The Department of Defense is like no other part of the federal government. For one thing, it’s actually constitutionally justified. For another, it is the wall that protects America (yes, walls really do work) against foreign threats; as a famous movie quote has it, “In this world, there are walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns.” The Department of Defense is responsible for recruiting, training, and equipping those men. To that end, the mission of those men (and women) is this, above and beyond anything else: to close with and destroy the enemy through fire, maneuver, and shock effect. Their purpose is to ensure and protect the liberty and property of the people of the United States of America. Anything that promotes that mission is good. Anything that impedes it is bad.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gets that, having been a…
