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Open Letters by Mersault's avatar

AN OPEN LETTER TO PETE HEGSETH

Re: Your Nomination for Secretary of Defense — A Blatant Spectacle of Opportunism, Recklessness, and the Sinister Nexus of White Nationalism and Sex Crimes

https://open.substack.com/pub/patricemersault/p/an-open-letter-to-pete-hegseth?r=4d7sow&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

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KEITH TAYLOR's avatar

"Deus Vult" is definitely a code phrase for white supremacists and Christian nationalists these days. And people proclaiming "Deus Vult" as they slaughter other people is nothing new either. The Crusades were rife with it. The motives of those who went on the First Crusade, inspired by Pope Urban's bellow of "Deus Vult!" especially the knights and nobles, weren't exactly pure. They loved war. It was their reason for being. As old Charles Mackay wrote back in 1841, "Most of them had sins enough to answer for. They lived with their hand against every man, and with no law but their own passions." Rape, robbery and murder were standard. Then the Pope offered them remission of all their sins on the easy condition that they travelled east and indulged in their favourite pastime, ultra-violence. Of course they jumped at it.

An ignorant rabble of tens of thousands, men, women and children, led by fanatics as ignorant as they were, went ahead of the more disciplined professional warriors. When they reached Hungary they acted like a plague of locusts, and the tough Hungarians pushed them onward, intolerant of their bullying and theft. They arrived in Bulgaria, and found that the Bulgarians had heard all about their behaviour in Hungary and wouldn't let them through. The next horde of dirty rabble that came to Hungary indulged in sack, rape and butchery in the town of Semlin - and these were Christians the so-called Crusaders were killing wholesale, before they got anywhere near the Holy Land.

The professional warriors who followed were more efficient, but no better. And that was just the First Crusade. The Second was a mess from the beginning, wrecked by petty rivalries and quarrels among the leaders. The Third, the one Richard the Lionheart took part in (and Richard in fact was one brutal bastard, as well as being a terrible king to England, which he regarded as less important than his French possessions) actually achieved something, but later crusades saw all the gains lost, bit by bit.

Incidentally, if there ever was a real Robin Hood, it's a sure bet that he lived well after Richard's time and they never knew each other.

In the Fourth Crusade (1204) the (again, so-called) Crusaders turned aside from fighting the Saracens to sack and conquer Constantinople, heart of the Byzantine Empire and greatest Christian city in the world. The crusades' record of stupidity and butchery now had fratricide added to the list.

It only got worse from there. One of the best things that happened in history was the decline of fanatical enthusiasm for crusading. In a halfway functional education system kids would become aware of this in high school - all of it being fact, not romantic bullshit - and one hopes become less inclined to respect ignorant menaces like Trump and Hegseth.

Without doubt that's why Trump wishes to destroy the U.S. Education Department.

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Monty Capuletti's avatar

Every American city will smolder like the rubble of Berlin in 1945 soon, and it will be a good thing. Except the south. No real cities there, despite all that coastline, population, and room for industry. Maybe they can just set some hay bales and meth labs on fire down there so they won’t feel left out.

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Zyxomma's avatar

Ta, Marcie. I am not at all shocked, although I am thoroughly disgusted.

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Open Letters by Mersault's avatar

• Trump’s Second Act: The Circus Doubles Down on Clowns •

Grievance, Incompetence, and the Inevitable Collapse of a One-Man Movement

https://open.substack.com/pub/patricemersault/p/trumps-second-act-the-circus-doubles?r=4d7sow&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

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Gary Seven in Space's avatar

Yeah, this guy is a Dominionist Stalking Horse....working for Armageddon, Baby!

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Dusty Hope's avatar

Look at him. it’s not surprising at all.

Men are shits these days. In my book.

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Joe Schmoe, Troublemaker's avatar

[irony/sarcasm: on]

I am motherfuckin' shook, fam! Shook to my core!

[irony/sarcasm: off]

No surprise here, move along, nature of the beast, par for the course, et cetera.

Sweet Hippie Jesus AND the Buddha AND each and every Shinto god past, present, and future: take me now to the spiritual recycling center, sweet universe almighty — TAKE ME NOW!!! 😳🤦🏼‍♂️🙄

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Open Letters by Mersault's avatar

• Trump’s Second Act: The Circus Doubles Down on Clowns •

Grievance, Incompetence, and the Inevitable Collapse of a One-Man Movement

https://open.substack.com/pub/patricemersault/p/trumps-second-act-the-circus-doubles?r=4d7sow&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

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Wookiee Monster's avatar

I’m going to go out on a limb say it was, “not vetted at all.”

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OrdinaryJoe's avatar

"Hegseth literally has a book called American Crusade where he opines that it’s time for an American “holy war” and complains about Muslims’ birth rates."

Thanks all you Michigan Muslims who abandoned Ms. Harris. Hope you enjoy the coming Reconquista but maybe you won't mind being forced to Christianize.

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Gary Seven in Space's avatar

They'll get the camps when they are newer at least...this will get the plumbing bugs worked out for the rest of us....

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Delmarva Peninsula's avatar

So THERE's Vance! He be hiding the past week!

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Daniel O'Riordan's avatar

Elon was mean to him.

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Gary Seven in Space's avatar

Elon caught him in "Man on Sofa" sex at this party....

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Karen Scofield's avatar

Thanks Marcie for your post this morning ☕ and will reStack ASAP 💯👍

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Sherry's avatar

Another reason why women don’t report rape. Even with overwhelming evidence it’s ignored and “she was asking for it”.

No one pays out because they’re innocent. I’m thinking that the rape test can prove otherwise.

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Gary Seven in Space's avatar

Exactly...especially date rape.. I know my good friend was raped in her past, but she would never discuss it...

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Megan Macomber's avatar

Matt Gaetz's nomination was supposed to serve as a big old-fashioned flash-bomb last week, hurled by DJT to distract the MSM from John Thune's Senate 'win' but more than that from Hegseth. This is Trump's one trick: get all the "respected" pundits yapping about his Outrageous Du Jour, while he completes something far more destructive.

GOP senators probably love the prospect of "standing up to Trump" over Gaetz, a show pony move that will be publicly justified when one/more of them leaks the House Ethics Committee report to Politico. "See what we saved y'all from?" they will say. And then they'll let whatever sociopath attention seeker Trump is palling around with privatize the USPS.

Hegseth? He will draft under Goetz's coattails. I wouldn't want to breathe that air. The US military shouldn't have to. But that's where this truck is being steered, and I wouldn't trust any of the drivers not to cut the brake cables just for hoots 'n' giggles.

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Gary Seven in Space's avatar

Prob correct...some Bs detected..(not you, frend)...

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Wookiee Monster's avatar

And then Trump will nominate Ken Paxton as AG and republicans will shrug and say, “he’s better than Matt Gaetz.”

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Mark Linimon's avatar

GMTA

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simpledinosaur's avatar

Oscar Wilde wrote, "The fact that a man is a poisoner is nothing against his prose." But dear old Oscar was talking about the arts and letters. I suspect that even a self-described anarchist like him might balk at applying a similar principle to a president-elect's Cabinet picks. But then, I suppose some of Donald's Cabinet preferences really are "a work of art," as Charlie Rangel used to say.

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Gary Seven in Space's avatar

This is why I love this place....

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