Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
No. of Recommendations: 4
So far, Senator Reed's opening statement against Hegseth was damning. That any senator could vote to confirm this clown is a travesty.
There were three loud protests so far as well, who were all quickly removed from the chamber. I hope there are more. 😊
No. of Recommendations: 9
Hegseth's personal history is troubling, but most importantly, he does not have the kind of experience and skills to lead the massive DoD. It's nuts.
But juvenile-minded Trump saw him on FOX and thought he 'looked good on TV', so that was the guy. And he knew he would be a loyal sycophant.
No. of Recommendations: 2
And he knew he would be a loyal sycophant.
That's the one. Requirement #1 for Trump's cabinet is loyal sycophant. There is no requirement #2. Things that are nice but not necessary are looking good on camera and having some vague connection to the job.
--Peter
No. of Recommendations: 2
I'm still waiting for someone to ask Hegseth whether he thinks Americans who serve in the military are suckers and/or losers. With the follow-up being what he would think of a Commander In Chief who is quoted by a former U.S. Army Chief of Staff as saying just that on at least one occasion? Gotcha!
PS - so far, the democrats are not being impactful enough in their questioning IMHO, and I've heard NO critical lines of questioning by Republican Senators. It's not looking good. He seems destined to be confirmed. Perhaps Hegseth will prove to be a great SecDef, but I'm not holding my breath.
No. of Recommendations: 9
so far, the democrats are not being impactful enough in their questioning IMHO
For his part, Hegseth generally doesn't answer their questions anyway. He launches into some peripheral issue that he wants to talk about. Which is par for the course in American politics these days, if anyone has ever watched a debate.
Or he falls back on "We've got President Trump as the Commander in Chief", and kisses Trump's ass. Surprise, surprise. He even referred to Trump as "one of the greatest CEO's in history". How many times again did his businesses file for bankruptcy? Why was his charity foundation shut down? How many felonies was he convicted of for falsifying business records? Sheesh. How far we have fallen!
No. of Recommendations: 3
Or he falls back on "We've got President Trump as the Commander in Chief", and kisses Trump's ass. Surprise, surprise. He even referred to Trump as "one of the greatest CEO's in history". How many times again did his businesses file for bankruptcy? Why was his charity foundation shut down? How many felonies was he convicted of for falsifying business records? Sheesh. How far we have fallen!
His only qualification are that he looks good on camera and kisses Trumps butt. And these hearings, much like those for new Supremes, end up revealing nothing of import about the nominees. Worthless performative garbage.
No. of Recommendations: 15
Duckworth: "How many nations are in ASEAN?"
Hegseth: "We have allies in South Korea, Japan, and Australia."
Duckworth: "None of those countries are in ASEAN."
Sen. Tammy Duckworth to Pete Hegseth: "You say you care about keeping our Armed Forces strong and that you like that our Armed Forces' meritocracy.
Then let's not lower the standards for you. You sir, are a no-go at this station."
Facepalm...
No. of Recommendations: 0
Hegseth: "We have allies in South Korea, Japan, and Australia."
Duckworth: "None of those countries are in ASEAN."Although technically correct, in fairness, although Hegseth might have been bull-shyting, those three nations are in slightly larger groups of nations that include ASEAN. See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_ASE...
No. of Recommendations: 3
Duckworth: "How many nations are in ASEAN?"
I've got to admit that I couldn't answer that question. The acronym looks familiar - I'm fairly sure I've seen it. But I don't know what it is. So I learned about that today.
Then again, I'm not trying to be SECDEF.
I kind of like that Hegseth tried to BS his way through it. And in doing so didn't even try to answer the question. The correct answer is clearly going to be a number, not a list. (Unless maybe you're going to try to flex by naming them all to come to the total. Let's see, there's Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, so that's ... ummm ... 10.) Tells us a lot about who he is.
--Peter
No. of Recommendations: 5
I've got to admit that I couldn't answer that question
Then it’s a good thing you’re not in line to become Secretary of Defense.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Then it’s a good thing you’re not in line to become Secretary of Defense.
ASEAN is an economic alliance. The SecDef doesn't deal with them.
The good Senator was probably thinking of SEATO, which the SecDef would deal with...if SEATO hadn't been dissolved in the 1970's. The US still has defense pacts with some of its members, however.
No. of Recommendations: 5
ASEAN is an economic alliance.
Isn't the whole point of a military to protect economic interests?
No. of Recommendations: 1
Isn't the whole point of a military to protect economic interests?
Sure. I'm merely pointing out that the Senator was likely thinking of SEATO, given that the latter was a defense organization of which the US was a part of (whereas the US is not a member of ASEAN).
No. of Recommendations: 0
Isn't the whole point of a military to protect economic interests?
Yes, but I kind of see the point here. You would military alliances (like NATO) to be an important part of a SecDef's portfolio. So a nominee that was well-versed in national security issues ought to know the members of a most security or military alliances off the top of their head. But the same isn't really true of economic or trade alliances, which serve purposes and perform functions that intersect less with the portfolio of the Department of Defense, rather than (say) the Department of State. So we might not necessarily expect a foreign policy wonk to be able to name the members of, for example Mercosur with the same facility as knowing which countries are in NATO or not.
No. of Recommendations: 3
ASEAN is an economic alliance.The primary objectives of ASEAN, as stated by the association, are "to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region,
and to promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries in the region and
adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASEAN
No. of Recommendations: 14
MAGA says:
"Because of DEI and wokeness the standards are far too low in the U.S. military. Here’s why we need to appoint a comically unqualified television personality host to lead them."
In 2017, a woman reported to police that Pete Hegseth sexually assaulted her, according to a detailed investigative report recently made public.
He paid the woman a confidential $ettlement, because innocent people always pay settlements instead of clearing their names.
"Nobody's perfect." ~Pete Hegseth, during todays hearing.
https://www.startribune.com/what-to-know-from-pete...
No. of Recommendations: 7
Yes, but I kind of see the point here.
I think the real point here - regardless of the thinking behind the question - is that Hegseth had no idea what ASEAN was. Rather than admit that (as I did up thread) he simply heard it pronounced close to "Asian" and named a couple of countries in that area who are generally friendly to the US.
Do we want a SedDef making wild guesses when under real pressure that matters to our military and to the country?
--Peter
No. of Recommendations: 7
I think the real point here - regardless of the thinking behind the question - is that Hegseth had no idea what ASEAN was. Rather than admit that (as I did up thread) he simply heard it pronounced close to "Asian" and named a couple of countries in that area who are generally friendly to the US.
Do we want a SedDef making wild guesses when under real pressure that matters to our military and to the country?
His actual response was:
“I couldn’t tell you the exact amount of nations in that, but I know that we have allies in South Korea, in Japan, and in AUKUS with Australia in trying to work on submarines with them — ”
I don't see that as mishearing it Asian and making a wild guess, but trying to pivot to a security alliance that he knew something about. Again, I understand Duckworth's point (Hegseth has no foreign policy experience whatsoever), but I understand a bit of the nitpicking coming back (Sec of Defense is a military role, not a broad foreign policy role like Sec of State). ASEAN isn't a military/national security alliance, so it's not as integral to SecDef's duties as would an organization like NATO or AUKUS would.
No. of Recommendations: 0
SedDef
Who on earth put the C and D right below each other on the keyboard? Those need to be separated further.
And why does every computer screen make everything so fuzzy and hard to proofred? It's not like I'm afriad to amdit I need glasssess. Been wearing them since grade school. And these are only ... ummm ... two ... no ... three? ... good grief ... [shouting to my wife] how old are my glasses, honey?
--Peter
No. of Recommendations: 0
His actual response was:
I'll stand mostly corrected. (I still suspect he has no idea what ASEAN is, but was willing to admit to not knowing the number of nations.)
Banksy - we need to have a chat about your sources.
--Peter
No. of Recommendations: 2
Duckworth: "How many nations are in ASEAN?"
One of several instances that brought to mind Libertarian candidates Gary Johnson's "What is Aleppo" moment.....
At least Johnson could blame the ganja for his brain fart.
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"Hegseth might have been bull-shyting"
Imagine if Sarah Palin had had the acuity to bull-shyt the question about her daily reading material... she could be the VP instead of Vance.
No. of Recommendations: 2
ASEAN is an economic alliance. The SecDef doesn't deal with them.
Good answer. The nominee for Sec Def, again, demonstrated that he's a lousy, lying clueless bullshyter.
Damn, too bad you weren't feeding his earpiece.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Sounds like he sailed through his Kavanaugh "I like beer" moment. Get hammered tonight Pete, you're in.
No. of Recommendations: 10
No. of Recommendations: 8
And now we have our Goering...
No. of Recommendations: 2
For his part, Hegseth generally doesn't answer their questions anyway.
Then the Dem senators aren't doing their jobs.
"Mr Hegseth, you did not answer my question. Spare us the irrelevant tangents, and answer the question asked."
If they aren't doing that, they shouldn't even be on the panel.
No. of Recommendations: 3
Then the Dem senators aren't doing their jobs.
"Mr Hegseth, you did not answer my question. Spare us the irrelevant tangents, and answer the question asked."
If they aren't doing that, they shouldn't even be on the panel.
Trade-offs.
A Senator only gets so much time. Which means they only get so many questions to ask. Every time they repeat a question, they lose an opportunity to ask another one.
When the nominee evades a question, the Senator has already accomplished part of what they wanted to do when they asked the question. It then becomes a judgment call - what's the additional benefit to pressing them again, vs. asking whatever their "last" question would have been if it didn't get dropped for time.
Most Senators adjudge that there's not a lot of benefit to getting a second evasive answer to most questions. They'll do it once, quickly, but will usually move on.
No. of Recommendations: 3
Most Senators adjudge that there's not a lot of benefit to getting a second evasive answer to most questions. They'll do it once, quickly, but will usually move on.
OK. Fair point. I will amend my comment to:
If the senator isn't summing-up the prior question before asking a new one, they aren't doing their jobs.
For example, "Mr Hegseth; did you rape [insert name here]?" If he goes off on a tangent without saying "no", then the follow-up should be "you didn't answer the question, so I'll assume "yes" and move on."
