Sorry: This started out as a quiz, but changed my mind…

I was going to post another one of the despicable Democratic Senators’ grilling of Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth as a genuine quiz with the question, “Was Sen. X’s questioning of Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Defense, competent, fair, respectful and professional?” but after viewing the disgusting performance of Hawaii’s Senator Hirono, easily the dumbest Senator in the chamber and maybe the dumbest U.S. Senator in history, I realized it would be an unethical exercise.

I only raise ethics quizzes when I have genuine doubts about the answer, even if I personally have come to a conclusion. But in the case of Hirono’s scummy excuse for legitimate vetting, there is no argument. She was unprofessional, rude, disrespectful, dishonest and hateful. She didn’t allow Hegseth a fair opportunity to respond to her varied slanders. Much of her questioning was of the “When did you stop beating your wife?” variety. It was redolent of the worst of the Kavenaugh hearings, and that’s about as bad as it gets. Unsourced anonymous allegations are technically known as “rumors,” and especially in today’s snake-pit version of Washington, D.C., they should be ignored: to Hirono—wow, she’s an idiot—they qualify as evidence.

For a special reserved spot in the fiery lake in Congress Hell, Hirono lied outright. She falsely claimed that Trump, as President “ordered” his Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper to have soldiers “shoot protester in the legs.” I never heard of that incident, and the reason is that it never happened. It is a standard issue Democratic Party Big Lie, however. During the Black Lives Matter rioting, Esper claims Trump asked the then DOD Secretary, “‘Can’t you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?” Asking a question, however bone-headed, is not the same as a President ordering a subordinate to do something. Maybe Hirono understands that and maybe she doesn’t (Did I mention that she’s an idiot?) but she framed this story so she could ask Hegseth if he would defy a such a Presidential order, since, you know, Donald Trump is always ordering soldiers to shoot people.

Senator Hirono should have been called out-of-order, and the Democrats owe Hegseth an apology as well as the American people. Kaine, Hirono and others weren’t interested in giving Trump’s nominee a a fair hearing; they only wanted to embarrass him, “mess him up a little.”

Be proud, Democrats.