In one of Pete Hegseth’s first directives to Pentagon employees as the newly confirmed Secretary of Defense, was a short, handwritten note on his official letterhead in large black letters, “DoD ≠ DEI*.”
At the bottom, of the letter, he wrote, “The asterisk denoted no exceptions, name-changes or delays. Those who do not comply will no longer work here.’ It was signed “SecDef 29.”
Does Hegseth not know how to type or not have a secretary yet? How impressive is this scrawl job? Maybe he was drunk.
But this is why Republicans make for bad humorists, including political cartoonists. Some of them can’t even spell. They can not detect hypocrisy or irony. In this case, the unqualified one is Pete Hegseth.
The argument is diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs hire people because they’re a different race, gay, female, trans, etc, and hired over qualified…which means White people. Don’t believe me? Look at Trump’s cabinet. How many of Trump’s selections are non-White? ZERO.
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order saying the U.S. military has been “afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists” and that “many mental and physical health conditions are incompatible with active duty,” almost “incompatible as bone spurs.
So it’s not surprising that a lili-white administration, where a Sieg Heiling fuck like Elon Musk is part of, wants to end all DEI programs. In Florida, Elon Musk tried to make it illegal for private companies to have DEI programs.
If anyone is against DEI programs, then they’re probably a bigot.
Affirmative Action and DEI programs weren’t established to prevent qualified White men from getting jobs but to make sure qualified people weren’t overlooked and denied opportunities because of their skin color or other factors. Those programs were created so every qualified person could succeed.
Our nation is so racist that we had to create laws and programs so that racists couldn’t deny opportunities to non-White people. We are a racist nation and proof of that is who we just elected as president (sic) over a qualified Black woman, despite him being the WORST president (sic) in our history.
When is Donald Trump going to scream and intimidate the NFL for the Rooney Rule?
You could probably find a million non-White veterans who are more qualified to lead the Department of Defense than Pete Hegseth, who the Senate confirmed a 51-to-50 vote, the smallest margin for a defense secretary’s confirmation since the position was created in 1947. You could probably find a nutless monkey who’s more qualified than Pete. At least the money doesn’t have to be carried back to his car after an all-night bender at a Fox News party.
The reason the margin for confirmation was so small is because Hegseth is unqualified. He is so horribly unfit for this position that three of Trump’s Republicans voted against him. He’s such an atrocious nominee that even Mitch McConnell voted against him. MITCH FUCKING McCONNELL!
The real irony here is the gall of Hegseth banning DEI from the Defense Department when he wouldn’t have that job if he was Black, Latino, LGBTQ, or female, just like Donald Trump wouldn’t be president (sic) if his opponent wasn’t a Black woman.
Trump promised a war on diversity programs, and last week he threatened federal employees with “adverse consequences” if they fail to tattle on colleagues who defied orders to purge D.E.I. efforts from their agencies.
Trump doesn’t just want to purge people hired through DEI programs, but also fill the government with MAGA loyalists. We will soon have a very White government. Notice that everyone Trump has hired to destroy DEI programs is White.
If you think the government is difficult to work with now, wait until it’s staffed with nothing but a bunch of Jim-Bob fuckers from yee-haw states.
Drawn in 30 seconds:
Timelapse:
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Excellent toon and blog today, Clay. Each day since the inauguration, I've become increasingly angry and disillusioned. It's so disheartening to see this current administration just wreak havoc over our Constitution and the citizens of our country. I'm glad to see so many, like you, call them out on their bullshit. Thank you for what you do. <3
I never thought I'd see the day when I agreed with Mitch McConnell on anything.