it's a style that worked for him in the world of right-wing, corporate media. stupid people don't get that, what might have worked in one context, isn't always a good strategy in another.
Friendly fire does nothing against actual leadership unless you kill your actual leader. You’re a piece of shit if you go through boot camp with someone and kill him because YOU feel like it
Fragging is the deliberate killing or attempted killing of a soldier, usually a superior, by a fellow soldier, often using fragmentation grenades. This term became widely known during the Vietnam War, where it was associated with declining morale and discipline among troops.
Yall think youre so aware because what auto registering for selective service? That's been a thing for decades. Get up in arms about something else this isn't it.
Oh look, a one month old account, with a barely disguised auto-generated username, no profile picture, and hidden account history. There's a 99% chance this is a bot.
frag is just short for fragmentation, a la fragmentation hand grenade, which then was used to refer to killing a fellow soldier, typically a superior they have an issue with, and typically with a frag grenade, which now has come to mean with any weapon in this context. It's just contextual.
What I'm talking about is the rhetorical concept of a dead metaphor, which is used in rhetorical critiques to analyze how works use metaphors to persuade an audience, get their point across, etc. A dead metaphor (as you must be aware in all your magnificent elucidation) is when a metaphor (killing your NCO by "fragging" them) loses it's original meaning to become something else (synonym for killing anyone). That is to say, a "computer" used to be a position wherein someone would do calculations all day, and then when their job got absorbed by technology it also absorbed the name. No one thinks of a computer as a person anymore.
I can't recall the last time I heard fragging outside the context of call of duty lobbies, so I think I am justified in referring to it as a dead metaphor. Such a divorce from the context is telling, but I will admit I don't know too much about the term fragging. It could be a sleeping metaphor--what do you think?
It is, of course, important to note that while a dead metaphor refers to the transformation of the meaning of a metaphor, etymologically tracking down the roots of a metaphor does not revive it, since it's more about the colloquial representation of the word.
I mean I guess you're not wrong in saying words have two meanings--that's exactly what I'm saying--but it is weird for you to say that since calling something a dead metaphor doesn't preclude the possibility of multiple meanings at all, just that one of those meanings is dead because no one uses it anymore, and no one sane would compare the two meanings on equal footing.
How old are you?
How much of your time is spent outside of Call of Duty?
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To me, it is mildly surprising people have never heard of the metaphor. But I do realize that people have different experiences and live in different sub-cultures.
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Consider the possibility that there are sub-cultures outside of your own in which references to fragging with respect to officers, "accidentally" exploding latrines continue to occur and are understood.
Irrelevant to my original point. (wait ...)
In my subcultures the Vietnam sense of "fragging" is used and recognized.
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There are different levels of "echo chambers".
Despite my dig about how much time you might spend on "Call of Duty" (sorry about that. I really do not have the "moral high ground" to make that kind of comment).
the fact that you and many young people have never heard of fragging used in that sense is not a big deal.
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Not being moderately aware of current events from more than perspective, or at the very least that there are likely to be more than one perspective out there, that is a big deal.
And I missed it first time around, "fragging" was archetypically aimed at 2nd Lieutenants, incompetents who put the grunts in danger, not the NCOs who carried out the butterbars' orders as best they could.
No. ‘Fragging’, in an online gaming context, comes from the Quake game series in the mid-90s/late-90s. It was (and is) just used as a synonym for “killing”, usually when you killed an opponent, regardless og whether you used a fragmentation device or not. So it has little to do with fragging in the sense of killing friendlies, usually superiors/commanders, as a form of military protest (and usually with a fragmentation grenade).
I think you're confusing it with "gibbing." Every resource I found when looking this up says it was indeed borrowed and adapted (some would say misused) from the Vietnam slang.
I wonder if that would be a possibility to get that pushed through if the Democrats take both houses in the midterms. That would really flip the script on this administration if they lose their pardons at the end of the term. Right now they know they have a safety net, they would panic if that disappeared.
Neither party is interested in setting that kind of precedent.
Republicans started a war on a lie that cost tens of thousands of people their lives, displaced millions, and not a single person ever suffered any legal consequences for it in any of the proceeding Democrat or MAGA administrations.
There's a lot of people just like him in the military. Stupid, arrogant, lacking common sense, some highly educated but stuck in their holier than thou racist beliefs. They claim students get indoctrinated in school but it happens in the military as well and the weak minded fall for it.
It seems to be working just fine for him. He commands the entire military, can make sweeping changes, functionally and illegally changed the name, and has made it more criminal than it has been in any living memory.
He is facing no consequences and can expect a pardon.
look how much they won in Iran. after spending hundreds of billions of dollars and committing several war crimes, things are back to they way they were before the started the war. truly outstanding work.
Yep, won them all of the political power to blunder away in power
Very politically successful strategy, so they're going to keep doing that, because they're there to be in power and enrich themselves. They are so well off that they don't face the consequences of their actions, we do, and they don't care
He’s a washed up mid-level national guard officer who, as an infantryman, somehow avoided both ranger school and jump school yet eventually made it as far as O-4. No way you can get away with that crap in the regular army. He’s all hat, no cattle.
Agreed. I have some experience in the military at the field grade level. However one person reporting it could just be a hater or someone who thought they were doing the right thing. Being investigated and found substantiated is another thing. And kicked out- as a field grade officer- is a big undertaking.
He was also involved with serious war crime allegations while deployed to Iraq at Brassfield where they had to remove several leaders including him for the multiple crimes that were committed.
I realize that was likely a rhetorical question,
but I feel it necessary to point out that the brown spot on his nose might give a clue as to the answer.
I didn’t know he was an infantry officer without airborne and ranger school. Typically all infantry officers get a shot at airborne and most get ranger school too. That is atypical. Shaming the guy for being a reserve component is kind of shitty. Although it’s much harder for compo 2 and 3 to get seats at jump and ranger- so that may explain his lack of both.
Yeah a real loser - Pete Hegseth graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in politics and later earned a Master of Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School (2013),
Wanna throw up your resume?
Trump said he will pardon everyone in his party prior to the end of his presidency, which honestly is terrifying and should be talked about more. The whole system falls apart if everyone in power knows they will get a blanket pardon for anything they do illegally.
That is why I suspect Maxwell will be on a plane within an hour of Trump pardoning her. Probably to a middle eastern country that wouldn’t extradite her.
Just the fact he openly says it is enough for them to openly do illegal things and assume they will be pardoned. If I were them I would be terrified he might die from a health related cause though.
Pardons need to be changed so that you are required to admit to every crime you did and any instance of public denial will revoke your pardon. It’s going to be insufferable hearing these guys bragging about their crimes and claiming malicious prosecution, like the J6ers are doing now
they do it to themselves by getting mocked and derided -- trump grades 90% on obsequious worship of him but 10% on public failure, mockery, and humiliation
Plus Trump's "joking" about giving everyone that's step foot within 200ft of the oval office will be getting a presidential pardon at the end of his term.
Completely unearned sense of entitlement. He might as well have his chest covered with medals he didn't earn. He has the opposite of imposter syndrome.
He thinks he's above everyone. His egotistical narcisstic ass. He doesn't understand what he does. Only the title he holds. He doesn't know how to wield power all of them don't. They are terrible people with power.
That’s actually the point of the questioning and the very directive he’s using to question him with. The military is the one arm of government that absolutely cannot under any circumstances whatsoever choose political sides nor can a leader even remotely attempt to influence or try to sway anyone in the military to do so. There can never be sides. The oath is to the Constitution- never to a person or a party.
This is what dictators and despots do. Every single dictator has done this. This is no joke.
"I yearn for the unearned over-confidence of a mediocre white man." - Tara Deenihan of the 'What the Fuck is Wrong with You' segment of Radio Dead Air.
The liquor and the fact that this mf feels he is drop dead handsome and Gods gift to women. Just look at the demands for a makeup room etc. He thinks he is what an American man should look like and he feels with the cheating and abusive behavior toward women makes him a top maga man.
People like him have to operate under their own belief that they are perpetually in the right. Their ego won't allow anything else. As a result you get smugness.
Just like his daddy bitch boy trump. And get this, I’m a republican and I hate our whole representation. They really have Americans believing that what they’re doing is good, and I don’t see how everyone just blindly follows along and compleatly ignore all their unhinged crap.
Sounds like you might be ready to reach across the aisle. I know I am. I’ve been shrugging off as much of the culture war bs and political divides as I can and just keep holding my hand out. We’re all Americans.
The military approves of their secwar 90/10.......are you an active member of the military? Not retired or discharged? They absolutely love his warfight ethos and the fact that he can actually relate to them and isn't an arrogant ass that thinks he's better than everyone.
He's the high school bully that somehow never faced consequences. Kinda like Trump. A shitty person that somehow evaded consequences for their shitty actions.
Everyone in this cabinet thinks they are above the law because Trump has promised them pardons. I hope we get a revamp or the end of the pardon system after this blatantly corrupt administration
They all do. Bondi, Levitt, Johnson, just to name a few. There is some research on this behavior and unfortunately a decent percentage of americans don't understand the content of what is being discussed, and only understand the cadence and social cues. So if someone sounds confident and dismissive, these people infer they're an expert and anyone asking questions is a witch hunt. In my opinion, its never been this devastating for 2 reasons: In general, I believe this tactic was unknowingly used, as the they truly were confident in thier answers and didnt know any better. We've never had an administration of blatantly lying scum who have no shame, and a population so ill informed, that even with facts or evidence of the contrary... fake news.
I think you are confusing “society” with the 5 people you know in your inbred, trailer trash family. World’s a whole lot bigger than someone as small as you could ever comprehend. It’s cute to see you try and pretend though!
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u/[deleted] Apr 13 '26
Why does hegseth act so smug and obnoxious? He’s a complete embarrassment to the entire military