Yesterday Pete Hegseth delivered the Pentagon’s “State of the Force” address. Which was not a thing that existed in American government, as far as I can tell, until he made it a thing last year with his Strangelovian turn before a roomful of generals and admirals in Virginia.

\n $\"Photo$ \n

Nick Catoggio is a staff writer at The Dispatch and is based in Texas. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he spent 16 years gradually alienating a populist readership at Hot Air. When Nick isn’t busy writing a daily newsletter on politics, he’s … probably planning the next day’s newsletter.

You’re reading Boiling Frogs, Nick Catoggio’s daily newsletter featuring sharp, introspective commentary on populism, polarization, and the gradual erosion of American conservatism.

","freeContentEncoded","textContent","published","strategy","curl-ready","locked","deletedAt","isSyncedFromOwnBlog","original","duplicatesCount",0,"duplicateVersion","originalArticleId","errorsCount","appearance","color","backgroundColor","shortSummary","Pete Hegseth created the Pentagon's \"State of the Force\" address last year. Nick Catoggio writes the \"Boiling Frogs\" newsletter.","summary","Pete Hegseth established the Pentagon's \"State of the Force\" address last year. Nick Catoggio, a staff writer at The Dispatch, writes a daily newsletter called \"Boiling Frogs.\" The newsletter focuses on populism, polarization, and the erosion of American conservatism.","bullets",[363,364,365,366,367],"persons",[361,362],"places",[359,360],"words",97,"sentiment","subject","politics","meta",{"_321":322,"_323":324,"_325":326},"eventId","5afd1ee88f717f8b185f6151f3116492dc9e2b93cc56215c043a1701d698bdeb","nostrRootEvent","event",{"_24":257,"_286":309,"_136":94,"_184":310,"_290":291,"_218":311,"_293":312},"authorNPub","markdown","Yesterday Pete Hegseth delivered the Pentagon’s “State of the Force” address. Which was not a thing that existed in American government, as far as I can tell, until he made it a thing last year with his [Strangelovian turn](https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/boilingfrogs/hegseth-trump-military-authoritarianism-cringe/) before a roomful of generals and admirals in Virginia.\n\n![Photo of Nick Catoggio](https://i0.wp.com/thedispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Nick-Catoggio.png?w=120&strip=all&ssl=1)\n\n[Nick Catoggio](https://thedispatch.com/author/nick-catoggio)\n\nNick Catoggio is a staff writer at The Dispatch and is based in Texas. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he spent 16 years gradually alienating a populist readership at Hot Air. When Nick isn’t busy writing a daily newsletter on politics, he’s … probably planning the next day’s newsletter.\n\nYou’re reading **Boiling Frogs**, Nick Catoggio’s daily newsletter featuring sharp, introspective commentary on populism, polarization, and the gradual erosion of American conservatism.\n\n* * *","freeMarkdown","kind1EventId","kind30023EventId","5264cec8ee56556b1a8951f5fd195625544b8ca6c8c72a1382349023cb7c3fe3","kind30023",{"_24":267,"_286":287,"_136":288,"_184":289,"_290":291,"_218":292,"_293":294},"publishedToNostr","htmlContentKind30023","

$\"Photo$

Nick Catoggio

You’re reading Boiling Frogs, Nick Catoggio’s daily newsletter featuring sharp, introspective commentary on populism, polarization, and the gradual erosion of American conservatism.

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