Pete Hegseth Is Unfit and Inadequate

The symbology and mottos of the medieval order of the Knights Templar have been used by racist organizations for decades. The order of the Knights Templar was a militaristic quasi-religious organization formed between the first and second crusades (c. 1119) and tasked with shepherding European pilgrims to the recently “liberated” holy lands. It is this concept of “liberation at the end of the sword” in the name of God (hence “Deus Vult” or “God Wills”) resulting in the mass slaughter of entire populations of Muslims and Jews that appeals to modern neo-nazi and far-right groups who publicly revile middle eastern culture and religion.

Several esoteric societies of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries also utilized these symbols and mottos, notably the openly racist Order of the New Templars and the Thule Society, which formed the underlying racist mystical doctrine of the Nazi party. In recent years, neo-Nazi nationalist groups have co-opted these same symbols to support their xenophobic, racist, anti-Islamic, and anti-Semitic agendas. “Deus Vult” is emblazoned on alt-right parade banners and chanted at rallies. The Templar Cross in either its traditional red cross on a white field or its inverse, white on red, is a popular symbol used in lieu of swastikas, the double SS symbol of the Nazi Gestapo, or the Norse Othala rune.  Even though the link between Templars and extreme anti-Islamic violence is not accurate—most scholars agree that Templars were far more religiously tolerant than your average crusader—far right extremists are still attracted to the false ideology of violence and cultural extermination.

In a podcast interview released earlier this month, Hegseth described getting a briefing from a military lawyer in 2005 in Baghdad on the rules of engagement. Hegseth said the lawyer told them they could not shoot someone carrying a rocket-propelled grenade unless it was pointed at them.

“I remember walking out of that briefing, pulling my platoon together and being like, ‘Guys we’re not doing that. You know, like if you see an enemy and they, you know, engage before he’s able to point his weapon at you and shoot, we’re going to have your back,’” Hegseth said.

The whistleblower report received by The New Yorker also detailed multiple incidents where Hegseth was allegedly intoxicated on the job "to the point of needing to be carried out of the organization's events." 

When pressed by CBS News on Capitol Hill about whether he was ever drunk while traveling on the job, Hegseth replied, "Not gonna dignify that with a response."

“Again, completely false charges against me. They were fully investigated and I was completely cleared,” he said in his January 14 confirmation hearing. 

“But you acknowledge that you cheated on your wife and you cheated on a woman by whom you had just fathered a child? You have admitted that,” pressed Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.  

“I will allow your words to speak for themselves,” Hegseth said. 

Brown’s public support of Black Lives Matter after the police killing of George Floyd had made him fodder for the administration’s wars against “wokeism” in the military. His ouster is the latest upheaval at the Pentagon, which plans to cut 5,400 civilian probationary workers starting next week and identify $50 billion in programs that could be cut next year to redirect those savings to fund Trump’s priorities.

"We want lawyers who give sound constitutional advice,” Hegseth told Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday”... “And don’t exist to attempt to be roadblocks to anything that happens in their spots.”