Stupid Is as Stupid Does "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce." Katie Phang Aug 29

 

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“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

The above quote is oft-attributed to Albert Einstein, but apparently, he never said it. Nonetheless, if Einstein had suffered a press conference with Idiot of War, Pete Hegseth — the topic of today’s article — he would have said it and probably would have served up some other choice words about said Idiot of War.

We start with a history lesson. On November 23, 1942, the German 6th Army was surrounded at Stalingrad. Just days before, the Soviet Red Army pulled off one of the most spectacular encirclements in military history. The Germans, now trapped, freezing, and starving, had to make a decision: break out or stand their ground and fight. They chose the latter and the result was the death of hundreds of thousands of German soldiers with only about six thousand ever making it back to their homeland years later.

Although some would say the loss at Stalingrad was the decisive turning point of World War II that ensured German defeat, economists would disagree and tell you that Germany’s loss was all but guaranteed a year before when America entered the war. What many would agree on is that it was a psychological game changer. So how did it all happen? Stupidity, of course! And a partial physical embodiment of that stupidity in the winter of ‘42 was Hermann Goering.

Many of you know that Goering was one of Nazi Germany’s most evil henchmen and promoters of the Holocaust. But when he wasn’t aiding and abetting the murder of tens of millions of innocents or stealing Europe’s great treasures from occupied lands, he was purportedly commanding Germany’s air force: the Luftwaffe.

So back to Stalingrad. When a decision needed to be made as to what to do, Goering looked Hitler in the eyes and said words to the effect, “Don’t worry Adi, I got this.” And by “I got this”, he meant that he could, through his air force alone, sustain the encircled frozen, starving, and exhausted German forces. Mind you, everyone knew this was total bullshit at the time. Hitler, the generals, and simple mathematics. Probably, Goering too. But ignorance is a choice and the result had severe — and beneficial to the free world — consequences.

I retell this story for a simple reason. First, a few days ago I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about the march of folly that was Convicted Felon Donald Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran. The Journal retold how his intelligence chiefs and others all but assured Trump that notwithstanding the promises of Bibi, his Idiot of War Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dan Caine, the Iranians would put up a fight that the U.S. and its allies in the region weren’t prepared to handle.

And what were these folks focused on? For years, American war-game planners and intelligence analysts played out the scenarios. And in painstaking detail, these smartest people in the room types predicted what Iran would do if the U.S. chose a military confrontation: close the Straits of Hormuz through the use of cheap weapons, lean on proxy forces, and turn the fight into an asymmetric one that $80 million attack jets would be rendered useless. Importantly, these people emphasized that this murderous regime had been at the war with the West for over forty years, was well-prepared, and would not go down because some of their stuff or people got blown up.

However, all of this was ignored because Idiot of War Hegseth told Trump that U.S. forces could do more pushups and pullups than their Iranian counterparts. Ok, maybe he didn’t say exactly that, but I’m sure it was something just as dumb knowing the speaker and audience of one. Where we are now is well-reported, but I’ll sum it up here: The analysts? Right. A multi-trillion dollar fighting force gathering rust (or barnacles?) because it cannot solve the riddle of $10,000 drones and cheap missiles. Our stockpile of high-tech weapons depleted. A complete stalemate with no smart people on our side negotiating an end to the conflict. And most importantly, the men and women who volunteer to serve in our military unnecessarily and lethally being put in harm’s way.

I guess some would be willing to accept this sad state of affairs if the Trump Regime was at least working on providing Americans affordable healthcare, education, housing, and beef. But, we all know that ain’t happening, which explains why this war is so deeply unpopular no matter who you ask. Again, ignorance is a choice, but in this instance, it’s us taking the hit.

I’m stating the obvious when I say that we are long on firepower (to the tune of about $20 trillion and counting on military spending over the past 26 years), but short on people who know what to do with it. If the Trump Administration were a car buyer, he’d be walking out of a car dealership in South Florida bragging to friends that he negotiated his way into a great deal on a winter package.

Which leads me to the second reason I talk about Goering and Stalingrad. Last night, as I was doomscrolling through cute dog and “My Mom asks if this is AI?” videos on Instagram, I saw an article reporting that Idiot of War Hegseth was contemplating a presidential run. I threw up in my mouth and laughed at the same time when I read this.

Hegseth denies that he has such aspirations, which is unsurprising because that’s the rote answer one usually gives when asked if they are running. But whether it’s true or not, that this could even be reported is mind-blowing. That someone so in over his skis, whose only qualifications for the job are his loyalty to his dear Führer Trump and shared stupidity and cruelty, could be mentioned in the same words as “president of the United States” is mind-blowing now that Trump has proven — again — just how bad of an idea this is.

Karl Marx said "history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce." It’s bad enough when we talk about JD Vance as a possible candidate in ‘28 for Republicans. But, putting Hegseth in the possibility pool truly lowers the bar to the point that you’d need a shovel to dig yourself out of the mix. That’s when you truly hit Farce Level 10. You’d think we’d hit rock bottom with Convicted Felon Donald Trump and his two terms, but I guess Republicans are suckers for punishment and Idiot of War Hegseth running for president is the inevitable mutation of MAGA.