# Hegseth calls all of the top military brass together for an in person meeting **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [September 26, 2025, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409 "2025-09-26T02:40:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/241 "2025-10-01T20:46:01Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > But they largely listened to their generals, and didn’t pretend that they knew better. Then why the addendum about their (lack of) military service? Seems unnecessary unless you believe that the lack of service should equal lack of respect. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/242 "2025-10-01T21:06:23Z")
And comported themselves with a modicum of dignity. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/243 "2025-10-01T21:14:20Z")
As soon as Obama (hypothetically) called the gathering, which he was far too wise to have ever considered, Republicans would have shouted about what a terrible idea it would have been to gather the US military command structure into the same room at the same time. Today’s Republicans? Wisdom was never an option. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/244 "2025-10-01T21:16:59Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@DWMarch](#): > > > > Does any of this solve any actual problems that the military has? Like with the hazing rules being relaxed. > > It solves the “problem” which Hegseth, Trump, etc. have, for months, made very clear that they believe exists: that the military has become weak, because it’s too “woke,” too “sensitive,” too much “defense” and not enough “offense,” not aggressive enough, and not manly-man enough. Minor point on this though, the fact that they’re discussing it as if it were a real thing (and by all reporting and internal reviews before such things were being “phased out” shows that such harassment was vastly _underreported_!) feeds the RWNJ POV. On one hand, we have reports across all the military branches of terrifying abuse, and yet outside of “Oh, I don’t want Covid shots because I’m suddenly religious” we have almost zero evidence of any sort of excessive deference to soldiers standing up for fair treatment. (don’t get me started on how quickly the right’s demands to “respect religious exemptions” will be ignored for example on the whole “beardo” thing) Anyway, by pretending that fair treatment of troops and protection of their rights is somehow “woke” and hurting the military is something to be talked about and not laughed at (something I’m NOT accusing anyone is this thread of) leads us right back to normalizing Trump and his cronies POV in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/245 "2025-10-01T21:46:18Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > > I don’t think his intended audience actually included anybody wearing a uniform. Those generals and admirals were just props. > > Agree. Nearly everything done in public by any member of this administration is aimed at an audience of one. In this case the audience may well be expanded beyond Donald. The image of all those generals and admirals is highly unusual and therefore attention-getting. And both Hegseth and Donald referred several times to their plans to use the troops commanded by those general and admirals, to control Americans on American soil. The propaganda value of selected clips—including thunderous (fictional, edited-in) applause at the ‘_we will destroy the Enemy Within_’ quotes—is important to this regime. We should expect to see this, particularly as the 2026 elections draw nearer. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/246 "2025-10-01T21:49:20Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > The propaganda value of selected clips—including thunderous (fictional, edited-in) applause… IS there an actual clip with edited applause added? I hypothesized that above, but I didn’t really think… surely not… Anyway, if an applause track is added, how do you explain the fact that no one’s hands are moving/ ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/247 "2025-10-01T21:56:05Z")
By zooming in on the speaker and just the faces of those in the audience. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/248 "2025-10-01T21:58:40Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > IS there an actual clip with edited applause added? I hypothesized that above, but I didn’t really think… surely not… I haven’t seen one. (As Czarcasm says, it will be fairly easy to do.) I (and you) are just predicting that this will happen and be used by the regime. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/249 "2025-10-01T22:01:14Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > By zooming in on the speaker and just the faces of those in the audience. Many, many photos and video angles have been released, and I bet they’re a fraction of what was produced. In the editing suite, particularly with AI tools, making such videos will be no challenge. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/250 "2025-10-01T22:09:02Z")
I know that they were all told not to react, but trump himself told them that they could applaud and they didn’t do it. That just made it more satisfying. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/251 "2025-10-01T22:10:32Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > The propaganda value of selected clips—including thunderous (fictional, edited-in) applause at the ‘_we will destroy the Enemy Within_’ quotes—is important to this regime. We should expect to see this, particularly as the 2026 elections draw nearer. [**The stony silence has already been memorialized**](https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-way) (and not just on Substack by any means). The Trump administration can try to create truth from wisps of smoke … but they won’t fool anyone not already full-throated MAGA. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/252 "2025-10-01T22:14:14Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > but they won’t fool anyone not already full-throated MAGA. Agreed, this has been well-publicized, for those who frequently consume non-RW media. That’s a distinct minority of Americans, though. The propaganda will work on the majority, who never heard about the stony silence. That’s why all this was worth doing. (Aside from whatever ego-strokes Hegseth though he was going to get by prancing around scolding all those far-more-qualified people.) ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/253 "2025-10-01T22:16:46Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > The propaganda will work on the majority, who never heard about the stony silence. Fox News dropped any mention of this event quickly from their website. I assume the Fox News TV shows disregarded it as well. For the right wing, this event didn’t even happen. It’s all fake news. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/254 "2025-10-01T22:23:55Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > **That’s a distinct minority of Americans** , though. The propaganda will work on the majority, who never heard about the stony silence. Can’t cite it, but I’m not sure about the bolded. A “distinct minority”? Like one in four? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/255 "2025-10-01T22:27:02Z")
I noticed at least one Black military audience member. How must he/they have felt with Kegstand implying to the entire audience/world that he was probably just a DEI promotion? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/256 "2025-10-01T22:34:12Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > That’s a distinct minority of Americans, though. The propaganda will work on the majority, who never heard about the stony silence. While I know there’s always going to be some true believers, I’m not sure how many Trump supporters believe his lies or simply don’t care that he lies. I recently had a discussion with a Trump supporting friend of mine who said the left would stop breathing if Trump said oxygen was good for them. I wanted to demonstrate how blindly he followed Trump, so I asked him about tariffs and who paid them. When he correctly answered the importer pays, I asked him if Trump was lying when he told us China would pay the tariffs or did he simply not understand how tariffs worked. It didn’t matter, because he quickly changed the subject to how hateful I was of MAGA. More and more I’ve come to believe the propaganda works because the audience wants it to work. They know it’s baloney, but the liberal tears are so sweet it’s worth it. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/257 "2025-10-01T22:37:38Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I know that they were all told not to react, but trump himself told them that they could applaud and they didn’t do it. I imagine they were told not to react because there was fear that some would cheer. I’m sure there were men there who agree with everything that was said, men like General Flynn for example. The fact they didn’t applaud was more to do with peer pressure. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/258 "2025-10-01T22:38:41Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > While I know there’s always going to be some true believers, I’m not sure how many Trump supporters believe his lies or simply don’t care that he lies. As I never tire of mentioning: after voting for Trump, one of my in-laws helpfully explained that she thinks he’s an idiot, but she likes his policies. I wrote that down, word-for-word, at the time, because I wanted to make sure I had it right. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/259 "2025-10-01T23:02:39Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > I imagine they were told not to react because there was fear that some would cheer. I’m sure there were men there who agree with everything that was said, men like General Flynn for example. The fact they didn’t applaud was more to do with peer pressure. No, it has to do with people of that high a rank knowing how to obey orders and adhere to regulations. These weren’t raw recruits, they’re the top ranks of the military. The most senior ordered them to not react in accordance with military regulations as they are currently written. It has nothing to do with “peer pressure”. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/260 "2025-10-01T23:13:00Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > No, it has to do with people of that high a rank knowing how to obey orders and adhere to regulations. This. The US military has always been nonpartisan and apolitical for a reason, and it has nothing to do with peer pressure. It’s because the military answers to the civilian government, not the other way around. History is rife with examples of what happens when militaries are allowed to wield political power, which is why the US military doesn’t and never has. Who or what do you imagine told the highest-ranking officers in the US military not to react? They are the highest-ranking officers in the US military. The only one who outranks them, the Commander in Chief, told them from the podium that they were allowed to applaud. And they didn’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409.md?page=14)