March 15, 2018

According to a story in the New York Post, the auditions are over and the latest casting decision for "America: The Reality Show" will soon be announced. Trump wants to name Pete Hegseth of “Fox & Friends Weekend” as the new secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to (naturally) a tweet from Fox contributor Katie Pavlich.

Hegseth sounds good on paper. He graduated from Princeton and has a master's in public policy from Harvard. He also served as a National Guard officer in Iraq and earned a Bronze Star.

Oh, and veterans groups hate him.

His name was brought up when Trump first came to office, but groups including the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of America and Amvets all opposed his nomination.

Oh, the other thing: He worked for the Koch brothers - and wingnut groups that want to privatize veterans' health care -- which of course will erode funding for VA hospitals.

When his nomination was first floated back in December 2016, IAVA director Paul Rieckhoff threw down the gauntlet. “If Trump picks Hegseth, it’s going to be war,” he said. “He would be a radical departure from what the VA has been for generations.”

Can't wait until the nomination hearing!

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