CHAFFETZ: And Kurt, what do you - what's your reaction to that?
KURT SCHLICHTER, TOWNHALL SENIOR COLUMNIST: Well, look, I'm a retired colonel, so I'm not impressed by generals just because they pin a couple stars on their shoulders. And I think the American people are coming up with that is, Professor Hanson said, and as usual he's writing everything he said.
He pointed out that Reagan Institute study that says only 45 percent of Americans approve of the military now. I cited that for my next book just the other day. In 2018, it was 70 percent. These guys have presided over a freefall of the American people's confidence in the military, which was once the only institution that we still had any respect for.
I'm listening to these guys, and all I hear is, I don't trust my soldiers. They are not going to listen to me. They won't take the vaccine. Holy cow. It would never occur to me that my troops wouldn't follow me, but I guess I was coming up under a different Army. For instance, in my Army, unlike today's Air Force, we did not ask pronouns to our signature blocks. We were serious about were fighting and serious and winning. And in fact, I was in the last war that we unequivocally won, Operation Desert Storm. It's been 30 years.
Now, if these guys were coming off a string of victories, if they had put something in the "W" column, I might be more willing to listen to them. But all I see is a bunch of guys who figure out they can't beat any foreigners, so maybe they will give it a shot with some Americans. Maybe they'll do better. But I kind of doubt that. It's an embarrassment. We need to fire everybody --
CHAFFETZ: All right, gentlemen, I've got a very short amount of time, a very short amount of time. Quickly, 20 seconds each. Why the scare tactic? What do they think they're going to achieve? Twenty second each. Victor?
HANSON: They're preempting. They want to scare conservatives and traditionalists to back and to not try to get voter I.D. and have fairer and free election. So they are planning a coup if you try that, you're planning a coup. And so they're doing this because they're losing support and they're terrified of a midterm disaster in the next year.
CHAFFETZ: A lot of truth to that. Kurt?
SCHLICHTER: Look, we are not going to be talking about this coup nonsense in 2024. We're going to be talking about Putin's successful invasion of Ukraine and the Chinese successful seizure of Taiwan. And I pray that we are not talking about thousands and thousands of American casualties. But this level of incompetence makes that almost a foregone conclusion.
Look, guys, I'm worried. And I think Dr. Hanson is worried, too. And we all need to get our military back into shape and to a warfighting frame of mind.
My new @townhallcom column points out that we’re not going to play the woke game anymore, no matter how hard they cry. In fact, it’s funnier when they cry.
“Woke 1 died out in the early 2020s when people got sick of the nags, scolds, and harpies trying to pester their way into power. But now these weirdos, losers, and mutations are back, trying to make "Woke 2: Wine Woman Boogaloo" happen. But it’s not going quite the way they want. It’s not happening quite the way they envisioned. Yeah, they’re whining and complaining like the shrill shrews they are, but people have finally figured out how best to deal with these yakking malcontents. You either mock them or ignore them, and when you do, they’ve got nothing.”
Woke 2 Is Here, and It’s Failing Hilariously https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2026/10/19/woke-2-is-here-and-its-failing-hilariously-n2684858
My new @townhallcom column isn’t gobbling the black pill…
“What goes for drug dealers also goes for political addicts and pundits — don’t get high on your own supply. We want to believe what we want to hear. Confirmation bias is a real thing. It’s out there, waiting to suck you in and turn you out. That’s why I try to be rigorously objective. I try to look at the facts. I’m by nature an optimist, or rather, I’m always looking for an edge, a way, a means to counterattack and seize the initiative, and I always assume it’s there. But of course, Patton's flipside is Pollyanna. Sometimes you’re trying to save the Kobayashi Maru whether you’ll like it or not, and you’re never going to be Captain Kirk. But let me tell you, here’s what my gut is telling me — the Democrats have peaked.”
Did the Democrats Peak Too Soon? https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2026/10/15/did-the-democrats-peak-too-soon-n2684625
My new @townhallcom VIP column demonstrates that everything from Hollywood doesn’t suck, just a lot of it…
“Is Hollywood suddenly getting based? Well, probably not, at least in the macro. Hollywood is still stuck in a morass of politically correct failure thanks to the cadre of unmarriageable females, militant minorities, and gender-weird diversity hires left over from Woke I who dominate the scene. That the industry is drowning is no surprise. At one time, Tinseltown was focused solely on making money, and the way you made money was to make things the audience enjoyed. Now, for the most part, we are condemned to endure the personal psychodramas and fetishes of a bunch of people trying to work out their daddy issues on our screens. No thanks. But there’s an exception to every rule, and he’s making hundreds of millions of dollars, proving that there is a market for entertainment that doesn’t hate its patriotic, normal audience.”
Hollywood Wins When It Is Based ...
