{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreicnmjercfsxd2cc27fpg52u7xden5ebxj7tzjjh6jowcmdipgl4ca",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:nxlnmxqruqnhaan6utqpv2uj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmyig2sufzc2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreidse4rb7hbpotxs2rryq6veyfhihp3sagpqrwalaythucxejaxkbm"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 178922
  },
  "description": "Pete Hegseth says critics fail to appreciate his commitment to lethality, vibes, and unauthorized regime change",
  "path": "/hegseth-defense-secretary-record/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-29T12:00:37.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.duffelblog.com",
  "tags": [
    "Donald Rumsfeld",
    "Tier 1 operators",
    "beaten by the Vietcong",
    "Vietnam",
    "DEI-obsessed department",
    "rules of engagement",
    "Lloyd Austin",
    "pride parades on aircraft carriers.",
    "Subscribe now"
  ],
  "textContent": "**_The following is an opinion piece by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth._**\n\nEverywhere I go, people keep calling me the worst Secretary of Defense in American history.\n\nThe worst.\n\nReally? Do you think Donald Rumsfeld could deadlift 300 pounds? Could Robert McNamara do PT with Tier 1 operators?\n\nI don’t think so.\n\nRumsfeld gave us “unknown unknowns.” I prefer a simpler doctrine: FAFO backed by overwhelming known violence.\n\nMcNamara might have been CEO of Ford but I'm the one who was built Ford tough.\n\nJust look at his record in Vietnam: beaten by the Vietcong, which were nothing but weak communist farmers. McNamara spent seven years trying to win in Vietnam and still lost. In the past couple months I’ve already overseen two regime changes and I’m currently workshopping a third.\n\nI didn’t even need congressional authorization.\n\nI just did it.\n\nThat’s sigma male leadership.\n\nWatch out, Cuba.\n\nBooyah!\n\nCan you imagine Don Rumsfeld lifting weights like Hegseth? I don't think so.\n\nAll I ever wanted was to transform this weak, DEI-obsessed department into the elite killing machine I know it was meant to be.\n\nYou see, the military wants — no — it needs to kill. But the liberal left bleeding hearts of Democrat politicians keep tying our hands with so-called rules of engagement and \"international law,\" whatever that means.\n\nI'm letting the troops do their job. That means no quarter and no mercy on all military-aged males from 11 to 65 years old.\n\nMilitary-aged male driving a truck within 400 feet of U.S. forces? Green lit. Gone.\n\nSeventeen-year-old making a peanut butter sandwich while looking at a patrol the wrong way? Green lit. Gone.\n\nHost-nation police officer forgets the greeting of the day? Green lit. Gone.\n\nMy troops know an insider threat when they see one.\n\nAnd do we even need to talk about Lloyd Austin? First of all, how do you trust a Secretary of Defense with two first names? If he weren’t black, I’d assume he was from Alabama and married to his sister.\n\nLloyd Austin’s greatest military achievement was apparently hosting pride parades on aircraft carriers.\n\n### This post is for subscribers only\n\nBecome a member to get access to all content\n\nSubscribe now",
  "title": "Opinion: I am not the worst secretary of defense ever",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-29T12:00:37.429Z"
}