In 2017, Nancy Pelosi described the method by which Democrats smear and slander someone in a tactic she famously called “the wrap-up smear”:

Nancy Pelosi describing the “Wrap Up Smear” tactic! pic.twitter.com/pvMtZ9feWs

— Travis Tritt (@TravisTritt) September 1, 2020

(AP attempted to excuse Pelosi’s admission by saying it’s “out of context,” but she sure used a lot of first person language.)

Understanding Nancy’s words is simple: “The Dems leak a lie [smear] to the media, the complicit media goes along and willingly writes an article so that later, the Democrats can point to the article and say, ‘see, it must be true because it’s in the news.’”

The Dems have used the wrap-up smear numerous times.  Perhaps the most egregious example was the Dems’ smear about the 2016 election and the entire Russian-collusion hoax.  Hillary’s campaign purchased an “intelligence” lie (Trump colluded with the Russians to steal the election), and the complicit media wrote endless articles about Russian collusion.  Then, the Dems used those articles as proof that the lie was true and used it to spy on and to investigate Trump.  A second example was the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearings.  The smear was the accusation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford back in high school (36 years prior).  Despite the Ford producing zero evidence and remembering nothing about the “assault” except that Kavanaugh did it (Ford’s own father didn’t believe her), the Dems merchandised the lie to the media.  The media wrote numerous articles about Kavanaugh’s “sexual assault” implying it was true, and used those articles in an attempt to torpedo his nomination.

In a case of history repeating itself, the Dems are attempting the same wrap-up smear tactic against Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense.  Shortly after his nomination, countless anonymous smears began appearing about Hegseth’s character to include he’s a drunk (on the job) and that he sexually assaulted a woman.  The accusations are from “anonymous sources” and the media is using the anonymous accusations to smear him; Democrats (and some Republicans) are using those smears as proof that he’s unfit to be the Sec Def.  Let’s talk about Hegseth.

I don’t know Hegseth but as a Ranger and former paratrooper, I know plenty of soldiers exactly like him.  He’s a top-tier warfighter who has been in close-quarter combat (CQC).  That action is high adrenaline and very traumatic.  To call it chaotic is like saying the ocean is large — it’s beyond chaotic. Shots firing, things blowing up, friends getting wounded and killed, fear, excitement and exhaustion merge into a blur of emotions, yelling and screaming.  Those engaged in CQC are extremely wired and slow to recover a sense of normalcy.  The average person cannot understand these combat situations or the people who do the fighting because nothing is normal about it.  It takes a different breed of men.  These are alpha males who, at that moment, are consumed with survival — kill or be killed.  One who has never been there doesn’t have a clue as to what it’s like.  

I’ve been to combat but never in face-to-face (CQC) situations like Hegseth has.  Imagine how your thinking might change if, on a regular basis, you saw an enemy’s head smashed wide open, brains exposed, and eyes bulging from the sockets; much worse if it’s your friend.  As one can imagine, you could easily have deep emotional scars and return home very much changed from such experiences.  And after it’s over, so what if Hegseth, and his buddies, had a few beers (or many beers) while toasting their fallen brothers in Valhalla.  The VFW was founded on the comradery of fellow warriors sharing adult beverages.  As a combat veteran, I see these smears against Hegseth as attacks against all veterans, especially those who have been in combat.

Hegseth volunteered to put himself in harm’s way, certainly not for the money, rather because he felt a duty to serve.  The horrors and stress of seeing men die is something that few of us will ever know, even worse if you were the one who sent them.  No doubt, Hegseth suffers the physical, emotional, and psychological ramifications of all that goes with killing a fellow human being, enemy or not.  The Dems are now trying to project emotional turmoil onto him claiming that decompressing with a few beers with his buddies is grounds for disqualification from higher office.  It’s despicable.  The Dems’ new found standard for post-combat behavior is a standard that no veteran will ever meet, and no veteran will ever discuss because to do so will be to face the liberal’s gauntlet of condemnation that they, themselves, could never and will never meet.  Thank God that we have brave, heroic men like Hegseth willing and able to do the dirty work required to protect this country and keep it safe.

Twenty years ago, military members had trust and confidence that our elected and appointed officials were making adult decisions about what’s best for the country.  Over the past two decades, that confidence was shattered by politicos who have lied to us to include Colin Powell, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and presidents Bush, Obama, and Biden.  The fact that he’s been in combat is exactly why we need someone like Pete Hegseth to restore some of that confidence.  When one’s life is at risk and completely exposed, there becomes a clarity of focus.  He knows what it means to send our sons and daughters to their possible deaths.  He knows that the troops must be fully trained and lethal.  Because of that, Hegseth knows that the transgender, critical race social-justice movement is utter folly; that putting women in combat arms, and paying for soldiers to have sex-change operations, does nothing to defeat our enemies, and must end.

President Eisenhower warned us about the military-industrial complex (MIC) and the enormous influence the Boeings, Northrop Grummans, Lockheed Martins, etc. have on public policy.  The MIC is a cabal that profits by keeping the country at war and selling arms and ammunition to us and our allies.  The smears against Hegseth are attempts to prevent him from being confirmed as SecDef because he is a threat to halting this never-ending state of war.

Final Thought: Make certain your senators know how you feel about President Trump’s nominations, especially about Pete Hegseth’s.

Image: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr, unaltered.