Pete Hegseth had two qualifications to be the defense secretary. First was his fealty to Trump and willingness to kiss the ring as often as Trump told him to.

The second is that he served in the military in Afghanistan like millions of other soldiers over the past 24 years. And I haven’t exactly read what Hegseth did over in Afghanistan. Did he fight as a soldier on the front lines earning a Purple Heart, a Medal of Valor or a Gold Star? I guess he earned a Bronze Star.  Certainly if he had earned these, they would have been plastered all over the news. But I haven’t seen any mention of them.

Either way, I don’t see how this service qualified him to run the largest bureaucracy in the world.

Hegseth was also a Fox News commentator and news host. Now I know that qualifies him in Trump’s mind — he’s got the right ideology — but how does that qualify him to lead defense?

I’ve been a commentator and journalist for 25 years now — probably longer than Hegseth. I covered two presidential inaugurations and three presidential campaigns. I have a degree in political science and took many courses in public administration as a graduate student at UW-Madison. I might know a lot, but I wouldn’t trust myself to run the biggest bureaucracy in the world. I just am not qualified.

But Hegseth is in as defense secretary. And what does he want to do? He wants to bring a “warrior mentality” to the Department of Defense. What does that mean? Does it mean that today’s service personnel are peace-loving non-violent change makers? The United States has the most lethal fighting force in the history of the world and has a military presence in just about every nation on earth. What does a “warrior mentality” mean in this context? Does it mean shoot now and ask questions later? Does it mean walking around like the big bully on the block and beating up on people just to stay in shape? What is he driving at?

If I were taking over the Dept. of Defense, I wouldn’t talk about instilling a “warrior mentality.” I think it sends the message that I don’t think much about the 2.4 million people I’m going to be in charge of, like they had better shape up or ship out. In a large bureaucracy, there are a lot of people whom you must rely upon to run an effective noperation. If I have a new boss coming in who feels I need a “warrior mentality,” is it going to make me more or less willing to implement his directives. I’m sure a lot of sabotage can happen in a big building like the Pentagon. I don’t think he has the experience to know how his actions impact people in an organization.

And so what does Hegseth due as the new secretary of Defense? With all of the world’s problems and tensions in the world, what directive does he issue? He eliminated the security detail for General Mark Milley, the former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And he order an investigation by Defense’s inspector general into Milley’s conduct, hoping to strip him of a star. I guess it will be a hurried investigation since Trump is eliminating the inspectors general throughout the federal government. What a bold move Hegseth made, meting out the revenge that his boss, Donald Trump, wanted. Maybe it was a test of Hegseth’s loyalty.

Donald Trump and his team have gotten drunk with power and don’t know the first thing in how to civilly exercise that power. And maybe that’s a good thing. While the irresponsible exercise of power will harm innocent bystanders, hopefully it will be turned off relatively quickly when Trump starts getting negative feedback — and a threat to his base — for the careless exercise of power. I feel that more of his executive orders will get rescinded like the one withholding federal aid.

Right now, Trump is like that 10-year-old kid in the F-15 fighter jet. Let’s hope and pray that he never learns how to effectively operate it.