"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth really wants you to think he’s a tough guy. The former Fox News host and reported makeup-studio enthusiast is forever bragging out how brave and manly he is, with a length and volume that screams “overcompensation” to anyone actually possessing internal fortitude. With his perfectly coiffed hair and belligerent posture, Hegseth has long made it clear that his idea of “strength” is strictly a matter of showmanship. He eschews the term “soldier” in favor of “warfighter.” He rejects the term “defense” in favor of “lethality.” He even tried to rename the Defense Department the “Department of War,” which is the bureaucratic equivalent of buying an oversized pickup because your wife left you for her spin instructor. He forced the military’s top brass to sit still for a lecture about the “warrior ethos,” convened for no other apparent reason than Hegseth’s adolescent desire to pretend that he’s Mel Gibson in “Braveheart.” He goes on and on about his imaginary “male standard” or “male-level” fitness ideals, mostly because women don’t fit his image of what “warfighters” look like, which seems entirely drawn from the G.I. Joe figurines he played with as a child. He was pushed out of the Army, quitting of his own accord because of too much perceived wokeness. As defense secretary, he’s been systematically trying to purge all women who have performed their military duties beyond his capablities. Heaven forbid he endure reminders that many female members of the species are stronger and more capable than he could ever imagine being."