Where did this guy come from? How did a TV personality end up leading America's defense department, especially in a time of war?

Donald Trump put Pete Hegseth in charge of the Department of Defense. It's now officially called the War Department, but I'm not ready to go there.

In one of his stranger announcements, Hegseth vowed to rid the U.S. military of "weirdos" and "beardos." Sure enough, Hegseth does not have a beard, unlike the "beardo" Ulysses S. Grant or his Confederate opponent, Robert E. Lee.

As for the weirdo part, well ... Jury's out for Hegseth. Take a look at his gelled hairdo with the Cruella de Vil white streak. Or his insistence in creating a cinematically pleasing military.

And for all his talk of manliness, here's a military leader who brought his wife to high-level intelligence briefings. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said it was "not normal at all" for spouses to sit in such meetings. "Not normal at all" is a polite way of saying "weird."

It should be noted that Hegseth is not the weirdest member of Trump's Cabinet. That distinction goes to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "Bobby" was busy peddling suspicion of vaccines while holding a stake in lawsuits against the companies that make them. The truly weird stuff — dropping a dead bear cub in Central Park, talking about the worm in his brain — you already know.

Hegseth's weirdo speech was mocked by conservative and liberal media alike. The Wall Street Journal's editorial board was gentler about it. While approving some of Hegseth's proposals, it condemned his strange attacks as "gratuitous potshots" that could make military recruiting harder.

One can agree with some Hegseth initiatives, for example, removing DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) practices from the department, though he overstated how widespread they were. DEI has reportedly played no role in warfighting decisions.

But Hegseth went about it in a way that seemed designed to humiliate women and men of color serving their country, and without explanation. He made a show of removing four Army colonels, two Black males and two females from a list of officers slated for promotion to brigadier general. This was despite objections from then-Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, an Iraq War veteran who led a cavalry platoon in Baghdad.

In fairness, we must mention that Hegseth was also a combat veteran, with two Bronze Stars. But that's all the more reason not to turn the Defense Department into an elimination-style TV game show.

Hegseth has called for speeding development of robotics and autonomous systems, which is necessary. But has he ever looked at the beardos, weirdos and, in his word, "fatties" working in these kinds of labs?

We must concede that the world would be a safer place if Iran did not have nuclear weapons. Also, that the U.S. military, despite its current secretary, has performed well in battle. But our soldiers — and civilians — deserve better than a made-for-TV secretary of defense appointed by a made-for-TV president.

Recall how tough-talker Trump avoided the Vietnam War draft through five deferments, four for school and one medical. The medical one was allegedly for bone spurs in his heel, although he had been a star high school athlete. He couldn't remember which heel.

The "War Department" TV ads, narrated by Cadet Bone Spurs himself, portray a fighting force of Tom Cruises. The ad ends with a shot of an American eagle flying to a stop at the center of a dark screen with the words WAR.GOV below.

Very Marvel Comics. Is the former Department of Defense now run by the Avengers?

Follow Froma Harrop on X @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at [email protected]. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.

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