Okay, the fat is officially in the fire now. For all of us who were just hoping that things could not be this bad, this fast…well, we were wrong. The nuts are officially in charge and they are parading themselves onstage as the stars of the show for today and tomorrow.
Reminiscent of Dr. Strangelove’s General Ripper, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and POTUS Donald Trump addressed nearly 1,000 senior military officials this week in a very bizarre scenario, announcing, “Welcome to the War Department, because the era of the Department of Defense is over.”
The scale and tenor of this meeting at Quantico Marine base was apparently without American precedent. Many of the generals and admirals and their senior enlisted leaders were transported to this site under very heavy security as if on a secret mission. For example, all the service chiefs were ordered to be at this gathering, including Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin and Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, both of whom were seated in the front row along with the rest of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And behind all these service chiefs sat leaders of the various combatant commands.
To this audience estimated to be at least 800 military generals, admirals, colonels and other officers, President Trump and his equally nitwit Secretary of War (he now calls himself) delivered a Dr. StrangeLove series of “speeches” that called for using the American military to patrol the streets of American cities to practice combat techniques, and, that there would immediately be the restoration of the “warrior ethos” of the American military to save it from being the “woke department.” Women and Black folk were going to be phased out.
Many of the military officials in the audience had been pulled away from important overseas assignments and ordered to attend this gathering at the Marine Corps Quantico Headquarters in Virginia. That kind of gathering for the series of non-serious comments given by President Trump and Secretary of Defense (nee War) needlessly took military staff away from otherwise important duties. Had one of America’s real enemies decided to strike at that moment, the whole country could have been severely damaged, if not pulverized, in one swift stroke. As it was, according to many, many reports from the event, military personnel from around the world either outright laughed at the sudden weakness this country was projecting, or they began immediately plotting to take advantage of this new distinctive American softness and unreadiness.
Terrible scenes of people horribly dying in hundreds of movie roles, like the movie, “The Sum of All Fears,” immediately came to mind. For all of the work Black crusaders have put in to attain and maintain a valued and respected place in American society, it suddenly seemed maybe worthless. The white mental midgets were now in charge and they were going to lead us all to a humbling world defeat.
Because of its democracy-based government, the U.S. has always had its share of strange leaders and officials. That’s expected. But never in its history has this country been “blessed” to have leaders like Trump’s band of comedians in charge. Though Black folk have spent most of our time here fighting for respect and relevance as part of the whole, maybe it’s really time to start considering a major change of venue. And right now, not later.
Professor David L. Horne is founder and executive director of PAPPEI, the Pan African Public Policy and Ethical Institute, which is a new 501(c)(3) pending community-based organization or non-governmental organization (NGO). It is the stepparent organization for the California Black Think Tank which still operates and which meets every fourth Friday.