Trump made an unconditional choice to lead the Defense Department | Letters

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee, Pete Hegseth, is not qualified to become Secretary of Defense, even if we set aside unproven allegations of sexual assault against him.

Although Hegseth is a veteran, Senate confirmation of a nominee with no leadership experience in such a large and complex organization as the Department of Defense would be in stark contrast to the idea of ​​our military as a merit-based, professional force . Leading millions of military and civilian workers is not an entry or training option.

Furthermore, Hegseth’s publicly stated views do not inspire confidence that he would provide apolitical leadership. He has depicted the political-social situation in the United States as a crusade between implacable enemies, with the only option being total victory for his – and Trump’s – chosen side. Our military’s ultimate loyalty is to the U.S. Constitution, not to political parties.

Hegseth’s appointment appears to be based on the idea that the military must stop being ‘woke’, but the current challenges have nothing to do with ‘being woke’. They face chronic delays in Congress in passing appropriations bills; inadequate financing of maintenance and modernization; competition with private industry for recruits; and the strain on equipment, personnel and logistics systems resulting from decades of over-deployment around the world. The list goes on.

This hyper-focus on eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, and any other military program that promotes fair treatment and inclusion, is a boogeyman that takes the spotlight away from the real issues affecting our military readiness.

Mike Lontoc, Hainesport

Note: The writer is a retired US Navy commander.

What Bernie had, what Kamala didn’t have

When I asked my working-class friends from Pennsylvania why they voted for President-elect Donald Trump, I got an astonishing answer. They said, “…because Bernie Sanders wasn’t on the ticket.”

On the surface, this doesn’t make any sense, as Sanders is far left, and Trump is certainly far right. But look a little deeper.

In 2016, when Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, ran against Hilary Clinton in the Democratic primaries, he “got it” about these voters. He got it in town hall meeting after town hall meeting in a way that Clinton could never understand. She seemed distant and elitist. I am convinced that Sanders would have defeated Trump in the presidential election, although that is still pure conjecture.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the Labor Party’s Jeremy Corbyn lost the vote of the British working class in 2019, and the Conservatives’ Boris Johnson became Britain’s Prime Minister. This year, Labor’s Kier Starmer won back the working class and became Prime Minister in a vote that bucked the recent European trend of right-wing movement and populist politics.

This year Kamala Harris lost the working class vote in America. The Democrats are going to need some serious housecleaning to get it back!

Tony Grant, Newton

The proposed law is for the birds

So some New Jersey lawmakers want to restrict the use of residential bird feeders to control interactions between rug bears and humans?

Proposed regulations in the legislation include raising the feeders to at least 3 meters above the ground, and bringing them in every night between April 1 and November 30.

Real? My only conclusion is that recent articles on this bill were intended to appear on April 1st.

Ellen Rogers, Skills Man

The Congress couple should stop it

U.S. Reps. Mikie Sherrill, D-11, and Josh Gottheimer, D-5, recently won reelection to Congress.

They proposed to voters that they would work for them full-time during the next session of Congress. But now they have both been named gubernatorial candidates for next year’s Democratic primaries.

Running for governor and serving in Congress should be considered two full-time jobs.

It’s no secret that Gottheimer and Sherrill have each been planning their governorships for months. They should do the honorable thing and resign from Congress. Their ambitious power plays are one of the many reasons why people don’t vote.

Fred Stein, South Brunswick

Elections over; stop dividing the country

This letter was sent to the Star-Ledger, but it is addressed to all left-wing media: Stop dividing the country.

A majority of the voting public elected Donald Trump as president. Even with all the hate speech the left could throw out, it didn’t do them any good for the bottom line. Some of the things they did are compare Trump to Hitler and say Trump’s supporters are “trash.”

Now the liberals are focusing all their venom on Trump’s cabinet choices. Realize that Trump was elected for the second time because the American people are tired of all the innovations that the left is parading through Washington.

So instead of giving Trump’s choices the benefit of the doubt, the left goes into attack mode. They will not give Trump, his programs or his cabinet choices a chance. The left finds fault with everything.

These tactics didn’t work in the election and won’t work now. Once again, stop dividing the nation and help it come together.

Don Montefusco, Maplewood

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