“Maximum”

[The New York Times , March 13, 2026.]

This headline is nearly a crash blossom, but of more interest to me is its use of quotation marks. The term “maximum authorities” seems to have originated with Pete Hegseth. Placing only the word maximum in quotation marks makes everything here a little less odd. A more honest headline might read “Hegseth’s Boasts of ‘Maximum Authorities’ in War Face Scrutiny After School Is Hit.”

War crimes r us.

*

The Times has rewritten the headline on its home page: “Defense Secretary’s Views on Rules of War Face Scrutiny After School Strike.”

[“Engagement authority” is a genuine military term. “Maximum authorities,” as in Hegseth’s “Our warfighters have maximum authorities granted personally by the president and yours truly,” is not.]