A rare gathering of the nation's senior military officer corps was held in Virginia today. Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News contributor and current United States Secretary of Defense, announced sweeping changes to military policy, ushering in a restored Department of War era for the U.S. armed forces. Following Hegseth's best attempt to evoke George C. Scott's portrayal of General George S. Patton, President Donald Trump addressed the top military brass.

Now, can you imagine serving the nation and rising to the top ranks of leadership, only to have to endure over an hour of this?

Pax Americana is a term used to describe the general state of peace and prosperity in the world after World War II, with the U.S. as the dominant economic, political, and military power. Within only eight months of his second presidency, Trump and his administration have put all of that in danger of collapsing. Through executive orders and cabinet appointments, Trump has eroded the global goodwill and trust that the U.S. has taken nearly a century to develop. We've turned our back on our closest allies through idiotic tariff policy, military threats, lack of support, derisive rhetoric, and significant instability.

During his long-winded speech, Trump boasted about an ominous executive order signed last month that would train National Guard troops to “quell civil disturbances.” He emphasized, "This is going to be a big thing for the people in this room, because it's the enemy from within. And we have to handle it before it gets out of control." He expressed his desire to use American cities as “training grounds” for the military. This is chilling for anyone to hear and resonates with alarming historical echoes of evil that any student of history would recognize.

But there's a reason why Americans continue to express the highest levels of confidence in the military compared to other U.S. institutions. Despite what Trump believes, our military leaders are not dumb, our fallen heroes aren't "losers," and he is not more competent than the top generals. They know this is the man who so far this year has punished our closest allies, embraced our adversaries (you know he loves a strongman), removed heads of independent agencies protected by law, fired civil servants without cause, dismantled federal agencies, called up the national guard on the thinnest of pretexts, disregarded statutes passed by Congress and ratified in the Constitution, used the power of the state to reward friends and punish his personal enemies, and has engaged in gross and corrupt acts of self-enrichment.

Our military leadership recognizes that the incompetence of this administration has created a golden opportunity for the nation's adversaries to step in and fill the voids left by our absence. They also understand that the military's primary responsibility is to defend the homeland and protect American citizens.

This morning's spectacle should have eroded any remaining respect the top military leaders had for either Trump or Hegseth, and as a result, contributed to making our republic a bit safer. Because the more they recognize the absurdity of this administration, the greater the likelihood that they will support democracy and the Constitution, should it ever become necessary.

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” -Mark Twain