Adrastos, Fog Of History, MAGA, Political Crack

Dumb McNamara’s Vice Signaling

I rarely use other people’s nicknames. I prefer bespoke nicknames to getting them off the rack. As always, there’s an exception to every rule. I learned about Dumb McNamara from a Tom Nichols piece called Pete Hegseth Is Vice Signaling. My countryman didn’t make it up, it came from the Secretary Of War Defense’s detractors at the Pentagon. I dig it and plan to use it.

Repeat after me: Dumb McNamara.

Nichols also used a cool phrase I hadn’t seen before: Vice signaling, which is the antonym of virtue signaling.

“But Donald Trump and his administration have embraced the Mirror Universe version of virtue signaling. They’ve pioneered the practice of “vice signaling,” or saying insulting or odious things both as attention-seeking behavior and as a way of showcasing their supposedly transgressive political views. They aim to demonstrate strength by being willing to appall other people, much as schoolyard bullies insult their classmates to gain the approval of other bullies. It’s the same peacocking, but with uglier feathers.

Few people besides the president himself have done more to advance the cause of vice signaling than Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, a man who honed his communication skills at Fox News, where the hosts routinely say outrageous things as a way of showing their viewers how eager they are to own the libs.”

I, for one, refuse to be owned by this idiotic mook. Dumb McNamara can go fuck himself.

Hegseth belongs to a white nationalist Christian religious sect that thinks it’s cool to utter this prayer:

“Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation,” Hegseth said, asking God to give American forces “wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”

As an ardent atheist, I don’t think prayer has a place at the Pentagon, especially one that overtly contradicts the founder of the Christian faith. I thought that Jesus was the Prince of Peace. Did Leon Russell get it wrong?

I know Tom Nichols is unpopular with some on the left because he enjoys fighting with strangers on social media. I stopped doing that after the 2016 election but I respect Tom’s persistent pugnacity. He reminds me of some of the conservative friends I enjoyed arguing with before the right went insane and I stopped using the C word. Besides, he’s Greek, so in the immortal words of Lou Athas, “Tom Nichols is Greek. He’s doing very well, you know.”

Thanks Dad. I owe you another letter.

Let’s circle back to the nickname, Dumb McNamara. Robert McNamara was JFK and JBJ’s Defense Secretary. He presided over the US build up in Vietnam. Robert McNamara was a brilliant man who made a dreadful mistake with the Vietnam war, which he came to regret. Pete Hegseth is a stupid man who made a dreadful mistake with the Iran war, which he will never admit to regretting. Hence, Dumb McNamara. Regrettably, Team MAGA doesn’t do regrets.

I wish we could make the cacophony of vice signaling from the Pentagon stop but it will persist as long as Trump is POTUS and Hegseth is the bull goose Pentagon looney. It’s what happens when the worst president in history appoints the worst defense secretary. There are many worsts in this administration. To paraphrase one of our greatest presidents: It’s a regime, which will live in infamy. Thanks, Frank.

Repeat after me: Dumb McNamara.

The last word goes to Bing Crosby:

UPDATE: Dumb McNamara intervened in the case of some Army helicopter pilots under investigation for buzzing the Nashville No Kings rally and Kid Rock’s house.

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