Dear Editor:

Wearing an American flag pocket square and sporting 11th-century Crusade and anti-Muslim tattoos, former Fox News host and least-qualified Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth began his tenure by posting real-time, highly classified information about a military operation to the Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic. He is now treating us to testosterone-injected, daily announcements about Trump’s “short excursion” / Operation Epic Fury / war of choice against Iran.

To pump the hype, he has posted memes that mix violent video game clips, menacing TV images, vicious NFL hits, and actual missile-strike footage. The message? “Daddy’s home!” Treat yourself to the adrenaline rush: https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2029741548791853331.

When you are young, brash, and eager “to kill people and break things” halfway around the world, it must be difficult to speak with gravitas about the risks and responsibilities of starting a major war. The easy alternative is to reduce the conflict to imaginary combat, juiced with heavy metal soundtracks by Childish Gambino, Metallica, and AC/DC. What better way to engage an important group of Trump voters — white boys in their twenties and thirties — and to troll those of us who condemn this messaging. Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago responded to Hegseth’s despicable behavior by stating that "A real war with real death and real suffering being treated like it's a video game — it's sickening.”

Equally sickening are Hegseth’s recent expenditures at a time when food banks are appearing in every American community (except Palm Beach). ‘Warfighting:’ $5.6 billion in munitions alone during the first two days of Epic Fury. Glide bombs flying off the shelf at $836,000 a pop. (Total costs so far? That’s classified.)

But that’s not all they get with our tax dollars. $93 billion spent last September, to justify the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion FY 2027/28 budget. $99,000 for a Steinway grand piano. $7.4 million for lobster tail. $15.1 million for rib-eye steak. $225 million for furniture. In the last five days of September, Hegseth spent more than the annual military budgets of Canada and Mexico combined.

Billions for bombs, cuts for cancer research and food assistance. If only this were just a video game!

Bill Hammond

Boothbay