I have a theory about Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense – or secretary of war, as Donald Trump wants us to call him. I’ve become convinced that he’s simply a fraidy-cat. He’s scared. And I don’t say that lightly.
Hegseth, mind you, was a decorated and apparently brave soldier. He was commissioned in the Army after being an ROTC cadet at Princeton, and as a member of the Minnesota National Guard, he was assigned to Guantanamo Bay, then deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. He reached the rank of major, and earned the Combat Infantryman Badge and two Bronze Stars. The man fought for America. That deserves our respect.
Then he moved around a bit, and finally drew Donald Trump’s attention as a hawkish advocate of American military power during his seven years as a weekend host on Fox News. And that prompted Trump to give him a really big job – as the boss of 3.4 million people, and the leader of the most powerful military in world history.
Somehow, in making that transition, Pete Hegseth has become cowardly, at least when facing a phalanx of journalists – people with laptops and microphones, rather than missiles and drones and machine guns. He makes it clear that he agrees with Trump that independent reporters are, in Trump’s words, “enemies of the people.” And I don’t know what other than fear would lead him to try to keep himself shielded from that enemy. Hegseth has made the Pentagon the world’s largest foxhole.
You’ve surely heard the news that the other day a federal judge ruled that Hegseth had violated the First Amendment by imposing rules some months ago that restricted reporters’ access to the Pentagon. The rules required reporters to sign a pledge that they wouldn’t publish any information unless it was pre-approved by officials. And the rules said reporters who “solicit” information – that is, ask somebody a question – could be barred from the Pentagon.
Hundreds of reporters who had been covering the Pentagon refused to sign the pledge, of course; the only accredited reporters, then, were from right-wing news organizations, or propaganda organs. So The New York Times brought a lawsuit, and a judge in Washington struck down the rules.
So what did Pete Hegseth do? His spokesman said the Pentagon would appeal the decision, and in the meantime would insist on new rules – which the Times and other news organizations said were likewise unconstitutional, violating the judge’s order, by continuing to block reporters’ access to the Pentagon.
While all this is going on, of course, the United States has gone to war. And here’s the thing: During wartime, we usually see TV correspondents doing live shots from their broadcast booths in the Pentagon – but not this war. We usually see daily briefings, or near-daily, from top Pentagon brass, who feel American citizens deserve to know what’s going on with their military. But not this time.
Since the first American bombs dropped on Tehran on the last day of February, there have been six Pentagon briefings, as of this taping. And since there’s virtually no internet service in Iran, we see very little of what’s actually going on there.
Beyond that, there’s the problem of credibility. The President of the United States is an inveterate liar. That’s not opinion; it’s just a matter of fact that he flagrantly distorts or misstates the truth. So we need independent reporting more than ever.
The Pentagon Press Association, which represents about a hundred reporters who regularly cover the American military, put it well: “At such a critical time, we ask why the Pentagon is choosing to restrict vital press freedoms that help inform all Americans.”
Previous administrations of both parties, in times of war and peace alike, have worked with reporters to keep communication flowing to citizens. Officials have often disliked the coverage – questioning, after all, can be uncomfortable. But that’s how government works in a democracy.
We can only assume the secretary of defense and his egocentric boss don’t want citizens to know what’s going on – that they’re afraid, in fact, that the majority that every poll shows opposes this war will only grow if people know more.
But fear is not how America should be governed. No, we need leaders who are secure enough that they don’t feel compelled to hurl themselves into official foxholes to avoid the terrifying scrutiny of the news media.
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