The half-hour on the stage of Pete Hegseth
Resembled the poor player’s hour in Macbeth.
With ten whole years at FOX to be rehearsing,
He couldn’t improve on shouting and cursing.
He left the podium to strut about
And used some of his time on stage to tout
His book to generals because they’d need it— ,
As if to do their jobs they had to read it.
Based on 18 combat months, his tirade
To decorated soldiers with decades
Of service and experience in command
Was coarse, offensive, truculent, and canned.
In front of them he chose to fulminate
That he thought some of them were overweight.
He told them to cut out the “woke bullshit”
And warned them they must like this or leave it.
Performer and performance, both absurd,
Are fittingly described in Shakespeare’s words:
Macbeth called life itself “a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
One of my favorite Shakespeare quotes, aptly applied. (But what does that say about me?)