Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ended Tuesday inside the Pentagon briefing room with a battlefield oath: "We will stand. We will FIGHT. We will DEFEND this republic against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And amen." Two days before Veterans Day, the left's answer to that prayer is a sneering statue near the National Mall mocking President Donald Trump's Vietnam-era medical exemption.
While Hegseth told the troops to ignore the noise and keep faith with the mission, the left answered service with a monument to contempt. That contrast is the real story of this Veterans Day week: one side built a statue to mock a president's medical record; the other stationed a Defense Secretary who names God without flinching.
Moody Turns Senate Floor Into a Work Order
On the Senate floor, Senator Ashley Moody of Florida said what Republican leadership has refused to say: "We can work through Veterans Day... we're in the majority." Moody turned the floor into a direct work order—work through the holiday, confirm every Trump nomination, pass proof of citizenship and photo ID, and use the closing window before permitting reform, affordability, and a stock trading ban all die in January.
That is not a suggestion. It is a direct rebuke to anyone planning to take the holiday off while Democrat obstruction hardens. Fewer than sixty days remain in this Republican majority, and the clock does not pause for Veterans Day. If the Republican caucus clocks out early, it forfeits the trust of the voters who handed it the gavel. The majority is a closing window, not a vacation.
Van Orden Unloads on Massie
Combat veteran and Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin told a reporter, "I'm not feeding your machine anymore"—then fed them anyway. Van Orden closed ranks around Hegseth and said, "It is shameful what that jackass Massie tried to do." On Veterans Day, no less.
The clip cuts through the usual Capitol double-talk. One member of the House tries to kneecap the Defense Secretary, while a combat veteran stands in uniform and refuses to let the moment pass. Hegseth answered with a blessing, not a retreat.
"We will defend this republic against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And amen." — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
The Stakes for the Next 60 Days
The next two months will decide whether the Republican majority actually uses its power or lets the session die before January. Permitting reform, affordability, and a stock trading ban all die if leadership lets this session die now. Moody's floor speech is the work order the conservative base has been waiting for, and it lands with the force of a sergeant correcting a formation.
We are two days from Veterans Day, and the left built a statue to sneer at a president's medical exemption while a combat veteran called Thomas Massie a jackass for trying to kneecap Hegseth. One side is ready to stand, fight, and defend. The other is building monuments to contempt.
