Full Metal Jackass: Trump and Hegseth Demand Treason

The “War Secretary” and the president of the United States declare war on America.

This morning in Quantico, VA “War Secretary” Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump spoke to the assembled leadership of the U.S. Armed Forces and humiliated themselves, the nation, and the honorable men and women they are supposed to lead. It was, as predicted, a loyalty test, an open declaration of war against “domestic enemies”—including women, LGBTQ+, and Black people—and an explicit threat to fire anyone who wasn’t on board.

“Full Force”: Hegseth’s Loyalty Test

Full Metal Jackass

Pete Hegseth’s speech was a war cry for the aggrieved white man, and a desperate attempt to exert control over an organization he doesn’t understand or respect. It was a rejection of core American values. Hegseth began his speech with this.

“To our enemies: F-A-F-O.”

This may just seem like a juvenile taunt at America’s foreign enemies, but the enemies that Hegseth and Trump focused on are not foreign. The enemies are Americans. To ensure military readiness for its new mission, Hegseth wants to make “bullying,” “hazing,” and “so-called ‘toxic leadership’” great again.

Drowsy Hitler

Donald Trump followed Hegseth with a low-energy, incoherent rant for the ages, a travesty against decency, truth, and humanity—and an open declaration of war on America. Below are a few representative quotes from Donald Trump’s speech.

“America is under invasion from within. We’re under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms. At least when they’re wearing a uniform, you can take them out. Most people don’t have uniforms, but we are under invasion from within. We’re stopping it very quickly.”

“What they’ve done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, they’re very unsafe places and we’re going to straighten them out one by one. And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That’s a war, too. It’s a war from within controlling the physical territory of our border is essential to national security. We can’t let these people in.”

“Last month I signed an executive order to provide training for a quick reaction force that can help quell civil disturbances. This is going to be a big thing for the people in this room because it’s the enemy from within and we have to handle it before it gets out of control. It won’t get out of control.”

“Fire department, I always put the fire department then because they’re great. They’re great and I got 95% of their vote so that helps When you get 95% of their vote you always have to mention them, but they’re great and they’re brave In our inner cities, which we’re gonna be talking about because it’s a big part of war now It’s a big part of war.”

“And I told Pete, we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military, national guard, but military, because we’re going into Chicago, where he’s a big city, within an incompetent governor, stupid governor, stupid. They threw him out of his family business. He was so stupid.”

Demand for Treason

This speech was simply a demand for treason, repeated over and over to America’s military leadership.

Several times, Trump “joked” about a literal loyalty pledge:

“If anyone disagrees, just raise your hand.”

The definition of Treason, according to the Constitution:

• Levying War: Waging war against the United States.

• Adhering to Enemies: Giving aid and comfort to the nation’s enemies.

Trump’s speech demanded both forms of treason from his assembled flag officers. Here is what he said about Vladimir Putin’s genocidal war on Ukraine—literally expressing disappointment that Putin didn’t win faster.

“I’m so disappointed in President Putin. I thought he would get this thing over with. He should have had that war done in a week. And I said to him, you know, you don’t look good. Your four years fighting a war that should have taken a week. Are you a paper tiger? And it’s a shame. But I think eventually we’ll get that one done just like in theory. I want to knock on wood because you never know.“

Perhaps the most frightening part of Trump’s windy diatribe was a long extemporaneous mumble about America’s nuclear stockpile, which Trump repeatedly referred to as the “N-word… You know we have two N-words.”

No sane human being could watch this and not be terrified that this demented old man has control of the nuclear football.

As a final flourish to this depraved speech, Trump accused Joe Biden of allowing “11,488 murders.” This is a deliberate, overt signal to Nazis.

“14/88” is one of the most common ways neo-Nazis to signal to each other. 14 refers to the neo-Nazi “14 words”—We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” 88 represents “Heil Hitler.” (8=“H”).

In previous Trump speeches this number was repeated as 13,099, then 11,888, and finally in this speech 11,488. When has Donald Trump caused numbers that he thinks make him look good, to go down over time?

Trump’s regime already has 88-foot flagpoles and 88-foot banners with his face on them. This was a deliberate message from speechwriter Stephen Miller and Donald Trump to the U.S. Armed Forces that America is a Nazi country.

“Der Sturm bricht los”: Stephen Miller’s Nazi Eulogy

Searching for Silver Linings

The only positive I can see from this travesty is that the entire military leadership of the United States—highly educated, accomplished men and women who have served their country with honor—got a full picture of the horror show of their civilian leadership. Many of these officers are stationed abroad leading thousands of service members; they are extremely busy people, many of whom may not have been aware of just how wrong things have gone.

Now, without a doubt, they do. I would bet my life that not one general or admiral walked out of that room feeling more confident in their leadership or the direction it is taking America. None. The message was objectively ignorant, bigoted, and treasonous.

We are entering a long, dark period in American history, but how dark it gets and how long it lasts may be up to the men and women who were in that room today. They know the oath they took is to the United States Constitution, not to the weak, pathetic civilians they had to endure today.

When it really comes down to giving an order to soldiers in uniform to attack American cities, or to use them as “training grounds” for warfare, it is my hope and expectation that their sacred oath will win out over illegality and treason.

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