There is a difference between inheritance and action. I cannot help who my ancestors are, but I can make my own choices. That so many Americans chose to place in power a man who holds people in contempt on the basis of race, religion, and national origin; that so much of the mainstream media conveys this bigotry through tired, obfuscating euphemisms; that there is so low a political price for the president’s racism that he and those around him see little risk in its expression—well, that does say something about America, and Americans. Immigration isn’t breaking our society. That’s a job Americans can do on their own.

Pete Hegseth risked American lives. He should be removed from his office; in a better government, he would have to deal with legal charges. (Other senior U.S. leaders have faced charges for far less serious breaches.) Such possibilities may seem irrelevant now that he faces even more severe accusations of being a murderer or war criminal, but the Trump administration as a general principle views any acknowledgements of responsibility from its people or its leader as a surrender to the president’s political enemies. Hegseth remains in a position he has dishonored, because he does not have the decency to resign—and Trump, so far, does not have the decency to fire him.