At a moment when the entire nation is still wondering exactly why we got into the war with Iran a month ago, what’s left to do militarily and how we’ll ever get out, the Pentagon is holding a press conference this morning.

Sec Def Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dan Caine open with more than 20 straight minutes of detailed descriptions of the bravery, enthusiasm, competence, innovative imagination and humility of our troops—about which few Americans need convincing—and then another 20, dodging planted questions about the strategy—which every American does need to understand.

The liars who ran the Vietnam war had more compunction. You could see the doubt in their lying eyes. The flicker of dread that that even a lying child has, who knows: Every one of these words I’m saying, I will have to eat.

Not these guys.

And yes, I revised my headline. Because these guys aren’t idiots. They are something much worse. And they are so unworthy of the troops they celebrate with their shallow words and ultimately humiliate with their breathtaking lack of integrity.