Secretary of shit

The funniest news story of the last couple of days just got a splendid twist:

Pete Hegseth awards medal to soldier who reprimanded him near Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

And doesn’t he look thrilled to do so…

The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, on Thursday awarded a Joint Service Commendation Medal to the soldier who called out him and members of his staff after some in the group were heard laughing and talking near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during a Veterans Day visit.
“We love soldiers. We love standards. Well done, Specialist,” Hegseth wrote in a social media post. “Carry on Patriots.” The post included a series of photos of Hegseth with the soldier.
A Pentagon official confirmed to CNN that Hegseth hosted members of the 3rd infantry regiment, known as the Old Guard, at the Pentagon “where he proudly awarded Specialist Iglesias the Joint Service Commendation Medal for the execution of his duties at the Tomb of the unknown Soldier on November 11, 2026”.
The recognition came just one day after specialist Thomas Iglesias confronted members of Hegseth’s group at Arlington national cemetery.
Hegseth and his team were at the cemetery for a Veterans Day ceremony that was also attended by Donald Trump and JD Vance, who both laid wreaths at the memorial in honor of fallen soldiers and delivered remarks afterwards. Trump had called out Hegseth during his speech at the ceremony, saying he’s done a “fantastic job” in his role as defense secretary.
Hegseth was visiting the tomb alongside his wife, chief of staff Ricky Buria, deputy chief of staff Patrick Weaver, and senior adviser and deputy assistant Tami Radabaugh. The group had been posing for photographs in front of the tomb before they were caught laughing and talking.
Iglesias, who was patrolling the tomb at the time, abruptly stopped walking, turned toward the group and issued a warning.
“All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times,” Iglesias called out.

I saw the video of this and, frankly, I’d be kind of scared if that guy was shouting at me. Embarrassed, too, but even more scared if that armed man was shouting “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” at me while wielding that bayonetted rifle. I read in another article that this is something the Old Guard do two or three times a day on average, cos people just don’t know or care about the protocol at the Tomb which is considered a particularly special space. Specialist Iglesias is, I presume, the first guard member to have to tell off the fucking secretary of defence, who should know better and I’m sure he does, but he and his mob didn’t care… “We love soldiers”? Do we fuck. We don’t give a fuck about serving soldiers (hello USS Abraham Lincoln) and we definitely don’t give a fuck about living veterans, so no reason why we should give a fuck about dead ones, eh… Wonder who told Hegseth to do this? Cos I’m sure it wasn’t his idea and it certainly wasn’t something he did gladly… Alas, Thomas Massie’s attempt to have him impeached failed the other day, but I don’t think Pete’s going to be in that position for long despite that…