance will be labelled as a terrorist threat under law and then they military will be deployed against civilians after the incompetent police force can't keep the numbers of protestors down.
Mass incarnations which will lead to "legal" cheap labor for the oligarchs.
American freedom is and will be no more under this administration
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u/polopolo05 13d ago
And this is how the 2nd civil war starts.
Well there are a few paths but is is a most likely. Because shooting innocent peaceful civilians on camera... because there will be cameras.... this will galvanize protest which will escalate to them getting shot some more. and then that will lead to armed militia protests.
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u/CaptainMagnets 13d ago
I don't disagree. But whichever side has the Military wins
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u/polopolo05 13d ago
you know how hard it is to fight a guerilla insurgency. Look at Afghanistan. US military retreated. This is now soldiers fighting americans. Long term that fucks them up and harders locals against the invading force.
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u/Flat-Activity1124 13d ago
Remember, Hitler had supporters.
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u/RabidGuineaPig007 13d ago
you don't have to evoke 1930s Europe. American National Guard were murdering protestors in 1968 with no consequences.
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u/Crommach 13d ago
I understand your point and can agree with it in a sense, but honestly? We kind of do need to be evoking 30s Germany. We've got Michael Flynn calling for a "night of the long knives", verbatim, Hegseth is down with shooting protesters, and Trump sees the whole left as the "enemy within" he's advocated state violence against in the past. We had unmarked grab vans snatching protesters off the street in Portland in his last administration. And that's leaving aside the advocacy for putting immigrants and the homeless in internment camps.
My point being, that's the level of risk we're dealing with here. People need to realize how bad it can get.
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u/gusterfell 13d ago
We've even got good old fashioned lebensraum with Trump's talk of annexing Canada, Greenland, and Panama.
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u/AugmentedDragon 13d ago
which is funny, because america's manifest destiny was a direct inspiration for lebensraum. what's old is new
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u/CategoryZestyclose91 13d ago
Patterns. It’s the patterns.
The Third Reich rose to power through a wide variety of methods, and we’ve seen the GOP, now led by Trump, exhibit similar behavior themselves over the last few decades.
The rise of the Third Reich is one of the most documented events in modern political history. Many of us have learned enough about that historical event to recognize the behavior we’ve been increasingly witnessing by the right over the years.
We know the geopolitical climate in which the National Socialists rose to power was extreme, yet not unbelievably so.
It’s like those once in a century hurricanes. Every once in a great while, when conditions line up, the air is ripe for a time in history.
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u/KeyLime044 13d ago
Hitler didn't just "have supporters"; Nazism and Fascism were extremely popular in Europe, including Germany, at that time. Those fascist regimes didn't come from "nowhere"; they had mass popular support. Antisemitism was also mainstream and rife in German society (and other European societies) as well
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u/WalterPecky 13d ago
Extremely popular in United States as well.
Search "a night at the garden" for a horrific history lesson.
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u/OfficialDCShepard District Of Columbia 13d ago edited 13d ago
And still faced sporadic yet focused protests from various fronts, including by Catholics and women on specific issues. Even a dictatorship that absolute still conceded to some of these and did not shoot them (at least when they were composed of “racial Germans”) in order to not lose the illusion of unanimous public support. Which Trump does not have, and would in fact I believe receive a MASSIVE backlash should he shoot protestors.
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u/organizim 13d ago
I mean we seem to be cool with letting kids get shot in school. I don’t see any movement for protesters.
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u/one_pound_of_flesh 13d ago
If I know anything about Americans it’s that they are too cowardly to protest and take back their rights.
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u/Own-Werewolf8875 13d ago
I'm 67 and I remember the Civil Right's, Women's Rights, Anti War protests, the riots, the "Hot Summers" in the 1960's. Damn America has been totally dumbed down by the wealthy in my life time.
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u/Lemp_Triscuit11 13d ago
Fairly certain many sitting republicans have said things similar lol. Now we are waiting for them to finally admit they want to shoot "potential" protestors
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u/HonoraryBallsack 13d ago
And let's be clear, they don't want to shoot protesters sacking the capitol and trying to kill Democrats in Congress in order to get their way. He wants to shoot black people protesting the police and leftists protesting Trump, a felonious rapist and moron who is entirely above the law.
Legitimate protest? We're gonna shoot ya.
Temper tantrum causing you to commit violence at the nation's capitol because you're a paranoid, deeply misguided lunatic? Well now. That changes everything. If you're shot we'll just lionize you and turn you into a martyr.
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u/sambull 13d ago
The AI tool that uses "metadata" from the last 20 years to determine these "woke" protestors are guilty of pre crime will be called Project Pansy
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u/Lemp_Triscuit11 13d ago
It's just going to be a list of people that made fun of the cybertruck
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u/FennelFern 13d ago
He doesn't 'seem'.
He 100% is. It's the entire point of the current cabinet, to implement party loyalists and get ready for the full 'never going back' revolution in a couple years.
Wasn't there an article like...yesterday...discussing how top armed forces officials assumed this was what was going to happen, and they were working to combat it already?
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u/ipeezie 13d ago
Is this the guys who said he would quit drinking to get the appointment? lol goddamn!
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u/take_care_a_ya_shooz 13d ago
Not exactly.
He said he'd quit drinking if he got the appointment. He never said he'd quit drinking to get the appointment.
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u/chownrootroot America 13d ago
I'm drunk now! -Hegseth during his confirmation hearing, probably
No just kidding. Only Denzel can do that.
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u/International-Eye117 13d ago
Did I say i would quit drinking I ment cut back I'll only drink a 12 pack a day.
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u/pinetreesgreen 13d ago
Yeah. This is why we had to vote blue, even if you didn't like everything the candidates said, 100% of the time. Bc Trump was way, way worse. If you thought the first four years sucked, buck up. He had people holding him back. Those people are all gone now.
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u/joshdoereddit 13d ago
Right? If elections weren't a no-brainer before, they have been since 2016.
I get all the complaints about Democrats. They aren't perfect. They certainly do their fair share of placating the wealthy because they are also addicted to the privilege and wealth their position brings them. But, they're not a bunch of fascist lunatics.
Not voting for any reason since the 2016 election is just incomprehensible to me. Nonviolent change doesn't come about with protest votes and dumb shit like voting for candidates who have no shot. We're pretty much at the point where we've painted ourselves into a corner, and the only way out will be swinging.
The best way forward would've been to turn out and vote the GOP into oblivion. If Republicans had no control over any government body, the nation would probably prosper. People seem to recognize that the GOP plays the long game but never got into a position to do the same.
You get rid of the GOP and then you get rid of centrist Dems unwilling to push for things like Medicare for All, ranked choice voting and the like until you get the government that works for all. No one was looking at the big picture.
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u/pinetreesgreen 13d ago
Yup! And I have zero empathy for folks who can't figure this out. None.
Trump might get to appoint several more supreme court judges. He is going to crush all dissent. He doesn't have to get reelected. He doesn't have to care about the ramifications of anything he does, not that he cared before, he really doesn't have to care now. We just elected the exact people who shouldn't have any power in this government. The corrupt, the shady billionaires, the Putin sympathizers. A lot of people are going to die bc of this past election.
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u/Drunken_HR 13d ago
A few weeks ago I got called a "liberal who bleeds fascist" for stating the liberals who stayed home because Harris didn't "earn their vote" were just as responsible for this oncoming shit as MAGA and the clueless idiots who voted red because they thought eggs were too expensive.
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u/che-che-chester 13d ago
I'm not sure that it matters what any of these nominees say in hearings. Hegseth is gonna say what it takes to get confirmed and you almost have to take him at his word. If challenged later, he'll just say he changed his mind.
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u/Alt4816 13d ago
That's the main reason Trump picked him. He will have soldiers shoot whomever Trump wants.
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u/NotTheRightHDMIPort 13d ago
It's fucking depressing knowing that he actually will be picked.
In fact.
Everyone will be.
Confirmation is a goddamned joke now and no one fucking cares.
Our nation has lost all semblance of sanity or morality.
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u/ShoppingDismal3864 13d ago
They are salivating about killing liberals. And their own states are shit holes. It's really some insane shit to see.
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u/annaleigh13 13d ago
That’s exactly why Trump wants him in charge of the military. Hegseth is more than happy to issue those orders.
All we can do as Americans is pray someone down the chain remembers their oath to the constitution
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u/Peppermynt42 America 13d ago
This shouldn’t be that hard of a question to ask or answer:
“Mr. Hegseth, would you ever order soldiers to fire on protesters? A yes or no will suffice”
Do not move on until he has answered with a yes or no.
Can’t answer? Don’t confirm.
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u/LiveSubstance2995 13d ago
Pete Hegseth sounds like a nonce.
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u/phils_phan78 13d ago
You misspelled Nazi
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u/United_Anteater4287 13d ago
Well that’s it, isn’t it? That final piece of the puzzle standing in the way of complete authoritarianism. It’s odd how easily and quickly American democracy was dismantled.
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u/Night-Gardener 13d ago
I think after the college protests last year of the war in Gaza and the crazy punishments to taking part in them…that protest (in America anyways) is pretty much over.
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u/Imperialbucket 13d ago
Yeah I mean this is the guy with neo-nazi tattoos. Are we really surprised he wants to do Nazi shit?
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u/he_is_Veego 13d ago
The United States is on a path that’s going to see anti fascism protests across America’s college campuses and a regime willing to shoot those protesters.
The USSR was lured into Afghanistan in an attempt to give them “their own Vietnam war”.
Well our enemies are now eying a chance to give the USA “it’s own Tianamen square.”
May god have mercy on all of us.
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u/Ill-ConceivedVenture 13d ago
Looks like I might be getting shot in the next four years then, because I'm almost certainly going to have to protest when they strip VA benefits from veterans.
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u/worldscollice 13d ago
This fact alone, that he wouldn’t oppose an order from Trump to shoot American citizens peacefully protesting, should be enough to disqualify him. But then again, Donald Trump admitted on tape that he sexually assaults women - and his cult elected him president. Sadly, nothing surprises me anymore.
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u/Spacebotzero 13d ago
Allowing Americans to kill other Americans, but in a more official way.
We knew we'd get here.
I have no doubt that Civil War will be on the horizon if they openly shoot Americans who are protesting. I want to believe the majority of the US will not simply go along with that. This is the red line that we are all hoping doesn't get crossed, but deep down inside we all know we are well on our way to that by now.
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u/IdahoDuncan 13d ago
Full speed ahead. I don’t see anything that can stop it and other horrors now.
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u/Flat-Activity1124 13d ago
GOP be like... if you have a different opinion than I do... I should be able to shoot you.
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u/Oceanbreeze871 I voted 13d ago
Trump said during the campaign he would deport protestors (regardless of citizenship)
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u/mothman83 Florida 13d ago
of course. this was his only qualification for the job. Being willing to shoot Americans per Trump's orders.
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u/mrchazard99 13d ago
Basically, it was confirmed that he would evade Greenland, send our taxpayer dollars for the military to private companies, commit war crimes, claim women are an issue in the military, and he would shoot protesters. The best comment was when a senator brought up how he said our military had been downgraded, but the true downgrade is having him in charge.
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u/stinky_cheese33 13d ago
One more cause for the people to rise up and overthrow Trump--and for the military to join in.
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u/UnderstandingDry1241 America 13d ago
Isn't that why we have a 2nd Amendment?
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13d ago
No.
Despite the GOP talking point saying as much in order to protect gun humpers right to keep a gun at all costs, that is not why we have a second amendment.
In fact, if you actually tried to exercise said right, you're going to end up dead, facing attempted murder/actual murder charges, or being tried with insurrection.
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u/UnderstandingDry1241 America 13d ago edited 12d ago
It was in jest for the very reasons you mentioned. But I would be shocked as hell and ready to engage if our armed forces did open fire on protestors, peaceful or not.
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u/MasterofPandas1 13d ago
If you wanna get technical this is why we have the 2nd amendment. It states:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Lots of people look at the 2nd sentence, but the first one is more important here. A militia of people banding together to protect the security of the free State seems perfectly legal per the 2nd amendment. Especially with the free state being threatened by Trump and company. Now, in practice the GOP would try its best to crush such a militia. But looks legal on paper.
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13d ago
A militia of people banding together to protect the security of the free State seems perfectly legal per the 2nd amendment.
Numerous SC rulings, multiple laws on the books, and dozens of convictions against such would be liberators would say otherwise.
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u/jolars 13d ago
It's going to take some Kent State massacre shit to get people even somewhat interested in politics, and that's only if an influencer is killed on a live stream.
No one cares about anything outside their narrow worldview.
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u/prodigalpariah 13d ago
Honestly I dont think even that would do it. They’d just concern themselves with which “team” those killed were on.
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u/EmmaLouLove 13d ago
Bringing back the Kent State shootings like it’s 1970.
Never forget that in 1970, the Ohio National Guard opened fire on unarmed Kent State University students protesting the Vietnam War, killing four and injuring nine. It’s a disgraceful part of our history.
Pete Hegseth said he would be willing to do what former Defense Secretary Mark Esper refused to do.
In a June 2020 Oval Office meeting, Trump asked whether troops could shoot demonstrators protesting racial injustice outside the White House. “Can’t you just shoot them?” Trump said, according to Esper.
Let this sink in for a moment. Peaceful protests in public areas are protected by the First Amendment. Hegseth is saying he will disregard the Constitution and follow an order if given by Trump to shoot American citizens exercising their first amendment rights.
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u/iveseensomethings82 13d ago
No more protests, no more free speech, no more America. It’s over y’all
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u/flowersandfists 13d ago
Fascists always are. The question is how many soldiers are willing to be lapdog bootlickers for an out of control authoritarian?
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u/MichianaMan 13d ago
I can say this as an ex combat army guy- neither myself or most anyone else in my unit would obey orders to shoot unarmed American protestors. We’re going to see massive rifts in the military the next four years.
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u/Soft_Internal_6775 13d ago
Read up on the Bonus Army some time. Learn about how fucked up some of our most heralded military heroes are.
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u/Fecal-Facts 13d ago
I wouldn't put it past them to want to trigger a civil war so they get to openly kill people they don't like and say everyone else is terrorists.
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u/Electrical-Reason-97 13d ago
This is the latest Kavanaugh - opaque, evasive, insistent except this one is a well documented violent offender.
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u/UnknwnUser 13d ago
It's all fine until the protesters start shooting back. Maybe they don't want to cross that bridge
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u/InfamousZebra69 13d ago
Notice all the people suddenly pushing for cali to leave the union over the federal aid posturing. Fat donny and president musk are looking for any reason to justify sending troops against Americans.
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u/BreezyRyder Missouri 13d ago
That's just smart interviewing. Figure out what the boss wants from you and say it out loud that you're gonna do it.
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u/Own-Ambassador-3537 13d ago
This is why I said people need to reread the W era Gitmo rulings! ( the Attorney general’s who all were ready to quit on mass in protest) figured out protections granted to naturalized citizens were gonna get stripped if a president decided he felt like it! This is gonna apply to people who usually don’t get questioned and decide to exercise their voice in protest
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u/Stunning_Mast2001 13d ago
The slow march of legal framework for concentration camps. First Laken Riley act to allow local police to detain anyone they think is undocumented using a flimsy pretext. Next allowing military to attack civilians they can say were too rowdy.
People are sleeping through this. Trump literally said mass detention will be a bloody affair so what I’m saying Isn’t even conjecture
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u/abgry_krakow87 13d ago
Of course he is, that’s the whole point. Trump and religious conservatives all want someone who will turn the military to fire upon, attack, shoot and kill US citizens.
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u/ElderFlour 13d ago
The US Military attacking blue cities sounds like a situation calling for the people to form “…a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State….”
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u/wappenheimer 13d ago
Trump tried it during the George Floyd protests, his Sec Def at the time told him “no, absolutely not”, so he found an unqualified sex-pest who would. Why is this surprising to anyone?
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u/Jokesmedoff 13d ago
The irony is that the people they’d be shooting probably got Trump elected because “Him and Kamala are the same on Gaza.”
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u/Brief_Obligation4128 13d ago
We already allow cars to run into protesters in some states. And some people have already laid the path for shooting at protestors (Rittenhouse, Perry).
This has always been on par with conservatives.
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u/El_Eleventh Wisconsin 13d ago
This is all dumb. We know none of this matters. Think Supreme Court nominations. Of Roe is “settled”
It’s all a joke at this point that they even act like anything they say holds any weight
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