“To our enemies: FAFO,” Hegseth said, using an acronym that translates to “fuck around and find out.”
Hegseth ordered hundreds of U.S. military officials around the globe to meet him at a spontaneous assembly in Virginia, keeping the details of the gathering extremely hush-hush.
The message shocked members of the U.S. military, who could not recall another instance in which a defense secretary summoned so many commanders for a sudden in-person meeting—especially without a clear rationale. Some warned that having so many integral military leaders in one place could pose a national security risk.
As it turns out, the rationale was to rail against the culture wars. Hegseth, pacing back and forth onstage, also leveraged his time in front of America’s military to criticize “woke” ideology. He ordered the armed forces to reset its combat requirements to the “highest male standard only,” a decision that would effectively force women out of the military.
“If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is,” Hegseth said.
The Pentagon chief also nixed medical beard waivers, a decision that will disproportionately affect Black service members due to the curl pattern of the hair on their face.
I would guess based on the smattering of confused applause, lack of rambunctious cheering, and the quickness they cut away that live feed after Trump demonstrated what applause is supposed to look like and walked off stage, it’s a majority of the latter.
But I still wouldn’t bet on that being any guarantee the constitution will be upheld above the leader’s will.
Hegseth thinks he has Trump’s plot armor. He doesn’t. And, he’s young enough that he probably won’t croak before the shit hits the fan in true cascading fuck-up fashion. FAFO is right.
Also, I share your uncertainty about whether the constitution will be upheld, but this whole clown show just ticked up the probability by a measurable amount.