It's SO Bizarre, I Don't Understand It!

we know you don't, kiddo

Simple comparison that leads to a widely applicable observation. Will take five minutes, tops.

Manhattan resident and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan, writing in the Wall Street Journal, is baffled by Pete Hegseth, who strikes her as an indescribably strange and unserious figure.

Noonan is an exceptional writer, with a gift for clear and concise images, so the muddle of this sad essay is striking. She’s not quite sure what she means to say, but she finally gets around to it in the fourth paragraph: Hegseth is “some pumped-up drama queen who makes everything more jarring and fevered.” And so on: “He paced the stage like a strutting, gelled bantam, like an amped-up actor with rehearsed gestures and expressions and voice shifts.” She’s tone-policing the Secretary of Defense. He strutted. That’s it. She has no idea what she’s describing, but she finds it embarrassing. She doesn’t like the performance.

Now, remembering that a very important journalist said this about Hegseth’s speech….

….let’s just focus on two responses from people who are allegedly Hegseth’s targets. Screenshots follow, since Elon Musk still hates Substack, but click on the links to watch these great videos.

First:

“If that offends you, pack your rucksack and Uber your ass back to Starbucks. They’re hiring baristas with blue hair and pronouns. Don’t even start crying about standards and being unfair. Standards aren’t supposed to be fair. They’re supposed to be brutal. You think the Taliban gives a damn about your gender identity when you’re humping a sixty-pound ruck up a mountain in Afghanistan?”

Second:

“These aren’t really new changes. If you were in ten years ago, if you’ve been in ten-plus years, this is how it was…If you’ve been in long enough, this is now we were brought up in the military.”

So Hegseth, speaking about fitness, tactical and technical competence, and professional standards, absolutely baffles the hell out of politicians and high-status journalists — and, apparently, a fair number of flag officers. wHaT iS hE eVeN taLKiNg abOuT!?!?!?!?

But every E-6 on the planet immediately understands and embraces the message.

People who are performing status symbols in an arena of cultural display affect bafflement; people who are living the thing being discussed, day to day, in practical contact with the message, immediately know exactly what it means.

Apply this lesson widely.