One other day, one other pompous and insanely over-the-top editorial to shut out CBS Night Information Plus. This time, John Dickerson blesses us along with his grandes pensées on Secretary of Warfare Pete Hegseth’s convocation of his prime generals, admirals, and senior enlisted advisers for what has been colloquially termed a “Come to Pete” assembly.
Watch the editorial in its entirety, as streamed on CBS Night Information Plus on Wednesday, October 1st, 2025:
CBS EVENING NEWS PLUS
10/1/25
7:26 PM
JOHN DICKERSON: Think about cooking dinner for the 800 finest cooks on the earth. This was the problem dealing with President Trump and Secretary of Protection Hegseth after they summoned the nation’s prime 800 generals and admirals to Quantico on Tuesday. They have been delivering a speech to an viewers whose collective experience in management, motivation and managing giant establishments most likely exceeds 10,000 years. Each particular person in that viewers is aware of the distinction between phrases that earn dedication and phrases that demand compliance. They’ve delivered and been moved by phrases that encourage individuals to threat their lives. There has maybe by no means been an occasion the place so many individuals have been so professional within the very methods getting used to maneuver them. They know, for instance, that what a pacesetter demonstrates should match what that chief calls for. The Secretary of Protection known as for authenticity and rejection of efficiency, however the occasion itself was a compulsory efficiency: fly internationally at monumental expense and time away from posts, and be requested to applaud on cue. Did they see a disconnect? They’re professional in distinguishing actual threats from noise, having engaged in precise battle and fought terrorists. Did they settle for President Trump’s declare that radical left Democrats in American cities are on par with the foes these warriors face, or put together for day-after-day? They’re consultants at judging whether or not the sport is well worth the candle, whether or not an exercise’s potential rewards justify the time, effort and price. Did the gathering the place no choices have been made, no enter requested, no downside solved, justify the journey? Or may it have been a memo? How did they weigh the precedence for theater in opposition to their time, security and responsibility to the Structure? Management is a transaction. You’ll be able to compel attendance, however you can’t compel perception. No viewers has ever been higher certified to guage if that customary was met. And that’s tonight’s CBS Night Information Plus. I’m John Dickerson. Good night time.
The place to even start with Dickerson’s strained and greedy editorial? That is a kind of cases the place reflexive opposition is the purpose, demonstrating that there stays vital work forward at SkyDance earlier than the information division is introduced again to a place of credibility.
Dickerson’s analogies and questions display his lack of know-how with regard to what it’s that the navy does and what the chain of command is. Hegseth and Trump weren’t “cooking dinner for the most effective 800 cooks on the earth.” They have been telling them, on behalf of the American individuals, that the restaurant is underneath new administration and that menu is altering.
The highest brass could be consultants in all of the issues Dickerson says they’re, we will stipulate to that. However this wasn’t a management seminar or a TED speak. The highest navy brass weren’t there to weigh, take into account, or analyze something. These generals and admirals, just like the women and men that serve underneath their command, have been there to obtain lawful ORDERS. And orders they obtained.
All of this escapes Dickerson’s piety and reflexive anti-Trumpism. The editorial leaves one to imagine that Dickerson thinks the navy is a company, the place individuals work collaboratively and with out clear command construction. The Division of Warfare, which Dickerson refuses to call, is not any such group. So it’s that viewers are as soon as once more served with a heaping dose of false piety disguised as expertise- even when, on this occasion, Dickerson doesn’t know what he’s speaking about.
