It’s been a massive, cold and painful week. And he hasn’t even been inaugurated yet. We’re hurtling towards more and more massive and painful weeks. And massive impacts. And this week the most consequential news revolved around the hearings for SECDEF and the cowardice of Republican Senators and their inability to stand up to Trump and deny Pete Hegseth. But the other party continues to be weak and feckless and sucks in its own unique ways. The Democrats put up a paltry attack. Again. They got rolled. Again. And now it looks as if Hegseth is inevitable and has set the tone for a January of bizarro world cabinet nominees and Trump momentum.
None of it is normal, none of it is acceptable and none of it is preordained. But the Democrats continue to lose. Lose power, lose control, lose the narrative, and lose whatever semblance of cohesion they had. It’s time to stop investing in failure, America. The parties are the problem, and independents like you can be an important part of the solution.
Leave the herds. Declare your independence. And watch or listen up. Rieckhoff’s got your weekly dose.
And another awesome, smart and unique guest. Kevin Baron is a highly experienced Pentagon and defense reporter with decades of experience in and around the Defense Department and almost a dozen Defense Secretaries. He’s seen em all, and been part of the press corps that traveled with them around the world. He was the founding Executive Editor of Defense One, and a national security staff writer for National Journal, and a reporter for Stars and Stripes, the Boston Globe Washington bureau, and the Center for Public Integrity.
If you haven’t seen it yet, we’ve changed our format and we’ve now got full video episodes available on our YouTube page here. While you’re there, like it, subscribe. All the stuff. You know what to do.
–WATCH video of Paul and Kevin’s conversation on our YouTube channel.
