Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist 85th Edition: Hegseth directs Navy to rename USNS Harvey Milk days into Pride Month.

Fleet oiler, the USS Harvey Milk (for now).

Wow, this is really a shot across the bow in the culture wars.

Hegseth directs Navy to rename USNS Harvey Milk days into Pride Month

The Navy may rename the USNS Harvey Milk, named for the 1970s gay civil rights activist, on orders from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Renaming a ship for any reason is a fairly phenomenal thing to do, something no doubt on the minds of those who named the ship after Milk in the first place.  It had an element of permanence, and was part of an effort to create acceptance for homosexuals.

Hegseth's actions, and these aren't the only recent ones (we were actually going to make the next in this series on another one of them) are really sending a signal of where the DoD is headed.  But the question ultimately will be is any of this permanent?  And also, how far does he intend to go?  I don't think, at this point, that anyone has thought that the DoD would reverse its position on allowing homosexuals to serve in the military, and it shouldn't reverse it, all of which makes this so surprising.

National Conservatives and Christian Nationalists hope the changes will be permanent, but Trump is losing steam pretty clearly, and the host of other issues, particularly the "size of government" and budgetary ones, are now in pretty stormy seas.  In order to make cultural changes really stick, they need more than four years, probably more than eight.  Hegseth, in the DoD is picking up steam, maybe aware of that, but where this all goes will be interesting to watch.

Last edition:

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist 84th Edition. The uncomfortably agreeing with the far right edition (on some things). Hegseth orders transgenderism out and a bill to outlaw pornography.

Labels: Court, Education, law, Pete Hegseth, pornography, The relationship between men and women, The Second Trump Administration, transgenderism, University of Wyoming, Women, Zeitgeist

Department of Defense Chaos.

It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president. 

Even strong backers of the secretary like me must admit: The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon — and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration.

There are very likely more shoes to drop in short order, with even bigger bombshell stories coming this week, key Pentagon reporters have been telling sources privately.

John Ullyot, who recently resigned as chief Pentagon spokesman.

DOD Employees to get the axe on Monday.

 DoD Probationary Workforce Statement

Feb. 21, 2025

As the Secretary announced yesterday, the Department of Defense is re-evaluating our probationary workforce, consistent with the President's initiative to reform the Federal workforce to maximize efficiency and productivity.

This re-evaluation of probationary employees is being done across government, not just at the Defense Department, but we believe in the goals of the program, and our leaders are carrying out that review carefully and smartly.

We anticipate reducing the Department's civilian workforce by 5-8% to produce efficiencies and refocus the Department on the President's priorities and restoring readiness in the force.

We expect approximately 5,400 probationary workers will be released beginning next week as part of this initial effort, after which we will implement a hiring freeze while we conduct a further analysis of our personnel needs, complying as always with all applicable laws.

As the Secretary made clear, it is simply not in the public interest to retain individuals whose contributions are not mission-critical. Taxpayers deserve to have us take a thorough look at our workforce top-to-bottom to see where we can eliminate redundancies.

As we take these important steps to reshape the workforce to meet the President's priorities, the Department will treat our workers with dignity and respect as it always does. Those who commit themselves to defending our nation deserve nothing less.

- Darin Selnick, Performing the Duties of Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness

Funny that some guy "performing the duties" sends out the notice.

War Department

Donald Trump’s selection of Pete Hegseth to lead the Defense Department signals the incoming administration’s intention to enact significant changes at the Pentagon. Some of what the administration aims to pursue seems ill-advised; waging a culture war inside the U.S. military is a specious enterprise, whether prosecuted by the left or the right. However, the Trump administration could swiftly enact one cultural change at the Pentagon that would be for the good, and send a powerful signal aligned with the administration’s priorities: Trump could ask Congress to redesignate the Defense Department as the War Department.

The Atlantic.