By Douglas MacKinnon
Some on the left seem to think that having our military in the best physical shape possible to better enable them to protect themselves and our nation is a bad thing. It is not.
The person who seems to understand that better than all is Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. I don’t pretend to know Hegseth well, but I do know him.
We first met in July of 2022 at West Point. At the time, Hegseth was a host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” and I was there to discuss my book “The 56” and the growing need to protect our Founding Fathers from cancellation by the left. Over the course of two days, we had several long conversations. Along with Pete, I had the honor of meeting his wife and children.
Hegseth could not have been more kind and accommodating. Beyond that, he could not have been more passionate about his belief in our nation and its military and the need to improve and protect both. As he and I stood off to the side on a terrace at the Thayer Hotel at West Point, there was no one to impress. No one to score points with. It was just him and I talking about how much damage had been done to our military and our nation by those on the left pushing identity politics before merit and patriotism. Hegseth’s sincerity was real, as was the pain he was feeling for our failing country. Now, over three years later, I am quite grateful that Hegseth is not only the Secretary of War, but leaving his mark because he does walk the walk and can back up the policies he believes will position our military to once again be the best – and most respected – in the world.
Over the years, we have all heard the phrase "you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette." Well, over the course of the last several months, Hegseth has broken a number of eggs in an effort to save our military. Many on the left want him to stop.
Hegseth’s most recent cracking of eggs, which upset some on the left, came after he dared to post on X: “Standards are back at the @DeptofWar” in response to a headline which read: “Some Texas National Guard Troops replaced in Illinois after failing to meet standards.” All of this came about after the Associated Press posted a photograph of Texas National Guard soldiers arriving outside Chicago to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. The photo quickly went viral after many commented on the physical shape of some of the soldiers.
Many on the left are exceptional at creating centers of victimhood and then protecting them via barriers of fear, intimidation, and misinformation. This was done quite successfully with the introduction of the charge of “fat shaming” and the push to normalize obesity at the direct expense of the effectiveness and very health of tens of thousands in our military, police, and fire departments. All are career fields which need — and must demand — peak physical condition to both enter and remain.
I don’t care if someone is gay, straight, male, female, black, white, brown, Democrat, Republican, independent, faith-based, or an atheist. If that person is the best candidate for a job, he or she should get it. Period.
But if a career field includes the protecting and saving of human life, common sense and self-survival dictate that those who enter those fields should be physically qualified to carry out their duties. Sometimes such duties will include taking down an enemy combatant in hand-to-hand combat; sometimes it will involve arresting a very large and aggressive suspect in the street; sometimes it will involve lifting very heavy hoses or carrying a victim out of a burning building.
Hegseth is rightfully calling on our military to once again meet minimum physical standards. The same call should be echoed within our police and fire departments. Human life should not be lost to social experimentation.
We desperately need a “Secretary of the Police Departments” and a “Secretary of the Fire Departments” to replicate what Secretary of War Hegseth is doing with our military. Standards do matter and will save lives.
