Several aspects of yesterday’s (9/30/25) “talk” to generals and admirals of the U.S. military by Sec’y of Defense Hegseth [FN1] & trump are troubling. Until the 6-maga core on the Roberts Court [FN2] rubber-stamps trump’s wish, it’s “Department of Defense.” 1/15

Weakness did not prompt the change from “war” to “defense.” The World emerged from a war of Nazi tanks blitzing across Europe as genocide was perpetrated in their wake. In the Pacific, the Empire of Japan conquered lands in manner similar to Japan’s Nazi allies. 2/15

“In 1945 the Crime of Aggression was prosecuted for the first time in history” [FN3] The World, including the U.S., reached a consensus that a war of aggression is wrong. Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter requires member states to refrain from it. [FN4] 3/15

Hegseth’s words are chilling: “since waging war is so costly in blood and treasure, we owe our republic a military that will win any war we choose or any war that is thrust upon us.” There is room for “pacifism” which “ignores human nature and ... history.” [FN5] 4/15

It doesn’t take a genius to see these views are crap, but Einstein wrote you can’t “simultaneously prevent and prepare for war. [P]revention of war requires more faith, courage, and resolution than are needed to prepare for war.” [FN6] Peace requires brains & strength. 5/15

Incoherent late-night rants on the internet are of concern when written by the Pres. It is an unfortunate possibility that Putin, who subscribes to the views of old leaders of the USSR [FN7], could bait trump into attacking Russia. And trump recounted, yesterday: 6/15

“We were a little bit threatened by Russia recently, and I sent a submarine, nuclear submarine, the most lethal weapon ever made [] you can’t detect it.” [FN8] Russia can detect submarines if their military is given access to our military computers. Hegseth said if “our enemies 7/15

choose foolishly to challenge us, they will be crushed by the violence, precision and ferocity of the War Department. In other words, to our enemies, FAFO. [] If necessary, our troops can translate that for you.” [FN9] Readers here know: fuck around/find out. [FN10] 8/15

Contrary to what some here contend, people in the rest of the World do not hate us because of our freedom. They hate us because we have bombed other countries, overthrown governments freely elected, grabbed natural resources & get pissy w/immigrants. 9/15

Now we have leadership in government leaders who want to crush any opponents to what is fast becoming an irreversible path to dictatorship. You don’t have to be a genius to know that we are in peril, from gov’t officials foreign ordering around our leaders domestic. 10/15

Footnotes:
FN1. The “Department of War” became the “Department of Defense” in 1947, when President Truman signed into law the National Security Act, after it was passed by both houses of Congress.
FN2. Hands down the most corrupt SCOTUS in history. 11/15

FN3. International Nuremberg Principles Academy, “Nuremberg Declaration on the Crime of Aggression,” 05/08/23, accessed 10/01/25.
FN4. Article 51 also affirms the "inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs" against a UN member state. Any military action beyond this scope is a violation. 12/15

FN5. Transcript, “Secretary of [Defense] Pete Hegseth Addresses General and Flag Officers at Quantico, Virginia,” 09/30/25, accessed 10/1/25.
FN6. Albert Einstein, letter to Congressman Robert Hale, 12/04/46. 13/15

FN7. Stalin: one human death is a tragedy, but a million are a statistic.
FN8. trump speech, 09/30/25, at Quantico.
FN9. See Transcript at FN5. 14/15

FN10. Not only has the leader of the cult of which Hegseth is a member used the “f-bomb” on a hot mic on broadcast TV, that four-letter transitive verb is protected as free speech, esp “political.” See, Cohen v California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971). 15/15