By Antonia Williams-Gary

Post Independence Day reflections: It has been a very hot summer and not just in the weather temperature indices.

The heat has been turned up in Congressional map projections after the death of Lindsey Graham, the absence of Mitch McConnell, and the resulting vulture-like circling by Democrats, particularly around key districts in Georgia and Texas.

The stench from the death of our democracy is spreading across the country; some feel that the time is ripe for a decent burial of the corrupt systems and a renewal of the founding principles. Would that be a revolution?

Strap on! It is going to remain hot until the November elections, and beyond.

Adding fuel to the burning fires of debate and discord up on the ‘hill’ is Pete Hegseth’s newest concern about the testosterone levels in his war fighters over the age of thirty.

I don’t know if I should laugh or cry.

Pete has been playing with his GI Joe toy soldiers far too long, deluded by their hard-shell body parts-their ‘pecs’ and iron biceps frozen in perpetuity.

Correct me if I’m wrong to think that the modern military is primarily technology driven- using drones, pin-pointed precision targeting by satellites, smart bombs which do not need more muscle than great eye-hand coordination and a healthy brain to make lucid decisions.

What’s the need for testosterone in the military anyway? I agree that the need for “boots on the ground” is still a viable component, even of modern armies, but that does not erase the need for critical support behind the lines. Not every “body” needs to be combat-ready, but action-ready, e.g., strategic thinking backed by sound policies.

Pete, and other alpha-dominant men feel they need to perpetuate and codify the definition of man-warriors by their body construct and not their grit, character, and dedication to mission, since by applying those measurements, would include women, ‘smaller’ men, gay, and transgender folk who have joined the military too!

And that, it seems, is the point with Pete. He has been systematically reducing the ranks on female officers, denying them promotions or advancement, and executed measures to eliminate women in combat positions because they do not meet his image of war fighters – the GI Joe model.                                                                                                                       Pete has also mandated a clean-shaven look which would impact many Black men who suffer from folliculitis (ingrown hair); their musculature does not matter in this instant.

Like so many ongoing efforts to deny and remove hard-earned civil rights, supported by recent Supreme Court decisions, we are witnessing another arena where roll backs and direct affronts are going into effect against decades of advancement of women and others in the military.

The remaining question is what other new standards await the fate of the military under this administration, and specifically at the hands of uber-male Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth is an easy target for criticism. There is ample documentation of his ideological points of view, his religious conservatism and allegiance to Douglas Wilson, an avowed Christian nationalist, and his suspected nationalistic leanings. Just a scratch of the surface raises questions about Pete’s alcohol abuse, misogyny and direct violence against women, admitted multiple infidelities, radical hatred of Islam, to name a few of his human flaws.

He is devoted to an image of the military-in his likeness. He actually banned photographers from the pentagon who took unflattering photos of him.

This is the man in charge of the men and women in uniform who have committed their lives in defense of this country, and from whom he is demanding they live up to standards that he has artificially raised, and not in alignment with their first duty.

Shades of Hollywood! Bulging muscles, high levels of testosterone, clean shaven, male standard of physical fitness (for battle ready soldiers) who are camera-ready, is the new standard.

I wonder if any of these new standards in the military reduces any risk in this country when the direction of the nation is going ‘back’ to a time when oppression of marginal groups is on the rise (unresolved immigration policies dating from 1790), when affordability has been reduced to one of its lowest levels, when voting rights have been threatened, and when the electorate is feeling depressed and disenfranchised.

I just want to get through this ‘heat wave.’

Toniwg1@gmail.com