Hegseth and His Anti-Woke Military: An Assessment

On By TonyIn Politics, TeachingLeave a comment

Sep 30, 2026

On September 30, 2025, a swaggering Secretary of Defense (“War”), Pete Hegseth, delivered his “warrior ethos” lecture to the 800 top generals and admirals of the American military, whom he had assembled for a command performance.

One year later, an assessment is called for.

“The military has been forced by foolish and reckless politicians to focus on the wrong things… we became the ‘woke’ department,” he said. We must “remove the social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage,” he fulminated, adding that “serving with fat or unfit or under-trained troops” is a violation, in effect, of the Golden Rule. (You wouldn’t want to share a foxhole with a fat person, so don’t be fat yourself). Henceforth, the “highest standards” must be met. He told his audience that it is “completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals.”

Was our first president and commander-in-chief too “woke” for Secretary Hegseth?

Secretary Hegseth would see to it that “grooming standards” would be strictly enforced. “No more beardos!” He wants a “lethal department of war.” Furthermore, “words like bullying and hazing and toxic have been weaponized and bastardized… basic training is being restored to what it should be: scary, tough, and disciplined.”

“We’re empowering drill sergeants to instill healthy fear in new recruits, ensuring that future war fighters are forged… and yes, they can put their hands on recruits.”

In what way has Hegseth’s tough training regimen been helpful in the country’s pursuit of its war with Iran? Probably in no way. A drone operator obviously requires different skills from a WWI or WWII infantryman.

Finally, in his oration, Hegseth announced, “We don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement.” That particular point raises serious questions, discussed later. (The questionable legality of the Iran War itself cannot be discussed in this limited space.)

In his blustering speech, Secretary Hegseth either ignored or was unaware of important critiques published shortly after WWII. During that war, a team of social psychologists conducted for the Research Branch, Information and Education Division of the War Department, an extensive study, consisting of numerous opinion surveys, on the attitudes of American fighting men. It was an attempt to discover the motivations that made men fight. This four-volume study, edited by Samuel A. Stouffer and published in 1949, is known as The American Soldier: Combat and its Aftermath.

The study debunked the myth that discipline will crumble in combat in the absence of terror in training. It further debunked the myth that glorification of trivia (grooming and “spit and polish”) increases combat proficiency. It also shattered the illusion—prevailing in the officer corps at the time—that Black soldiers would prefer to serve under white officers rather than under Black officers.

In 1946, another in-depth military study, known as the Doolittle Board, issued even more striking assessments of officer-enlisted relations in the armed forces. Among other proposals, it recommended that the social distinctions between enlisted soldiers and officers be greatly eased.

Secretary Hegseth’s machismo, his atavistic and simplistic notions of warrior ethos, clearly drive his policy preferences. If he were aware of the Stouffer study or the Doolittle Board, he would likely deem their recommendations as too “woke.”

And yet, they were in step with the American military’s original philosophy of maintaining morale, good order, and discipline. For hundreds of years, army manuals have exhorted officers to recognize the intimate relationship between discipline and morale. Even Baron von Steuben, the Prussian military theorist whose codes were adopted wholesale by the American revolutionary army, realized the importance of morale in armies that reflected the caste systems of 18th-century Europe. These, for example, are some of von Steuben’s “Instructions for the Captain”:

His first object should be, to gain the love of his men, by treating them with every possible kindness and humanity, inquiring into their complaints, and when well founded, seeing them redressed.

The baron’s “Instructions for the Sergeants and Corporals” convey the same message:

In teaching the recruits, they must exercise all their patience, by no means abusing them, but treating them with mildness…

George Washington relied on Baron von Steuben’s manuals. Was our first president and commander-in-chief too “woke” for Secretary Hegseth?

There is an aspect of Hegseth’s bombastic oration which is even more problematical, his proclamation that henceforth, “we… don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement.” This dangerous notion has impelled Hegseth to launch policies which, in the opinions of many lawyers, military and civilian, have led to American officials and military personnel committing murder, war crimes, and crimes against humanity—both in the war against Iran and in the campaign to execute without trial suspected drug traffickers in small boats in the Caribbean.

Although military subordinates must obey all lawful orders or be subject to court-martial for violation of Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), they must disobey unlawful orders. What makes an order illegal? When an order is “so manifestly beyond the scope of the superior officer’s authority and the order is so obviously and palpably unlawful as to admit of no reasonable doubt of its unlawfulness,” there is actually a duty to disobey it. (U.S. v. Kinder, 14 CMR 742, 1953). “I was just following orders” in such a case is no defense. Examples of obviously illegal orders are those to target civilians; or abuse trainees; or torture or kill detainees; or otherwise to violate federal law or the Constitution. The prosecutions of Americans for their cruel actions at Mai Lai in the Vietnam War and Abu Ghraib in the Iraq War are situations where the defense of “just following orders” was not successful. In those situations, crucial rules of engagement were not followed. The bottom line: The law requires American soldiers to be reasoning agents, not unquestioning robots. Scaring trainees into unquestioning obedience does not prepare them for modern warfare.

Violations of international law, as embodied in the Geneva Conventions, can also subject a civilian or soldier to criminal prosecution. At least since 1949, the Geneva Conventions have prohibited “cruel treatment and torture” and “outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment.”

Since his speech, Secretary Hegseth has announced that under his regime, American troops should “give no quarter,” meaning show no mercy, even to surrendering or disarmed combatants. This policy was applied to the drug-trafficking suspects in the Caribbean who, under Hegseth’s orders, were killed by American military personnel. The excuse given by him and President Donald Trump, is that the drug-runners are combatants in a “war,” which is nonsense. Trump and Hegseth claim they were given legal cover by an official opinion issued by the Office of Legal Counsel. That classified opinion—which purports to justify the killing of drug traffickers without legal proceedings—is strongly disputed by human rights organizations and many others. Unfortunately, it remains classified to this day. In my opinion, like the memo written by John Yoo purporting to render lawful the waterboarding of terrorism suspects during the Iraq War, it will someday be discredited. And the perpetrators of the Caribbean killings might find themselves indicted.

The hard-nosed approach by the Trump administration and Secretary Hegseth toward the training and deployment of American armed forces is not only unwise and counterproductive. It is a disgrace to the reputation of the United States

Having a Middle Class is a Choice.

On By TonyIn economy, PoliticsLeave a comment

A Middle Class Is a Choice

Traveling through Africa, I have seen wealth and poverty exist side by side. The gap is impossible to ignore. I do not pretend that every country I have visited is the same, or that I can explain another country’s economy after a short visit. But the contrast has made me think about what we are allowing to happen at home.

I worry about an America where there is plenty of wealth, plenty of work, and fewer and fewer people who can build a secure life from that work. A country where the middle class becomes something we talk about in the past tense.

As a business owner, a coach, and a city councilor, I hear a lot about what Americans supposedly don’t need. They don’t need college. They don’t need a higher minimum wage. They don’t need help getting health care or housing. They just need to work harder.

I have employed people for more than thirty years. I know how hard they work. “Work harder” is a convenient answer when you have no intention of changing anything.

Consider education. I have enormous respect for plumbers and welders. We need them, and skilled trades should offer excellent pay and a clear path into the middle class. But it is dishonest to tell working families that college is unnecessary while doing everything you can to give your own children a college education. Young people deserve more good options, including apprenticeships, technical training, community college, and a university degree they can earn without crippling debt.

The economic difference is substantial. Georgetown University researchers estimate median lifetime earnings of $1.6 million for someone with a high school diploma and $2.8 million for someone with a bachelor’s degree. Those are averages across careers, not a promise to any individual. Plenty of tradespeople do well, and a degree at any price is not automatically a good investment. Still, a $1.2 million gap is a strange thing to dismiss when you are advising someone else’s child about their future. 

Now think about illness. What would happen if you missed three months of work? Would you still have a job? Would you still have health insurance? If you owned a small business, could it survive without you? Would your employees have to find other work?

Senator Mitch McConnell was away from the Senate for roughly three months this summer while recovering from a fall and illness. He returned in September. I wish him a full recovery. I also wish every American facing a serious illness had the security to recover without wondering whether they will lose their income, their coverage, or their home. McConnell did provide some updates during his absence, and his office said he continued working with staff. The larger question remains: why is that kind of security so rare for the people Congress represents? 

Health coverage is already expensive even for people who have it through work. In 2025, the average annual premium for employer-sponsored family coverage reached $26,993, with workers paying an average of $6,850 toward that premium. Then come deductibles, prescriptions, and the fear that losing a job may also mean losing coverage. 

Housing is another test of whether we mean what we say about the middle class. A person should be able to work, pay their bills, and have a realistic chance of finding a home near their job. We need to build more housing and make it easier to bring homes to market. We also need to care whether the people teaching our children, caring for our parents, and staffing our businesses can afford to live in the communities they serve.

Instead, too many politicians point at immigrants and tell us there is the problem. They point at the person picking vegetables or working in a meat or fish processing plant while saying very little about the wages, housing costs, and health bills squeezing American families. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for SNAP. Blaming a worker with little power is easier than confronting the people and policies with a great deal of it. 

I am a Democrat, but I am not interested in giving Democrats a free pass. Both parties have had opportunities to make education more affordable, protect access to health care, raise the floor for workers, and address the housing shortage. I want to know who is willing to do the work now.

People feel the price of groceries and gas every week. They know what comes out of their paycheck and what is left after rent or the mortgage. Telling them the economy is fine will not make their bills smaller. Telling them to blame someone poorer will not help either.

Real change means making the middle class possible again: education and training people can afford, wages that reward work, health care that survives a job loss or an illness, and enough housing for people to build a life. It means judging our leaders by what they make possible for ordinary families, not by how convincingly they explain why those families should expect less.

I have seen what a vast divide between rich and poor looks like. We still have the power to choose a different future for America. But we have to start acting like the middle class matters.

What 9/11 Means To Me.

On By TonyIn Belief, UncategorizedLeave a comment

What 9/11 Means to Me

Living in Italy part of the year, I sometimes lose track of important American dates. Labor Day can pass without a cookout. The Fourth of July feels different when there are no fireworks, no flags lining the streets, and no long weekend at the lake.

But I can never forget September 11.

Partly because it is the birthday of our dear friend, JoAnn Burchuk. And partly because of where Stephanie and I were supposed to be on September 11, 2001.

We were on our way to Italy.

Our two young children were home with our nanny and a friend who was helping house-sit. Everything was arranged. Bags packed. Plans made. We were ready for a wonderful holiday.

And then…

Instead of flying to Italy, we found ourselves back home, desperately trying to reach friends and relatives in New York and attempting to understand something that seemed impossible to understand. Two of the planes that struck the World Trade Center had taken off from Boston—the same airport from which we were supposed to depart.

Our neighbors knew we were flying out that morning. When they saw all the cars in our driveway, they immediately became concerned. They came over to check on us and cried when they saw that we were safe.

My father, my father-in-law, and my brother were all traveling across the country. With air travel shut down, each had to figure out how to get home. Like millions of other families, ours suddenly felt scattered across a country that had become frighteningly large and uncertain.

That evening, we all sat down for dinner.

Our children were happy—but confused—to have everyone home. The nanny was there. The friend helping her was there. Stephanie and I were there. This was not how the day was supposed to end, but to the kids, it probably felt like an unexpected gathering.

They didn’t understand what had happened. They only knew that their teachers had been afraid. School pickup had been chaotic. Adults were whispering. The television was showing the same terrible images again and again.

Outside, the streets were too quiet.

Inside, the tension kept building.

Then, as we were eating, Stephanie asked the children a question:

“What was the best part of your day?”

I looked at her and thought, What the hell are you talking about?

This was a terrible day. One of the worst days any of us could remember. How could there possibly be a “best part”?

Then I caught her knowing look.

“Even on hard days,” she continued, “something good happened. What was it?”

It was brilliant.

She wasn’t pretending the day wasn’t awful. She wasn’t asking us to ignore the fear, the grief, or the uncertainty. She was reminding us that terror did not have to take every single thing from us. Even on the darkest day, we could still search for one moment of goodness.

So we went around the table and shared the best part of our day.

That simple question became a family tradition. It spread to friends and relatives, many of whom still ask it at their own dinner tables. I have carried it into my work. At the end of a gymnastics camp—especially after a difficult day—I still ask my athletes:

“What was the best part of your day?”

Twenty-five years later, that may be what September 11 means most personally to me.

I remember the lives lost. I remember the families who never again had everyone sitting around their dinner tables. I remember the fear, the confusion, the silent streets, and the desperate phone calls. I remember our neighbors crying with relief when they found us safely at home.

But I also remember my wife finding a small light in an impossibly dark moment.

When it was Stephanie’s turn to answer her own question, she said the best part of her day was knowing that it was our friend JoAnn’s birthday.

That is not denial. It is resilience.

The world can be frightening. Life can change between breakfast and dinner. Planes can be grounded, families separated, and everything we thought was certain can suddenly disappear.

But even on the hardest day, something good happened.

Sometimes we just need someone wise enough to ask us to look for it.

So, happy birthday, JoAnn. Even on that terrible day, your birthday gave us something good to hold on to.

And now I pass the question on to you:

What was the best part of your day?

On By TonyIn economy, PoliticsLeave a comment

Here’s a blog version that keeps the frustration and the perspective of watching America from abroad, while sharpening the argument around the midterms and election trust.

News From Afar

Being on an extended work trip through Latin America and now Europe has given me a somewhat unique perspective on the American presidency and the state of our country.

Sometimes you see home a little more clearly when you’re standing somewhere else.

And right now, from over here, America looks strange.

Americans are dealing with rising prices. Inflation remains stubbornly above the Federal Reserve’s target, with tariffs and the war with Iran among the pressures being felt in the economy. (AP News⁠)

Families notice it at the grocery store. Businesses notice it when they order supplies. Travelers notice it. Everyone notices it.

Meanwhile, the President of the United States seems laser-focused on…other things.

His ballroom.

Renovating Washington.

Putting his name on things.

Gold trim and presidential seals.

And now, apparently, renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America.”

Yes. Really.

President Trump signed an executive order today directing the federal government to call Lake Ontario “Lake America.” Of course, Canada is under absolutely no obligation to call it that. (Reuters⁠)

And neither, frankly, is anyone else in normal conversation.

No one is going to call it that, Donald.

And while we’re talking about executive orders, can we talk about the way Trump signs them? Every signing ceremony ends the same way. He holds up the document with that enormous black-marker signature and displays it to the cameras like a kindergartener who has just finished his latest masterpiece. “Look what I made!” Very nice, Donald. Beautiful use of the Sharpie. We’ll put it right on the refrigerator next to the finger painting and the macaroni picture. The only difference is that when a five-year-old proudly shows you his artwork, it usually hasn’t just changed federal policy.

There is something almost comical about all of this—until you remember that there are some decidedly unfunny things happening at the same time.

The one I am watching most closely is the attack on mail-in voting.

Don’t be fooled into thinking this is simply about mail-in ballots.

It isn’t.

Trump’s executive order would significantly expand federal involvement in determining who receives mail ballots and how states administer them. The Postal Service has now begun implementing new requirements while states are challenging them in court, just weeks before voting begins in the midterm elections. (Reuters⁠)

And remember: Trump himself has voted by mail.

So I don’t believe the real objective is eliminating mail-in voting.

The objective is distrust.

Create doubt about the system.

Tell people repeatedly that elections are insecure.

Tell them voter rolls cannot be trusted.

Tell them mail ballots cannot be trusted.

Tell them election officials cannot be trusted.

Then, if November doesn’t go your way, the groundwork has already been laid.

“The election was stolen.”

We have seen this movie before.

What concerns me now is that this time Trump is not simply a candidate complaining about an election system from the outside. He is the sitting President of the United States, with the machinery of the federal government at his disposal.

That makes this different.

The Constitution gives states—and, in federal elections, Congress—central roles in setting election rules. That is precisely why Trump’s attempts to impose new national voting requirements through executive power have generated such significant constitutional challenges. (The White House⁠)

My greatest concern isn’t merely that Trump will complain that another election was “stolen.”

We’ve already lived through that.

My concern is what happens after he makes that claim.

What happens if the midterms go badly for Republicans?

What happens if control of Congress changes hands?

What happens if the President declares some results illegitimate?

What happens if federal agencies are pressured to intervene?

What happens if we reach a point where Americans aren’t arguing about who won an election, but whether the government will accept the results of one?

That is the line we cannot cross.

And here’s the uncomfortable perspective you get when you spend significant time outside the United States:

People are watching us.

I talk to people in Mexico, Italy and elsewhere in Europe. They read our news. They follow our elections. They ask questions about what is happening in Washington.

And sometimes I don’t have a very good answer.

For most of my life, Americans grew up hearing that the United States was the envy of the world.

The stable democracy.

The economic powerhouse.

The country with institutions strong enough to survive political disagreements.

The place where presidents come and go but the system endures.

We shouldn’t assume that reputation is permanent.

It isn’t.

From afar, some of what is happening in America doesn’t look powerful.

It looks petty.

A president feuding with Canada while renaming a shared Great Lake after America. A $400 million White House ballroom project caught up in litigation over presidential authority. Political fights over whose name gets carved into buildings. (Reuters⁠)

These are the things occupying our national conversation while Americans worry about the cost of living, housing, healthcare, education, infrastructure and their children’s future.

And while the basic machinery of our democracy is being questioned again.

The United States used to be the unquestioned envy of much of the world.

Today?

I’m sorry.

It isn’t.

That doesn’t mean America is finished.

Far from it.

But patriotism isn’t pretending everything your country does is wonderful. Patriotism is caring enough about your country to recognize when it is falling short of what it claims to be.

America has always been an unfinished project.

Every generation inherits it.

Every generation gets a chance to improve it—or damage it.

Right now, we need to decide which generation we are going to be.

Because the world is watching.

And more importantly, our children are watching.

We can do better.

We have to do better.

Warning. Tony Retrosi is a lot.

On By TonyIn Uncategorized1 Comment

For an upcoming business trip I had to write a bio so that they could introduce me. This always makes me uncomfortable. I never know what to say. I do not want to brag. But I also do not want to be overly modest.

I put some prompts into Chat GPT and asked it to come up with a bio for me.

This is what it sent back. Not sure how accurate it is. Let me know what you think!

Warning: Tony Retrosi is a lot.

He will tell you he’s “taking it easy” while simultaneously running a business, coaching gymnastics on another continent, dealing with city government, writing something that will probably piss somebody off, learning Italian, planning his next trip, and wondering why everyone else seems stressed.

He has opinions. Many opinions. And unfortunately, he has usually spent enough time thinking about them that you can’t just dismiss him with a casual “Yeah, but…” Unless you have about 45 minutes available.

Do not casually ask him about gymnastics unless you genuinely want to know. You will accidentally unlock a 32-year lecture involving coaching philosophy, psychology, education, leadership, Italy, three former athletes, and a story from a training camp in 1997.

Likewise, never say, “Government should just run more like a business.” You have no idea what you’ve just started.

He travels at a pace normally associated with international fugitives. New Hampshire. Italy. Puerto Rico. Mexico. Iceland. Canada. Back to Italy. He will describe this as “a busy couple of weeks.”

He is fiercely loyal. This sounds wonderful—and mostly it is. But once Tony decides you are one of his people, good luck getting rid of him. Former gymnast? Friend? Family? Coach he met 20 years ago? You are now apparently enrolled in a lifetime support program you never applied for.

He will check on you. He will encourage you. He will give you advice you did not request. He will tell you when you’re full of shit. He will probably feed you. And if necessary, he will metaphorically—or perhaps literally—give you the promised kick in the ass.

He is sentimental but would prefer that nobody notice. He will make a joke precisely when things are getting emotional, because God forbid we all just sit there having feelings like normal people.

He believes friendship is a long-term contract. Geography is apparently irrelevant.

He also has an alarming tendency to collect homes, communities, gymnasts, friends and surrogate family members wherever he goes. Spend enough time with him and you may suddenly discover you have a place to stay in New Hampshire or Italy and several people you’ve never met have already heard about you.

He loves a good argument, but don’t confuse arguing with anger. He can disagree with you enthusiastically and still pour you a glass of wine five minutes later.

There is also a significant danger that he will convince you to do something. Travel somewhere. Coach differently. Speak up. Take a chance. Come to dinner. Get involved. Stop feeling sorry for yourself.

His fundamental problem is that he actually gives a shit.

About his athletes.
About his friends.
About his family.
About his community.
About whether he’s leaving things a little better than he found them.

Which means he can occasionally be exhausting.

So consider yourself warned:

If you meet Tony Retrosi, keep your opinions defensible, your passport current, your wine glass nearby, and don’t casually tell him about a problem unless you’re prepared for him to actually try to help you solve it.

And whatever you do, do not tell him, “That’s just the way it’s always been done.”

You could lose the rest of your afternoon.

Street with houses, dry palm trees, water tanks, and signs warning about critical drought and water saving

American Citizens in Puerto Rico: The Fight for Basic Needs

On By TonyIn economy, New Hampshire, PoliticsLeave a comment

Puerto Rico: We Need to Do Better

Street with houses, dry palm trees, water tanks, and signs warning about critical drought and water saving
People walk in a neighborhood showing signs about critical water shortage.

I am heading to Puerto Rico to work with gymnasts and coaches at a training camp. I have been fortunate to travel to Puerto Rico before, and I am looking forward to being back on the island, doing what I love—working with these coaches and athletes.

But this trip comes at a very different moment.

And I keep coming back to one simple thought:

Puerto Rico is in the middle of a severe drought. Water is being rationed, with some communities facing rotating periods of 48 hours without running water. The situation is serious enough that more than 180,000 people are affected by current rationing, and federal drought officials are warning that the dry conditions could continue into the fall.

Puerto Ricans are Americans.

They are U.S. citizens.

They deserve to be treated like it.

Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory. The people who live there are not somehow less American because they live on an island. Yet when disaster strikes—or when infrastructure fails, debt overwhelms the government, or drought threatens the water supply—we seem to find endless reasons why helping Puerto Rico has to be more complicated than helping Americans on the mainland.

That isn’t good enough.

This Isn’t Just About a Drought

The drought is real. We cannot blame the federal government for a lack of rain.

But the drought is exposing a much bigger problem.

Puerto Rico has spent years dealing with aging infrastructure, enormous financial challenges, and a complicated federal bureaucracy. The island’s water authority, PRASA, has reported that roughly 65% of the water it produces is lost through leaking pipes, overflows, and other problems before it reaches customers.

Think about that.

We are asking people to conserve water during a historic drought while the system itself is losing an enormous amount of the water it produces.

That is not simply a weather problem.

It is an infrastructure problem.

And it is a government problem.

A Financial Trap

After Puerto Rico’s financial crisis, Congress passed PROMESA in 2016 and created a Financial Oversight and Management Board with sweeping authority over Puerto Rico’s finances. The law was designed to restore fiscal responsibility and access to capital markets, but it also fundamentally changed the relationship between Puerto Rico’s elected government and the people overseeing its finances.

There is a legitimate argument for fiscal discipline. Governments have to live within their means. Debts have to be dealt with.

But there is something fundamentally wrong when a government that does not have the financial capacity to rebuild essential infrastructure is simultaneously constrained by a system that makes it extraordinarily difficult to get that infrastructure rebuilt.

It becomes a vicious circle.

You need money to rebuild.

You don’t have the money.

Federal funds are available, but accessing and spending them can involve complicated requirements and reimbursement processes.

Construction costs go up while projects wait.

And the longer you wait, the more expensive everything becomes.

The Government Accountability Office has documented problems with FEMA’s fixed-cost approach to Puerto Rico’s disaster-recovery projects, including the risk that rising construction costs can leave local governments facing significant funding gaps.

That isn’t a recipe for rebuilding.

It’s a recipe for delay.

We Can’t Keep Treating Puerto Rico as Somebody Else’s Problem

This is where I have a problem with the way we talk about Puerto Rico.

Too often, the conversation becomes a political argument about who is to blame.

Democrats blame Republicans.

Republicans blame Democrats.

Puerto Rico’s government blames Washington.

Washington blames Puerto Rico’s government.

The oversight board blames fiscal mismanagement.

Critics blame the oversight board.

And while everyone is arguing, people still don’t have reliable water.

Enough.

At some point, we have to stop looking for someone to blame and start looking for ways to fix the problem.

Because the people living without water don’t care which political party gets the credit.

They need the water turned back on.

What Would We Do If This Were New Hampshire?

I live in Dover, New Hampshire. Anyone who has driven through town sees all the infrastructure work going on. As a city councilor, my email and text messages are filled with legitimate complaints about parking, construction noise, and traffic flow associated with these projects.

They say, “Why is all this work going on at the same time?!”

The answer is simple: we deferred maintenance far too long.

If a city in New Hampshire suddenly lost access to basic water service, we wouldn’t tell the residents to be patient while Washington, the state government, the city government, and a financial oversight board argued over who was responsible.

We would mobilize.

We would find the money.

We would fix the pipes.

We would get people water.

And then we would figure out who screwed up.

Puerto Rico deserves that same sense of urgency.

Not because Puerto Rico is perfect.

It isn’t.

Not because every decision made by the Puerto Rican government has been correct.

It hasn’t.

And not because the federal government bears responsibility for every problem on the island.

It doesn’t.

But because three million-plus American citizens live there.

And basic infrastructure isn’t a luxury.

Clean water isn’t a political favor.

Reliable electricity isn’t a reward for good fiscal management.

They are necessities.

We Have to Break the Cycle

There are real policy questions that need to be addressed.

FEMA needs to make disaster-recovery funding more accessible and predictable, particularly for communities that simply cannot finance enormous projects while waiting years for reimbursement.

Federal officials and the oversight board need to recognize that fiscal responsibility cannot mean allowing essential infrastructure to deteriorate further.

And Congress needs to look honestly at whether the rules governing Puerto Rico actually help the island become financially sustainable—or whether some of those rules make recovery harder.

Most importantly, the federal government needs to treat Puerto Rico’s infrastructure needs with the urgency we would expect for an American community on the mainland.

That means water.

It means electricity.

It means roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals.

It means giving local governments the ability to actually use the resources that have been made available for rebuilding.

I Don’t Want to Arrive in Puerto Rico and Just Talk About the Problem

I am going to Puerto Rico to coach and teach.

I will be in a gym with young athletes who are working to become better gymnasts and aspire to make an Olympic team. I will be working with coaches who care deeply about their athletes and their communities.

That is what I want to focus on.

But I also don’t want to pretend that what happens outside the gym doesn’t matter.

A coach can teach a young person discipline, resilience, and confidence.

But there are limits to what resilience should be asked to overcome.

Nobody should have to be resilient enough to live without reliable water.

Nobody should have to be resilient enough to accept a failing electrical system as normal.

Nobody should have to be resilient enough to watch their community’s future disappear because bureaucracy and politics make rebuilding impossible.

Puerto Rico doesn’t need our pity.

It needs partnership.

It needs investment.

It needs competent government at every level.

And above all, it needs to be treated as what it is:

part of America.

We can argue about Puerto Rico’s ultimate political status. We can debate statehood, independence, or the current territorial relationship.

But we shouldn’t need to settle that argument before agreeing on something much more basic:

American citizens deserve clean water, reliable power, and the opportunity to build a future.

As I head to Puerto Rico, that is what I will be thinking about.

I am going there to work with athletes and coaches.

I hope I can also come home having learned more about the people of Puerto Rico, their resilience, and their determination to build something better.

Because they deserve better.

And frankly, we should be better.

Patriotism Belongs to All of Us

On By TonyIn History, PoliticsLeave a comment

For too long, Democrats, independents, democratic socialists, and anyone who believes in an inclusive America have surrendered one of the most powerful words in our language: patriotism.

It’s time to take it back.

Somewhere along the way, a political movement convinced millions of Americans that waving the flag, wearing red, white, and blue, and proclaiming love of country belonged exclusively to one side of the political spectrum. It doesn’t. It never did.

I refuse to surrender the American flag to a movement that too often uses it as a prop rather than a promise.

Because when I look at that flag, I don’t see one man. I don’t see one political party. I don’t see one religion or one race or one ideology.

I see the first three words of our Constitution:

We the People.

Not “We the Republicans.”

Not “We the Democrats.”

Not “We the MAGA faithful.”

We the People.

That simple phrase is perhaps the most radical democratic idea ever written. It says that this nation belongs to all of us, not just those who agree with whoever occupies the White House.

Real patriotism isn’t measured by how loudly you chant “USA.”

It’s measured by whether you believe every American deserves the same rights, the same opportunities, and the same dignity.

That is why I reject the idea that progressive values are somehow “un-American.”

Public education? That’s patriotism. An educated citizenry is the backbone of a democracy.

Scientific research? Patriotism. America led the world because we invested in knowledge.

Protecting our national parks? Patriotism. We preserve what previous generations entrusted to us.

Supporting veterans after they return home? Patriotism.

Standing up for workers? Patriotism.

Protecting Social Security and Medicare? Patriotism.

Defending the right to vote? Patriotism.

Welcoming immigrants who believe in the American dream? Patriotism. Unless your family descends from Native Americans, your story began with someone who came here seeking something better.

Standing up for the rule of law—even when it is politically inconvenient? That is patriotism.

Supporting a free press that can challenge those in power? Patriotism.

Defending the Constitution rather than demanding loyalty to a single individual? That may be the highest form of patriotism there is.

By contrast, I struggle to understand how demanding unquestioning loyalty to one political leader can be described as patriotic.

Patriotism isn’t blind obedience.

It isn’t pretending elections only count when your side wins.

It isn’t attacking judges because they rule against you.

It isn’t dismissing the Constitution when it becomes inconvenient.

It isn’t threatening political opponents or journalists.

It certainly isn’t redefining loyalty to America as loyalty to one man.

A republic survives only when its citizens remain loyal to the principles that created it—not to personalities.

This country has never been perfect. It wasn’t perfect in 1776. It wasn’t perfect during the Civil War. It wasn’t perfect during Jim Crow. It wasn’t perfect when women couldn’t vote. It wasn’t perfect when LGBTQ Americans were denied equal rights.

But generation after generation, Americans expanded the promise of “We the People.”

That is the American story.

Not perfection.

Progress.

Not exclusion.

Expansion.

Not fear.

Hope.

As a city councilor, as a business owner, as a coach who has represented this country overseas, I’ve often been asked what makes America special.

It isn’t that we’re flawless.

It’s that we have always aspired to become better than we were yesterday.

That aspiration belongs to Lincoln.

To Roosevelt.

To Eisenhower.

To Kennedy.

To King.

To every soldier who defended our Constitution.

To every teacher who opens a classroom door.

To every volunteer who serves a meal.

To every citizen who votes.

Patriotism isn’t ownership.

It’s stewardship.

So here’s my challenge to everyone who shares progressive values.

Stop apologizing for loving your country.

Fly the flag.

Stand for the anthem if you choose.

Celebrate Independence Day.

Teach your children American history—all of it, the triumphs and the failures—because loving your country enough to tell the truth about it is more patriotic than pretending it has never made mistakes.

Do not let anyone tell you that compassion is weakness.

That inclusion is un-American.

That democracy is optional.

Or that patriotism belongs exclusively to one movement.

It doesn’t.

The American flag belongs to every citizen.

And every time I see it, I want to be reminded of those three extraordinary words that define who we are and who we are still striving to become:

We the People.

That flag should never stand for one man.

It should always stand for all of us.

Podcast Episode: America at 250

On By TonyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Pip: Tony Retrosi is writing from Iceland, which feels about right for the vantage point this episode requires.

Mara: He's looking back at two hundred and fifty years of American history — what the country built, what it chose, and what it put on the White House lawn to mark the occasion. Let's start with the anniversary itself.

America at 250

Pip: The premise here is simple and brutal: a quarter-millennium of unmatched power and resources, and the question is what we actually have to show for it.

Mara: The post opens with a quote from Oliver Kornetzke that sets the frame, and then the piece itself extends that frame into a list. Here it is: "250 years. Two hundred and fifty fucking years of the most powerful, most resourced, most theoretically capable nation in the history of human civilization and here is what we have to show for it."

Pip: And what follows is the accounting — forty million on food stamps, thirty million without health insurance, the highest incarceration rate on earth, an opioid crisis past half a million dead, infrastructure collapsing, life expectancy going backward.

Mara: The list runs long deliberately. The point is accumulation — that no single failure is an accident when they all arrive together, sustained across decades, across administrations, across every available opportunity to choose differently.

Pip: And then the anniversary gift itself arrives: a wrestling arena on the White House lawn. Not a hospital. Not a school. A wrestling arena with cranes and pyrotechnics.

Mara: The post is direct about what that means. "Truthfully, this is not a departure from American values. This is the fullest possible expression of them. Because this is what we chose. Every single time the choice was presented."

Pip: That's the turn the whole piece hinges on — not outrage at a single bad decision, but the argument that the decision is consistent. The football coach making forty times what the physics professor makes. The Nobel laureate's school getting a budget cut while the state championship school gets a parade.

Mara: The military spending section makes the same case in harder numbers: more spent on defense than the next ten countries combined, while veterans sleep on the streets of the cities they returned to.

Pip: Rome had bread and circuses. The post's version lands a little differently.

Mara: "Rome had bread and circuses. We Americans have food stamps and a wrestling ring outside the Oval Office." That's the closing image, and it earns its place.

Pip: Two hundred and fifty years is a long time to confuse the noise you make with the work you never did.

Mara: The question the post leaves open is whether naming it clearly is the first step toward something else. We'll see what comes next.

Watergate vs. Today’s Political Climate

On By TonyIn Belief, Elections, History, PoliticsLeave a comment

When Watergate Looks Cute

Yesterday I flew back from a work trip in Iceland.

One of the interesting things about traveling internationally is that people inevitably ask questions about America. They ask about our politics, our economy, our culture, and increasingly, Donald Trump. This wasn’t the first time I’ve found myself trying to explain the Trump administration to people overseas, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

The question is usually some variation of the same thing:

“How can Americans allow this to happen?”

It’s a fair question.

The uncomfortable answer is that many Americans aren’t allowing it. Millions of us have voted against it repeatedly. Millions more have protested it, written about it, organized against it, and warned about it. But our system was designed with checks and balances that require institutions to do their jobs.

Right now, Congress largely isn’t.

The founders envisioned Congress as a co-equal branch of government capable of checking presidential power. Instead, it has become increasingly polarized, increasingly dysfunctional, and increasingly unwilling to challenge presidents from its own party.

The growth of executive power didn’t start with Donald Trump. Every administration since Reagan has expanded the authority of the presidency in one way or another. Democrats did it. Republicans did it. Congress often stood by and watched.

Trump simply took that trend and put it on steroids. Like everything he does, he turned it up to 11.

On the flight home, I was looking for something to have on as background noise while finishing some work on my laptop. I settled on All the President’s Men, the classic film about the Watergate scandal.

Movie poster for 'All The President's Men' featuring two men in suits looking serious, with a background of newspaper text.

I hadn’t seen it in more than a decade. As the movie played, I found myself thinking something I never expected to think: Watergate almost looked cute.

Not because it wasn’t serious. It was. Nixon’s operatives infiltrated the Democratic Party, engaged in political espionage, and attempted to manipulate an election. The cover-up ultimately brought down a president.

At the time, Americans were horrified.

Republicans and Democrats alike eventually concluded that what Nixon had done was unacceptable. Members of his own party confronted him. The institutions worked. The rule of law prevailed.

Front page of The Washington Post from June 19, 1972, featuring headlines about the Watergate scandal, including 'GOP Security Aide Among 5 Arrested In Bugging Affair' and 'FBI Finds Nixon Aides Sabotaged Democrats'.

Now compare that to where we are today.

A sitting president lost an election and spent months spreading lies about voter fraud. Those lies culminated in a violent attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. A mob assaulted police officers, smashed windows, hunted elected officials, and attempted to stop the peaceful transfer of power that has defined American democracy for nearly 250 years.

A large crowd of protesters gathering outside a building, some holding flags, while smoke fills the air and police are present on the upper levels.
FILE PHOTO: Police release tear gas into a crowd of pro-Trump protesters during clashes at a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

Think about that for a moment.

Watergate involved burglars breaking into an office building. January 6 involved thousands of people attacking the Capitol itself!

Yet somehow, in today’s political environment, the latter is treated by many as a partisan disagreement rather than an assault on democracy.

Many participants were investigated, prosecuted, and convicted. Then Trump returned to office and pardoned them! That is INSANE! Not just because I do not agree with it. BUT A SITTING PRESIDENT WHO TALKED ABOUT LAND AND ORDER PARDONED PEOPLE WHO ASSAULTED POLICE OFFICERS. Now Trump and his allies have even discussed mechanisms to compensate participants for what they describe as unjust prosecutions.

You can’t justify that to your neighbor here. Can you imagine explaining that to someone in Iceland? How can the generation who lived through Watergate explain it to themselves?

The alarming reality is that the scandal that brought down Nixon would barely survive a single news cycle today. I find that terrifying.

The corruption isn’t just the actions themselves. It is the normalization of behavior that previous generations would have found unthinkable.

  • Conflicts of interest that would have triggered investigations are now shrugged off.
  • Attempts to pressure institutions are dismissed as politics.
  • Open attacks on judges, prosecutors, journalists, and civil servants have become routine.
  • The outrage has been exhausted.
  • The public has become numb.

That may be Trump’s greatest achievement—not convincing Americans that corruption is acceptable, but convincing many that it is inevitable.

I don’t believe that. I cannot accept that.

I still believe most Americans, regardless of party, want honest government. I still believe most Americans value the Constitution more than any politician. I still believe most Americans understand that loyalty to a country must always come before loyalty to a leader.

But belief isn’t enough.

The institutions that protect democracy only work when the people inside them have the courage to defend them.

Congress was designed to be one of those institutions.

Right now, it is failing that test. And until it finds the courage to act like a co-equal branch of government again, Americans will continue finding themselves overseas, trying to explain the unexplainable.

Trying to answer a question that becomes harder every day:

How did we get to the point where Watergate looks small?

More importantly, what are we going to do about it?

Congress must start acting like an independent branch of government again, not a cheering section for whichever party happens to hold power. Lawmakers of both parties need to remember that their oath is to the Constitution, not to a president, a party leader, or a political movement. Oversight is not optional. Accountability is not partisan. Defending democratic institutions is the job they were elected to do.

And for the rest of us, the responsibility is just as real.

We cannot afford to reward cowardice. We cannot keep sending politicians back to Washington who remain silent when principles are tested. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or something else entirely, demand more from the people who ask for your vote.

Vote for people with the backbone to tell their own side when it is wrong. Vote for people who will defend the rule of law even when it is politically inconvenient. Vote for people who put country before party and Constitution before career.

Because if enough Americans do that, then maybe someday the question people ask overseas will change.

Instead of asking how Americans allowed this to happen, they might ask how Americans found the courage to stop it.

The growing concentration of power in the presidency will not be solved by the White House alone—it requires Congress to step up and fulfill its constitutional responsibilities. This fall, voters have an opportunity to demand that change. If you are unhappy with the direction of the country, make your voice heard at the ballot box. As I travel, I find myself increasingly frustrated trying to explain the state of American politics. I remember when conversations about the United States centered on its innovation, opportunity, and democratic ideals. Today, too often, those discussions are overshadowed by concerns about political dysfunction, corruption, and a government that seems unable or unwilling to address the challenges facing the nation.

And – NO. I am not running for anything.

Smiling man in a blue blazer and white shirt seated, with a dark background.

America at 250

On By TonyIn economy, Education, History, PoliticsLeave a comment

My work has me traveling to other countries quite frequently (I am actually writing this from Iceland). I am proud to be an American, but it has become harder and harder to explain where we are at.

I have never read a more brutally honest assessment of who we are and what we’ve become.

OLIVER KORNETZKE

250 years. Two hundred and fifty fucking years of the most powerful, most resourced, most theoretically capable nation in the history of human civilization and here is what we have to show for it.

Forty million people on food stamps, thirty million without health insurance, the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, the highest incarceration rate on earth, an opioid crisis that has killed over half a million people and counting, a housing market so broken that working people cannot afford to live in the cities they work in, an education system that buries young people in debt before they earn their first dollar, infrastructure that is literally collapsing, a life expectancy that is going backwards, a political system so thoroughly purchased by concentrated wealth that the laws it produces bear almost no relationship to what the public actually wants or needs, a working class that has not seen meaningful real wage growth in thirty years, a mental health crisis so severe we normalized it, a gun violence epidemic so routine we don’t even act when preschoolers are slaughtered, and a climate hurtling toward catastrophe while the people paid to address it collect checks from the industry causing it.

Two hundred and fifty years of that. And to celebrate, we built a wrestling arena on the White House lawn.

Not a hospital, or a school, or a housing development. Not a single fucking thing that addresses a single goddamn item on the list above. A wrestling arena. With cranes and pyrotechnics and a steel arch that probably cost more than the annual budget of three rural counties combined, erected in front of the building where Lincoln and Roosevelt and every president who ever tried to make any of this mean something once lived and worked and in some cases died trying.

Truthfully, this is not a departure from American values. This is the fullest possible expression of them. Because this is what we chose. Every single time the choice was presented.

We built a culture where a football coach makes forty times what a physics professor makes and then express genuine bewilderment at the outcomes. Where a reality television star becomes president and a school district cuts its art program in the same fiscal year. Where children know every statistic of every player on their favorite sport team and cannot locate their own country on a map. Where scientific consensus on vaccines, climate, evolution, and basic nutrition gets weighed against a Facebook post and the Facebook post wins at the dinner table. Where the school that wins the state championship gets a parade and the school that produces a Nobel laureate gets a budget cut.

We chose the bomber over the teacher. The tank over the clinic. The aircraft carrier over the water treatment plant. We spend more on military than the next ten countries combined, including our allies, while veterans sleep on the streets of the cities they came back to. We built the most expensive killing apparatus in human history and then told the nurse she made too much money. We sent young men to die in wars that made defense contractors rich and called it freedom and put a yellow ribbon magnet on the back of the car and called that support. We made the soldier and the police officer into sacred untouchable symbols of national identity and then cut their benefits, denied their PTSD claims, let them die waiting for VA appointments, and sent them back for third and fourth tours because it was cheaper than taking care of them when they came home. We worshipped the uniform and neglected the human inside it because the uniform is a symbol and symbols are cheaper than healthcare and housing and the therapy that would actually help. We built bases in a hundred and fifty countries and could not build enough affordable housing in fifty states. We funded a military budget that could have ended homelessness and medical debt and student debt several times over and we did it with bipartisan enthusiasm and called the people who questioned it unserious.

We chose entertainment over education so many times and for so long and at every available level of society that we forgot there was a distinction worth making. Spectacle over substance, performance over policy, the aesthetics of greatness in place of the actual thing, and the feeling of winning instead of asking what was being won and who was paying for it and what it would cost the people who came next.

Rome had bread and circuses. We Americans have food stamps and a wrestling ring outside the Oval Office.

250 years. This is what we built. This is what we chose. This is what we are celebrating. And the most perfectly, catastrophically, irreducibly American thing about all of it is that anyone pointing at this image and asking what it means will be called unpatriotic by people watching it on a television they bought on credit they cannot afford to pay back, rooting for a sport they cannot explain, in a country they cannot describe, celebrating a birthday they cannot contextualize, for a nation that has spent two and a half centuries confusing the noise it makes with the work it never did, all while claiming to be the greatest country on Earth.

Happy Birthday America! You have never looked more like yourself!