Hegseth’s new addiction is to power

It appears that Pete Hegseth has given up alcohol — a commendable personal decision. However, sobriety involves more than simply replacing one dependency with another. In Hegseth’s case, it seems that the substance has changed, but the addiction remains. Power, it seems, has become his new vice.

How else can one explain a series of troubling actions?

• Leaking confidential government information;

• Squandering the rare opportunity to address the United Nations by choosing to lecture world leaders rather than seek common ground or demonstrate leadership;

• Ordering over 800 senior military leaders to appear before him in person — at an estimated taxpayer cost of $134 million — only to deliver a speech on fitness standards, “warrior ethos,” “wokeness,” and grooming, effectively telling top military officials how to do their jobs.

These are not the actions of someone seeking to serve; they are the behaviors of someone seeking control. Leadership requires humility, not hubris.

Anne Krick

Warrenville