Pete Hegseth is no more imperfect than the Democrats trying to destroy him

As someone involved in politics, it always shocks me to see politicians playing the morality card.

Although not every politician is an amoral or immoral monster, many of them are and they are all at least tangentially related to someone you would never want your sister to marry or even date. That’s why the confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s presumptive nominee for Secretary of Defense, was nothing more than bad comedy and performance art.

Is Hegseth perfect? Of course not. In fact, he admits that he is more flawed than most people at some points in his life. He was even unfaithful to his first two wives. But since then (and there is no evidence, testimony or claim to the contrary), he says he has found God and experienced transformation. He had become a completely different man.

No matter your politics or religious beliefs, there is no point in life without the idea of ​​salvation – you will forever remain the same as you were in your lowest moments.

Oddly enough, Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who held Hegseth’s confirmation hearing yesterday, spent so much time talking about his past betrayal. Thus, party members who cheered Bill Clinton at last year’s convention considered this man’s personality insufficient to lead the Pentagon. I can find no record of Clinton experiencing conversion or repentance due to his well-documented feminization.

Democratic senators accused Hegseth of sexual assault based on a police report filed years ago, but no one bothered to notice how police investigated the allegation but found nothing worthy of criminal prosecution. It is not the job of the police to find and ignore evidence of crimes.

None of those Democrats called on Joe Biden to open the Senate archives at the University of Delaware after serious allegations of sexual assault by a former staffer were confirmed by footage of the accuser’s mother referring to them on an episode of “Larry King Live” at the time. .

I’m not trying to draw a moral equation — simply pointing out how easy it is for Democrats, in the absence of clear or concrete evidence, to take one claim as gospel while willfully ignoring the other.

The few Democrats who impugned Hegseth’s character were also difficult to take seriously, given their transgressions. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) lied about being Native American to get a teaching position at Harvard Law School, where she was described as Harvard’s “first woman of color.” Warren lied, repeatedly, throughout her career, even providing a recipe for a Native American cookbook called “Pow Wow Chow,” in which she happened to steal a recipe from a French chef. But far be it from anyone to doubt her character.

As someone who has served honorably in the military for decades, Hegseth is not above having his service record scrutinized. He is, after all, seeking to lead the army. But there is no evidence, and no one is even claiming, that he lied about his service record. If anyone were to make that claim, Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) would certainly feel uncomfortable. Although Blumenthal served in the military, he falsely claimed for years, in various speeches, that he had served in Vietnam, despite having maneuvered extensively as a young man to “avoid going to war,” in the words of the New York Times. Senate Democrats have called on Blumenthal to recuse himself from matters of character, truth or the military, and even kept him on the Armed Services Committee.

Politicians are imperfect people. Many are among the most imperfect people. But we don’t elect the pope when we vote, we elect people to do the work of government. You don’t have to be perfect to do this.

Hegseth is no more deficient than the Democrats who accuse him of deficiency. The difference is that he at least acknowledged this fact. It is best for the Senate to confirm his appointment.

Derek Hunter isDerek Hunter Podcast hostand a former staffer of the late Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.).