So here we go. Act 1 of the "Washington Kabuki Group's Traveling Action Show." Still smarting from last November's losing performance, which bombed spectacularly, the troupe has not yet figured out what the audience likes and what the audience hates. So the programs, which were printed up months ago, are still being distributed at performances because the DNC did not have access to public funds to produce new ones, and also because their Writer's Guild surely knows what the people want, whether the people want it or not.

And yesterday, as the curtain went up on one Peter Hegseth, the orchestra played its fanfare, and the group danced in on the stage before him. Still looks like it's gonna resemble last year's show. Don't think the reviews are going to be positive.

"Mr. Hegseth, you are not qualified to head the Department of Defense. You have managed a department with a budget of only 18 billion dollars," Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) quacked. "The DOD has a budget of 825 billion dollars. That's five katrillion times smaller...no bigger....wait....greater than, I mean...(almost shouting now) well have you ever conducted an audit?"

"Mr. Hegseth!" Mazie Hirono (D-HI) jumped in. "I don't think you're qualified to lead the DOD either. Tell me, would you consider using armed military force to attack Panama or Greenland? Hmmmmm?"

"My Turn! My Turn!" Liz Warren (D-MA) shoved Hirono aside to take center stage. "Mr. Hegseth! Do you still think women make inferior combat soldiers? Don't you realize that I, old as dirt, can easily lug an 85 lb artillery shell?"

Then, from stage left, in jumped Timmy Kaine (D-VA, failed presidential candidate and Big Shot Wannabe. It was time to grope the bottom of the barrel and get personal. 

"Mr. Hegseth, didn't you cheat on your wife? Hmmmm? Didn't you have a child with another woman while married to someone else? Hmmmm? And here in Washington, our nation's capitol, where half of the United States Congress is engaging in Sexual Congress with persons other than their spouses, you expect us on this committee to believe that your oath to the office — should you be confirmed — will mean anything when you cannot even keep your own oath to all of your wives? Hmmmmm?"

*sigh*

You know, I'm so tired of this crap. I think a lot of us are tired of this crap, though it does give a writer lots of feed. Still, this kind of theatre is really not good for the country. If there's anything positive to be gleaned from it, though, we get to see if Hegseth can handle these morons adequately.

Pete Hegseth Brings His 'A' Game and Gets the Job Done

Tammy Duckworth Went Full Lunatic During the Pete Hegseth Hearing and Completely Beclowned Herself

To the DuckLady: "I think the question is irrelevant because that standard isn't held to anybody else being nominated for a cabinet position. Mayor Pete ran South Bend with a budget of 425 million. Then you voted to confirm him for a position with a budget of 197 Billion. Please...give me a break."

To Hirono: "If confirmed, I serve at the pleasure of the president. I don't make those decisions. But you already knew that."

To Kaine: "I think your career has been punctuated with many instances of receiving gifts from your donors and private businesses. Like, $166,000 worth of stuff. Under Virginia law, it might not be illegal, but I'm damn sure those guys got something from you in return. And by the way, adultery is not good, but it's not illegal. If it were, this place would be a ghost town."

So, if only. If only he had fired back at these people who pretend to be his betters. It sure would have been gratifying to watch. But Hegseth knows that discretion is the better part of valor, and it doesn't behoove him in any way to get in the gutter with them. He should be confirmed regardless because those Democrats are going to downvote him (or any one of Trump's picks, no matter who they are), so he doesn't need to win them over.

I would like to finish with this thought, however. Hirono, Kaine, Warren, and Duckworth have absolutely no business — no business at all — judging any of these appointees. They haven't got the qualifications, ethics or moral compass to sit on that panel. Not a one of them. Not a one of them because all of them failed to judge Biden on his qualifications to be the President of the United States. They all walked in lockstep with the rest of their herd, saying, "He's sharp as a tack! His brain works so fast he wears me out! He's the smartest guy in the room" (unless Hunter is in the same room at the same time). And they all kept it up until their real power brokers stepped in at the eleventh hour and said, "Joe, you're done. If you don't get out, we'll make you get out." Then they went and ran another incompetent, which Hirono, Kaine, Warren, and Duckworth all supported to the hilt.

So these people have no business passing judgment on Pete Hegseth because whatever he might be guilty of, they are guilty of far worse. They could have placed the country and its people ahead of The Party and taken Grandpa's car keys, but they didn't. Instead they just let him keep driving on the wrong side of the road. 

And now they are doing what they do best. They are acting. And the show must go on.