Toxic

 There's this phrase: Toxic Masculinity. There are a lot of (mostly) men who flinch at its mention. Not because they are toxically masculine, but okay, mostly because the are toxically masculine. Jesse "Hold Yer" Watters insists that it was his mother's decision not to let him play with GI Joes that brought him to his lofty perch near the top of the Faux News food chain. 

It does make me wonder what sort of childhood Pete "DUI Hire" Hegseth must have had. The recently re-anointed Secretary of War called all his generals together and gave them new marching orders. “Out with the Chiarelli, the McKenzies and the Milleys and in with the Stockdales the Schwartzkopfs and the Pattons,” he railed. No more questioning our dear leader's impulses to invade Greenland or Portland, though as a resident of Oakland I wonder if the clock isn't ticking on locations with "land" at the end of their name. No more of this "gender" mishegoss. No more of this women in combat nonsense. “If you do not meet the male level physical standards for combat positions ... it’s time for a new position or a new profession.” 

At this point I feel that it is necessary to point out that Pete "er" Hegseth rose to the rank of major in the National Guard before he began his career as a "journalist" with (checks notes) Faux News. 

Now he gets to play GI Joes. 

For Real. 

This tattooed gym rat is leading the planets best funded military and making sure that "toxic leadership" was the kind that let weaklings into the country's armed forces. Without saying it directly, he opened the door for a return to the hazing and bullying that he feels made our fighting forces the strongest in the world. No more anonymous complaints of sexual harassment or racial discrimination. Pistol Pete believes that  “anonymous complaints” as well as “frivolous complaints” that resulted in “smearing reputations” and “sidetracking of careers.” 

I presume this means that those women who had enlisted in combat units will probably have their careers sidetracked because of this monsoon of macho, and let's not hear any of that whining about sexual harassment or assault. 

Frivolous.

Speaking of frivolous, the sexual harasser in chief showed up to give his two cents about the Warrior Ethos. He told the military leaders that the country they are sworn to defend is “under invasion from within” while suggesting that active duty forces could be used to “straighten out” cities run by Democrats. Furthermore, the convicted felon and former game show host said he’d told Hegseth that the military should use “dangerous cities” such as Chicago as “training grounds” for troops and later bragged that an order he’d signed last month to direct Hegseth to establish a “quick reaction force” for “civil disturbances” would be “a big thing” for the assembled officers to be used against “the enemy within.”

If you needed a better example of toxic masculinity, I suppose you'll have to wait for another installment of Jesse Watters' Rules For Men. 

By the way, Jesse. I played with GI Joes. They're dolls.