A military of grown-ups accepts responsibility and accountability. It would not need to shift hopes and blame onto divine intervention. Pete infantilizes the military, because he himself just can't grow the f up.
"250 years ago, we rejected an earthly king, an ocean away, appealing instead to a heavenly king above,"
Is Kegsbreath drunk again? Did he forget that George III was a Christian who believed he had a divine right to rule? Did he forget we fought a revolution to ESCAPE being ruled by kings and religious empires and declare that PEOPLE should govern (not rule) themselves?
Because the ONLY religion Kegsbreath is interested in is Christianity, and more specifically, HIS brand of bigoted, discriminatory, evangelical Christianity. It's a safe bet that any other denominations will get little more than lip service, never mind those who are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or (heavens to Mergetroyd!) atheist.
Far as I'm concerned, Petey wants to Christianize the military with this move. I'm hoping he gets no small amount of blowback for his efforts.
When you remember his list of approved religious designations, it becomes clear that the only religions he wants are mostly right wing evangelicals, with a smattering of other denominations and the existence of other religious viewpoints as an afterthought.
He will get practically no blowback. This administration has already fired or blocked promotion for over 80 generals - something like 10-20% of the total general officers - and SecWar has happily announced he's very willing to fire more. The general officers who oppose these moves are already gone, gracefully retiring, or keeping their mouths shut in the hopes of riding it out and returning the DoW to sanity after this administration leaves.
I served on active duty for 25 years. The notion that religion was somehow suppressed, or that religious observances were not supported, is just ludicrous. Every formal dining event, in the Air Force a Dining In or Dining Out, was opened with an invocation. As were many other formal military gatherings. To claim that religions were not given full recognition and support is just contrary to fact. Although facts are not prominent in this administration. Meanwhile, we’re losing the war with Iran and have withdrawn all support to Ukraine, which is defending itself and all of Europe from Russia. We have a lot of things to address in the armed forces, and inadequate religion in the force is not one of them. Preposterous to be spending time on this when we have real, urgent military issues to deal with.
SecWar is trying to make himself a darling of the religious right so that Trump won't fire him for running out of missiles, rusting out aircraft carriers, and handing control of the Straight of Hormuz over to Iran.
Ten active, eight in the Guard. Plenty of chaplains in my career, a few memorable for the good they did, a few memorable for being obnoxious proselytizing asshats, most irrelevant/NPCs.
White Claw Petey Kegbreath is unfit to serve in any capacity.
I very much wish some general officer would have the guts (and retirement eligibility) to file a court claim pointing out that any U.S. government spiritual health evaluation or test is inherently religiously biased against people who don't think they have a spirit, and thus a violation of the first amendment.
And Kegsbreath wouldn't listen. He's too enamored of his own voice, anyway.
EDIT: However ... a one-on-one meeting with one Mikey Weinstein might be both instructive and entertaining. It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that Mr. Weinstein is working toward such a meeting, even as we type here.
Telling troops what they're allowed to believe is grotesquely illegal. This is the assumption of Christian privilege at its vulgar worst. Our secular government cannot choose one religion over another, and members of the military are a captive audience that is not free to walk away. Hegseth has been an unmitigated disaster as Defense Secretary.
What do expect from a moronic piss-drunk rapist who tarted up his own body with Nat-C tattoos?. Tattoos that are explicitly verboten by his own book of fantasies.
Considering all the corruption, screw-ups (a la Eric Schmitt's epic faux pas the other day), and under-the-table dealing we DON'T know about but will find out down the road, late-night comedians and stand-ups will have all the grist for their mill they will need for a LONG time to come.
I'll say it again: there needs to be a reckoning, and EVERYONE who was a party to this catastrophe must be held accountable. No more "Nixon pardons."
“250 years ago, we rejected an earthly king, an ocean away, appealing instead to a heavenly king above.”
No we didn’t, we rejected an earthly king for self governance. The Declaration of Independence does not call any celestial king for guidance. Even if you believe the creator, big C or little c is irrelevant, is god, that doesn’t mean the authors of that document was an appeal to a heavenly king above. There are no mental gymnastics that can make it true.
“George Washington made sure that the Continental Army had chaplains back at the beginning, back in 1775.”
And he didn’t need an Office of Religious Affairs to work out the chaplaincy.
“That force appealed to Heaven. And we still do today. Our national motto is, after all, “In God We Trust.””
Of course the chaplains appealed to heaven, but that doesn’t mean the entire country did. Nor does it mean that they appealed to your version of heaven. You would be surprised how different the beliefs of the past are to your own beliefs.
In god we trust may be our current official motto, but GW and the rest of the founders preferred to use E Pluribus Unum, and intentionally didn’t make it official as to not force ideologies onto the people. And the sentiment behind that motto was to express the idea that we aren’t reliant on one god or central authority, but we as people come together to make a government. The exact opposite of what Kegsbreath is pushing.
The most important line of the constitution was placed first and foremost for a reason, We the people. Look out Petey Kegsbreath, we the people will come and there will be a price for your authoritarian overreach.
So was bulldozing the East Wing, starting the war in Iran, imposing tariffs, fucking children, raping women and so much more that pretty much everyone in this administration has done. But that hasn’t stopped them, they have even ignored SCROTUS orders. It doesn’t matter if we aren’t willing to enforce any of it.
All this fuss over a supposedly omnipotent being who should have no need for a human military to carry out its wishes.
I repeat: Let the current military be comprised solely of Christians. When boots on the ground are needed to support Trump's insane ambitions for empire, they will be the ones sacrificing all for king and country while non-Christians stay safe at home.
Unfortunately, for non-Christians, there could be increased pressure to act Christian in public since they have paranoia in public over religious demographics, more stricter surveillance, etc. I think this is already happening in red states but, the gov't, if it becomes permanently WCN, it may forcibly intervene in blue states in this same way.
My prediction: Pete will have his own prosperity gospel congregation after he’s done destroying our military. Good work, Pete, Putin thanks you for your service.
“The experts—our chaplains—will finally have an advocate at the highest levels. Policy and resources will serve the mission, not smother the mission. As Psalm 33:12 extols us, “blessed is the nation in which God is the Lord.””
What is the mission? What is the mission you are trying not to smother? Is it the mission of the military or the Christian mission? I mean, I know what you think it is, but I’m giving you the opportunity to correct yourself. Proselytizing at the end of a nuke is a dangerous, evil act.
A military of grown-ups accepts responsibility and accountability. It would not need to shift hopes and blame onto divine intervention. Pete infantilizes the military, because he himself just can't grow the f up.
Men like Hegseth were taught since birth that they never had to put in the work for anything and would be held accountable for nothing.
Office of Religious Indoctrination. Build an army that doesn't question orders or missions be ause they are from God.
Nailed it! 🔨
"250 years ago, we rejected an earthly king, an ocean away, appealing instead to a heavenly king above,"
Is Kegsbreath drunk again? Did he forget that George III was a Christian who believed he had a divine right to rule? Did he forget we fought a revolution to ESCAPE being ruled by kings and religious empires and declare that PEOPLE should govern (not rule) themselves?
He's not drunk again. He's still drunk.
Drunk with power.
And too many White Claws.
C'mon now, can't have too much White. Well, to be truthful, the cannon fodder can be any color but leadership will be all White and all Male.
https://www.whiteclaw.com/
𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑓𝑠, 𝐻𝑒𝑔𝑠𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠.
Because the ONLY religion Kegsbreath is interested in is Christianity, and more specifically, HIS brand of bigoted, discriminatory, evangelical Christianity. It's a safe bet that any other denominations will get little more than lip service, never mind those who are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or (heavens to Mergetroyd!) atheist.
Far as I'm concerned, Petey wants to Christianize the military with this move. I'm hoping he gets no small amount of blowback for his efforts.
When you remember his list of approved religious designations, it becomes clear that the only religions he wants are mostly right wing evangelicals, with a smattering of other denominations and the existence of other religious viewpoints as an afterthought.
This announcement just underscores that.
His days are numbered.
And those numbers need to be single digits.
Sadly not the case. January 20 2029 is 841 days away.
The midterms are considerably closer. And impeachment may very well be on the table.
He will get practically no blowback. This administration has already fired or blocked promotion for over 80 generals - something like 10-20% of the total general officers - and SecWar has happily announced he's very willing to fire more. The general officers who oppose these moves are already gone, gracefully retiring, or keeping their mouths shut in the hopes of riding it out and returning the DoW to sanity after this administration leaves.
The winds may shift after the midterms ... considerably.
I served on active duty for 25 years. The notion that religion was somehow suppressed, or that religious observances were not supported, is just ludicrous. Every formal dining event, in the Air Force a Dining In or Dining Out, was opened with an invocation. As were many other formal military gatherings. To claim that religions were not given full recognition and support is just contrary to fact. Although facts are not prominent in this administration. Meanwhile, we’re losing the war with Iran and have withdrawn all support to Ukraine, which is defending itself and all of Europe from Russia. We have a lot of things to address in the armed forces, and inadequate religion in the force is not one of them. Preposterous to be spending time on this when we have real, urgent military issues to deal with.
Rearranging the deck chairs.
SecWar is trying to make himself a darling of the religious right so that Trump won't fire him for running out of missiles, rusting out aircraft carriers, and handing control of the Straight of Hormuz over to Iran.
Ten active, eight in the Guard. Plenty of chaplains in my career, a few memorable for the good they did, a few memorable for being obnoxious proselytizing asshats, most irrelevant/NPCs.
White Claw Petey Kegbreath is unfit to serve in any capacity.
I very much wish some general officer would have the guts (and retirement eligibility) to file a court claim pointing out that any U.S. government spiritual health evaluation or test is inherently religiously biased against people who don't think they have a spirit, and thus a violation of the first amendment.
It won't happen, but it should.
And Kegsbreath wouldn't listen. He's too enamored of his own voice, anyway.
EDIT: However ... a one-on-one meeting with one Mikey Weinstein might be both instructive and entertaining. It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that Mr. Weinstein is working toward such a meeting, even as we type here.
Telling troops what they're allowed to believe is grotesquely illegal. This is the assumption of Christian privilege at its vulgar worst. Our secular government cannot choose one religion over another, and members of the military are a captive audience that is not free to walk away. Hegseth has been an unmitigated disaster as Defense Secretary.
What do expect from a moronic piss-drunk rapist who tarted up his own body with Nat-C tattoos?. Tattoos that are explicitly verboten by his own book of fantasies.
Tattoos that are forbidden by his god itself in that book of fairy tales.
There's gonna be so bloody effin' much mess to clean up once we've purged these vile stains from our government.
(We might want to keep a couple, late night talk shows need fodder.😉)
Considering all the corruption, screw-ups (a la Eric Schmitt's epic faux pas the other day), and under-the-table dealing we DON'T know about but will find out down the road, late-night comedians and stand-ups will have all the grist for their mill they will need for a LONG time to come.
I'll say it again: there needs to be a reckoning, and EVERYONE who was a party to this catastrophe must be held accountable. No more "Nixon pardons."
I'm willing to contribute to the rope fund.
Support our hemp farmers. 🙂
I go with the pro-blade faction. Quicker and much more sure.
Yes, but watching them dance the Hemp Fandango from a zero-drop introduction is far more entertaining. 😉
So just Christians, Peter? Giving up on "Judeo-Christian," are you?
He thinks the fascist takeover is complete enough to stop pretending he's not a Nazi.
"Judeo-Christian" is for the rubes, so far as Kegsbreath thinks.
“250 years ago, we rejected an earthly king, an ocean away, appealing instead to a heavenly king above.”
No we didn’t, we rejected an earthly king for self governance. The Declaration of Independence does not call any celestial king for guidance. Even if you believe the creator, big C or little c is irrelevant, is god, that doesn’t mean the authors of that document was an appeal to a heavenly king above. There are no mental gymnastics that can make it true.
“George Washington made sure that the Continental Army had chaplains back at the beginning, back in 1775.”
And he didn’t need an Office of Religious Affairs to work out the chaplaincy.
“That force appealed to Heaven. And we still do today. Our national motto is, after all, “In God We Trust.””
Of course the chaplains appealed to heaven, but that doesn’t mean the entire country did. Nor does it mean that they appealed to your version of heaven. You would be surprised how different the beliefs of the past are to your own beliefs.
In god we trust may be our current official motto, but GW and the rest of the founders preferred to use E Pluribus Unum, and intentionally didn’t make it official as to not force ideologies onto the people. And the sentiment behind that motto was to express the idea that we aren’t reliant on one god or central authority, but we as people come together to make a government. The exact opposite of what Kegsbreath is pushing.
The most important line of the constitution was placed first and foremost for a reason, We the people. Look out Petey Kegsbreath, we the people will come and there will be a price for your authoritarian overreach.
That's fucking illegal.
So was bulldozing the East Wing, starting the war in Iran, imposing tariffs, fucking children, raping women and so much more that pretty much everyone in this administration has done. But that hasn’t stopped them, they have even ignored SCROTUS orders. It doesn’t matter if we aren’t willing to enforce any of it.
For the Trump regime, it's also Standard Operating Procedure.
https://share.google/jFFT8P48pC6agKX2j
https://tenor.com/oM2U.gif
All this fuss over a supposedly omnipotent being who should have no need for a human military to carry out its wishes.
I repeat: Let the current military be comprised solely of Christians. When boots on the ground are needed to support Trump's insane ambitions for empire, they will be the ones sacrificing all for king and country while non-Christians stay safe at home.
So, they get 'raptured' as they wish.
Unfortunately, for non-Christians, there could be increased pressure to act Christian in public since they have paranoia in public over religious demographics, more stricter surveillance, etc. I think this is already happening in red states but, the gov't, if it becomes permanently WCN, it may forcibly intervene in blue states in this same way.
My prediction: Pete will have his own prosperity gospel congregation after he’s done destroying our military. Good work, Pete, Putin thanks you for your service.
“The experts—our chaplains—will finally have an advocate at the highest levels. Policy and resources will serve the mission, not smother the mission. As Psalm 33:12 extols us, “blessed is the nation in which God is the Lord.””
What is the mission? What is the mission you are trying not to smother? Is it the mission of the military or the Christian mission? I mean, I know what you think it is, but I’m giving you the opportunity to correct yourself. Proselytizing at the end of a nuke is a dangerous, evil act.
> "You can’t meet their needs after erasing evidence of their existence."
Oh, he can meet their needs alright. What they need is more Jesus. More Old Testament Yahweh. And By God he's just the man to provide it.
🤯