Current Events > Military officials not impressed with weird Hegseth speech

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https://www.rawstory.com/amp/trump-military-speech-2674139938

Longtime Pentagon reporter Helene Cooper said that she can't find any military officials who attended the meeting in Virginia with President Donald Trump and Secretary Pete Hegseth and liked what they heard.

"I have yet to find a single military official who was in the audience today who thought that this was a good presentation," she told MSNBC on Tuesday afternoon.

"All I've had from them so far, from the people I've talked to, is a combination of disbelief that some of them were made to fly from, some of them, Asia, from all over the world ... all the way to Quantico to listen to the same familiar type of culture war complaints that we've been having since Trump was reelected," she added, calling Trump's remarks a "campaign-style stump speech."

"Nothing that was said today could not have been put in an email or in a directive."

What about the soldiers under them though?

Humble_Novice posted...

What about the soldiers under them though?

Go ask them. We have a few service members who post here who seemed pretty appalled.

imagine flying 2000 miles to listen to Trump rambling about Gulf of America

It was a waste of resources and everybody's time from an administration that has repeatedly proven they have no respect for the military.

Suck it, orange man.

__starsnostars posted...

It was a waste of resources and everybody's time from an administration that has repeatedly proven they have no respect for the military.

It was basically this;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfYJsQAhl0

Yeah, I'd be pretty annoyed if I had to fly in for a mandatory meeting that could have just been an email. But this is good. The less the military likes Trump, the better.

UnfairRepresent posted...

imagine flying 2000 miles to listen to Trump rambling about Gulf of America

A lot of them flew way farther than that.

Nothing says wise government spending like recalling the entirety of a country's top brass just so they can listen to a bullshit speech given by two dumbasses.

As I posted yesterday, not only were the speeches evil and unhinged, but flying in very important people doing very important work from all over the world for a campaign rally is also extremely dumb.

Of course no one likes it. No one with a brain likes it. This government is a clown car driven into a flaming dumpster by TV personalities playing soldier and President.

I wouldn't put much faith is MSNBC.

So it ultimately ended up being pointless?

Isn't announcing a call for every general stationed around the world to one spot, only to spout something pointless, a really fucking dumb idea? Wouldn't there have been an opportunity for a terrorist attack at the meeting site?

Hegseth couldn't even clean the toilets of the people he's speaking to, yet alone impress them to with a speech.

Weak, insecure men doing cringe-ass fake bravado in front of military professionals. It was a fucking abomination.

Quorthon109 posted...

Weak, insecure men doing cringe-ass fake bravado in front of military professionals. It was a fucking abomination.

Literally generals/admirals with god knows how many collective hours of service to the country being lectured on etiquette by 2 bumbling illiterates. I felt embarrassed for them.

Didn't Trump bitch about not getting an applause, too?

What does it matter if they're impressed or not if they will follow any orders Trump sends out?

They tried to win over or intimidate them with false bravado and bumper sticker patriotism. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work.

Metal_Gear_Raxis posted...

Didn't Trump bitch about not getting an applause, too?

He did he said if they didnt like what he said they are free to leave but there goes their post and careers basically threatening them into staying promising retaliation for those who dont

Humble_Novice posted...

What about the soldiers under them though?

From some people, I've heard them mention some of the things he said that they agree with but nobody was really out there brown nosing the speech itself.

The following set of memorandums he signed and put out are making some more... military common sense changes and those seem to be more well received. Some of it I may not fully personally agree with, but I understand where the changes are coming from. While I didn't read the specific change myself, someone was saying the changes were going to allow Drill Sergeants/instructors, as an example, to put their hands on trainees. While I would never beat a soldier under my command, that is an area where many soldiers who make it through Basic walk away from it thinking they're untouchable and that they can blow off their NCOs and Officers.

Leaders have been placed under more and more stringent expectations while simultaneously having their ability to effectively instill good order and discipline taken away or hamstrung by bureaucratic processes that, while well intentioned, can make something take way longer than it needs to.

I'm not joking when I say that it takes a solid 6+ months to get kicked out of the military, in many cases.
As an example, I know someone who first tested positive for weed use in July and it wasn't until mid-May the following year that he finally got kicked out.

Regardless of someone's position of whether weed should be fully legal, it was not authorized for use in the military at the time that he did. As an aside, he was also just in general not a good presence within the unit. Not bad but not someone you want other new guys to be associating with (which he agreed with and understood and generally kept to himself).

That's just an example of how it can be hard for leaders to instill the good order and discipline that is required within the military because soldiers know and understand the rules and what they can get away with. They do not fear consequences because the consequences are wrist slaps or don't have immediacy that makes them want to actively adhere to rules and standards.

Other changes they're trying to institute are more procedural things to simplify existing processes and allow commanders to more effectively/quickly dismiss things that are unsubstantiated.

A lot of this won't make too much sense to the non-military members on CE but the changes being proposed/implemented aren't explicitly terrible. That does not mean they will be executed flawlessly, but a lot of what I read in the memos is stuff that has been bubbling under the surface for years.

I dont think a single one of them would give their expressions. That said these are smart people for the most part. The KNOW what it was and they probably dont like being lectured by propaganda by some low rank soldier who got there by sucking dick on tv.

It all comes down to if they agree with the path Trump is taking the country or not...but theyll prpbably just follow orders like theyve been taught. But I swear that 99% hate Hegseth.

tremain07 posted...

He did he said if they didnt like what he said they are free to leave but there goes their post and careers basically threatening them into staying promising retaliation for those who dont

Right after Pete "No more walking on eggshells" Hegseth finished talking

He probably thought that he was killing it up there too.

CARRRNE_ASADA posted...

I dont think a single one of them would give their expressions. That said these are smart people for the most part. The KNOW what it was and they probably dont like being lectured by propaganda by some low rank soldier who got there by sucking dick on tv.

It all comes down to if they agree with the path Trump is taking the country or not...but theyll prpbably just follow orders like theyve been taught. But I swear that 99% hate Hegseth.

I think you're right about the last sentence. I could feel their contempt for him thru my screen

CARRRNE_ASADA posted...

I dont think a single one of them would give their expressions. That said these are smart people for the most part. The KNOW what it was and they probably dont like being lectured by propaganda by some low rank soldier who got there by sucking dick on tv.

They also have literal decades of experience under multiple presidents and have a really solid idea of what right looks like and what is ethical and moral.

I really doubt there's a single general who is eager to send soldiers into Seattle to shoot American citizens.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Lol

refmon posted...

What does it matter if they're impressed or not if they will follow any orders Trump sends out?

Will they though? Even looking at national guard, what are they being ordered to do and what are they actually doing when in those cities they're being sent to? Are they actually doing anything, or just milling around for a couple weeks then shipping out?

Hexenherz posted...

They also have literal decades of experience under multiple presidents and have a really solid idea of what right looks like and what is ethical and moral.

I really doubt there's a single general who is eager to send soldiers into Seattle to shoot American citizens.

I dont think Im going out on a limb here to say that the bolder part would be considered a massive failure in their eyes. I would assume most of the standing generals come from a time when protecting people was a core ideal.

Oh-oh, you think you're special
Oh-oh, you think you're something else
Okay, so you're a wanna be dictator?

That don't impress me much.

Imagine being in the military and traveling all the way there and then having to listen to President Bone Spurs and a Fox News host say a bunch of pointless dumb shit. I'd be enraged

I saw a clip on Facebook of Trump telling people they could walk out and leave, but their careers would be over and trying to get laughs out of it I need to see if that was from his military speech or not, you never know with these things.

I mean the speech was meant for the world to see too, a show of power. America First may be a warning to all that peace through strength is about to blanket the world in the red white & blue colors.

today we saw peace through strength in Qatar, a warning for all that threatens it. We surely are gunning for peace right off that meeting with military officials