Letter from Virginia Kennedy

‘Rein In the Republicans’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has named himself War Secretary, has announced, with Mr. Trump’s endorsement, plans to livestream an execution by firing squad. Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and wounded 32 at Fort Hood, Texas in 2009. Mr. Hasan, a Muslim-American soldier, was radicalized into terroristic behavior by precisely the kind of “martyr” recruiting video Mr. Hegseth’s firing squad livestream will provide for groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda.

Hegseth stated: “People need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” and called this method of execution a “no-brainer.”

Livestreaming American soldiers shooting a man to death will do the opposite of dissuading this behavior; you don’t dissuade people bent on dying violently as martyrs by livestreaming a killer becoming a martyr.
Not to mention this act puts us squarely in the company of Iran, Afghanistan and other violent repressive regimes using public executions to terrorize their own citizens into silence.

This decision, facing bipartisan scorn and hard pushback from intelligent military leaders, is about a weak and inept man trying to look tough. It’s about an administration whose tools are threats, violence, oppression, and war carried out literally in our own streets and abroad or through endless investigations and lawsuits against perceived enemies. All of it financed with our tax dollars.

Trump came to power promising riches and golden ages. No one who is living through high prices, cuts to services, and anxiety about AI and data centers brought on by crazily competitive tech oligarchs sees anything “golden” these days.

It’s time for these people to be reined in. Vote.

Virginia Kennedy
Cooperstown/Oneonta Indivisible