Pete Hegseth Nailed It. No Really.

You’ve probably seen the story of how, during a DOD presentation, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth cited what he apparently thought was a Bible verse, but was actually faux Biblism delivered by Samuel L. Jackson’s character Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction. There are many here. Yes, the falsely pious Hegseth really should be a little more versed in the Bible. But it is perfectly normal that this is not the case. If you remember correctly, Winnfield is a hit man, a killer, a man of senseless violence. He wraps his murders in stylized imitations of Bible verses to give them a mix of retributive and just-for-fun punch. Is there a better description of Pete Hegseth? I can’t think of any. Hegseth’s Christian nationalism is a licensing structure for domination and violence. The biblical text is a source of useful quotations as it advances these purposes. But he is neither intelligent nor serious enough to seriously exploit the text. It’s just a different version of Jules Winnfield.