Is the US Navy the new Bud Light?

Cockburn spotted a news story this morning that had him spitting out his breakfast cocktail of bourbon and vicodin (difficult to do these days). He read that the US Navy has appointed a nonbinary drag queen, “Harpy Daniels” as a “digital ambassador” charged with recruiting new members to the military. Cockburn’s brief time in Navy Yard means that he knows sailors have unorthodox tastes, but come on.

Surely, this must be the handiwork of some rogue underling with access to the Navy’s TikTok password — although isn’t TikTok banned on official military devices? In the wake of the Dylan Mulvaney backlash, which has seen Bud Light stock plummet 17 percent since partnering with the trans activist, could this really have been an edict from the Navy’s top brass?

Yet apparently, Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, known on stage as “Harpy Daniels” (not to be confused with Stormy), has indeed been a digital ambassador for the Navy since November 2022. A Navy spokesman told the Mail Online that “the digital ambassador program was a pilot that ended in March 2023.” In the time since, Daniels has been, appropriately enough, cosplaying as Sailor Moon (not an official rank within the US Navy).

Hung Cao, a retired Navy Captain who served in special operations for twenty-five years, wrote for The Spectator last week about the US military’s recruitment crisis and the Biden Defense Department’s obsession with politically correct policies. Cao revealed that, “In fiscal year 2022, the Army missed its recruitment goals by 25 percent. The Navy was able to barely meet its quota by rolling forward recruits and padding their numbers before the end of the fiscal year.”

“Harpy Daniels,” reports the Mail, “has a large following on TikTok where she has been sharing videos of her drag performances on-board Navy ships for years.” Cockburn knows that Americans want their military to strike fear in the hearts of their enemies… is this what they had in mind?

Too few drag queens in uniform has not been a problem for the US military, historically. But as Cao wrote, “If we want to turn the tide on the impending national security threat we face from historically low recruitment numbers, then we must go back to a blind recruiting standard where race, sex and sexual orientation do not matter, because things like death, hardship and war are indiscriminate.” Could becoming the Bud Light of the High Seas backfire? Maybe in the months to come, RuPaul will be leading an elite squadron of sequined SEALs in drills in the South China Sea. Sissy that walk, seaman!