When you hire stupid people instead of those qualified to actually do the job then … well hey, we all got a very public demonstration of that in action this past week. I don’t even need to tell you what happened, you immediately know what I’m on about.
Trump as always promised “the best and brightest” and again as he always does, he delivers dumb and dumber. A journalist was given access to highly sensitive attack plans that are normally only available to people using a public bathroom at Mar-a-Lago. When the news breaks, as expected they lied about what was said and suggested he was a sleazebag reporter that had hacked in. With that trap set, he then does the reveal and provided clear evidence that they added him, and did indeed share classified details.
Discussing attack plans on an unsecured civilian app. This is what happens when you put atrociously incompetent people in positions of immense power and importance, and yes it is indeed making a deafening siren call to … “but her emails“.
The initial reactions are exactly what you might anticipate …
Oh, and let’s to forget that Tulsi ((R-Moscow) was also in the chat …
… and as a quick reminder from just two weeks ago …
What is rather clear from all this is that the following is now an encapsulation of 2025 …
And of course we got the blaming of Jeffrey Goldberg for his administration’s mistakes, just like clockwork. These guys are so predictable …
- That would be “hacked” as in “Invited to join the chat by a high-ranking Republican official”.
- What does it say about them that they willingly used an app that can be (according to them) very easily hacked by a “third-rate has-been sleazebag“. If indeed it is that easy to hack, then you can be damn sure that China, Russia, and others have done so.
Here is the initial revelation – The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, March 24 – The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans … (Gift Link)
The world found out shortly before 2 p.m. eastern time on March 15 that the United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen.
I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing.
…
It immediately crossed my mind that someone could be masquerading as Waltz in order to somehow entrap me. It is not at all uncommon these days for nefarious actors to try to induce journalists to share information that could be used against them.
…
I consulted a number of colleagues. We discussed the possibility that these texts were part of a disinformation campaign, initiated by either a foreign intelligence service or, more likely, a media-gadfly organization, the sort of group that attempts to place journalists in embarrassing positions, and sometimes succeeds. I had very strong doubts that this text group was real, because I could not believe that the national-security leadership of the United States would communicate on Signal about imminent war plans. I also could not believe that the national security adviser to the president would be so reckless as to include the editor in chief of The Atlantic in such discussions with senior U.S. officials, up to and including the vice president.
…
Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing
Read the full article for lots more details, including screenshots.
One very glaring fact that we have now all seen play out is that they are utterly incapable of admitting that they made a mistake. This reveals them to be a group of people who are totally out of their depth, deeply incompetent, and very very stupid.
They lied with the claim that he had hacked in. Here is the screenshot that reveals that to be a lie …
They lied with the claim that no war plans had been shared. Here are all the attack details that were shared in advance of the operation …
There was then the followup. Here is a link to all the details published within The Atlantic on Wednesday 26th – Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal
What can one say expect perhaps to simply welcome you to the realisation that this is now officially the Dunning-Kruger Administration.
Has any other crazy stuff happened during the past week?
Oh come now, as always you need not even ask, “utter lunacy blended with raw stupidity” is all they have got.
Multiple layers of Lunacy and utter incompetence
So back to the goals of the “war plans”, how that actually worked out is yet another level of incompetence …
- Targeting an individual for assassination at a building known to be his romantic partner’s residence by collapsing the whole structure and slaughtering everybody there seems to me to fall squarely within the Geneva Convention’s prohibition on targeting civilian objects, and probably other defined war crimes as well
- For the phrase “War Plans”, they simply forgot to put the word “Crime” in the middle there.
Moving on, this is now our new normal …
- That’s what happens when we let the dumbest psychos in the country take over.
- Key words here are “done with no knowledge.” – that’s the theme for this administration!
However, with all that “fraud” being uncovered we are getting lots of arrests … right?
Of course not because there is no fraud…
Also making sure they keep it all in the family now …
- White boy mediocrity at its finest. Figuring his brother won’t tell when he takes a swig from his flask.
- DEI is a threat to the mediocre white man and the old boys network, that is why is terrifies them and motivates them to obliterate it.
- Link to video here.
- Her name is Rumeysa Ozturk, she’s a student from Turkey, and even her lawyer doesn’t know where she is right now. Her “Crime” was to write an article in a student newspaper that called for “the equal dignity and humanity of all people,” including Palestinians.
- She was not here illegally, she had a valid F-1 student visa, but because of her “crime” her visa has been cancelled.
- More details here.
- Note that the ICE agents wear masks because they know what they are doing is wrong. They don’t want to be identified and named in Civil and criminal lawsuits.
- Luckily they are not puppies, so she did not shoot them.
“You’re Here Because of Your Tattoos”
- Details in Mother Jones of the above and many other similar stories.
- Based on this, what prison will Hegseth be sentenced to with his radicalized anti-American tattoos?
- I also wander if this is what the latino community had in mind when they voted in such big numbers for Trump
Free Speech is dead and buried
- It’s not just that the free speech chorus was a bunch of fucking hypocrites, though they were. It’s that the very anti-woke reactionary energy that they stirred up is precisely the energy that is being used to annihilate speech on campus now.
- When they said that a big issue for them was “free speech on college campuses” they failed to mention that they were anti.
- “Persons being deported may be sent to countries other than their country of origin.” That’s not deportation, that’s human trafficking.
- You know the impact to this. Foreign students will predictably stop coming here. In fact, Everyone will stop coming here.
Canada
The relationship is over and they are moving on …
- And just like that, nations that were our friends no longer want to have anything to do with us. That is not making us great.
- Trump has successfully destroyed the relationship with our closest ally – It’s a nearly impossible feat. A bit like bankrupting a casino!
- When faced with an abuser Canada made exactly the right move, they said “No” and have walked away.
National Park destruction
- Link to article.
- Quote from article: “There is no way they can accommodate current visitation levels without additional staff support during the peak season.”He worries that park employees and management will be put in an impossible position. “This is one of America’s greatest treasures,” he wrote, “and these reckless actions jeopardize its future.”
- Side note: a picture taken at the above point is the background on my Mac. Yosemite is one of my favourite parks and I have many happy memories of hiking there with my kids.
Deep Hostility
In response to being asked to comment on SignalGate by a UK reporter …
- Journalist was calm and professional in the face of a pathetic, childish tantrum. She is a credit to British journalism. How any adult – let alone a politician – can behave in such a way and not be embarrassed is beyond me. MTG has the temperament of a toddler
- It’s a rather extraordinary accomplishment but Marjorie Taylor-Greene has managed to establish herself as one of the few people in the Trump entourage who is more unpleasant than the man himself.
Negative 4 Security Clearance
It is truly a wonderful time to be alive if you delight in the absurd …
- Has she revoked Jeffrey Goldberg’s clearance yet?
- Irony Alert: None of those in the Signal group chat got a proper security clearance (which happens when you do a proper background check) … not one of them, none, nada.
- Next week she will also be revoking his Blockbuster card.
Christian Nationalists
The nuttier right-wing religious fanatics within the cult are as always doing their thing.
- So who wants to explain to him that Patton is rather famous for going into battle against Nazis.
- I also don’t think George has bone spurs.
Well hey, did you miss seeing an entry last week from Christian nationalists Joel Webbon, the guy with the smallest church in Texas, but the biggest mouth. He makes up for it this week when along with Wesley Todd he urges the government to literally seize the property of “wicked” and “apostate” churches and redistribute it “faithful” ones: “You’re out on the street instead of jail or the guillotine. That is the moderate position.”
- For the record a “wicked and apostate” church would be any church that actually practises the teachings of Jesus.
- There is indeed a jerk in this conversation … and it’s not Mr Goldberg.
- Not sure Mr Goldberg can be called a “Peeping Tom” – they flashed him.
Joshua Haymes declares that “by the grace of God We WILL pass laws that legislate women’s bodies.“
- The Dark Ages beckons.
- He can’t, because it did not. Barton as usual is deceiving with a manufactured lie designed to manipulate his target demographic.
Meanwhile Tim Barton, son of David Barton above, claims that if you just ignore a bunch of statistics about how deadly firearms are, then it turns out that guns are not particularly deadly!
- Yes indeed, gasp in awe as this pioneer of stupidity proceeds to push out into the wilderness of ignorance and colonise previously unexplored regions of cluelessness.
The False Profit$
- Are there really people stupid enough to fall for this? (Yea, sorry, my perpetual reminder is that we are talking about Trump voters)
- The one thing we do learn here is that the old scam of selling indulgences is alive and well. Where is Martin Luther when you need him.
- As for it costing $1,000, if you google the term “Angel Escorts” you will discover that it costs far less.
- His entire stream of income depends upon him never ever admitting that he was wrong. He does not need to convince you, just his donors.
Weirdest of the Weird
- Hey Mike, name just one GOP members who has held a town hall event that was “fun”?
- Reality – He said this from an undisclosed bunker.
Political Cartoons from the past week
As always, there are many excellent cartoons. Here are a few samples. Each comes with a link to the cartoonist putting the cartoon out via BlueSky. If you are on Bluesky then you can use the link to follow them.
Media Sanewashing of Tyranny
Very blatant in-your-face corruption …
… and of course once initially pumped, the marks promptly lost their shirt …
- In the world of Grifting Olympics he takes all the prizes. Never trust anyone with a gold toilet, a silver spoon, and a bronze face!
- Politico, WaPo and NYT are simply refusing to cover this corruption. NYT wrote 35 articles speculating on the POSSIBLE corruption of Clinton Foundation. Which was never found … yet they all remain silent regarding this.
Meanwhile Mt Black’s question for the NYT is a rather good one …
- The NYT telling anyone to self reflect is hilarious. They did this. They need to own it.
This … seriously now, we need lots more of this …
Some really are charting a good way forward …
… but they are still divided …
- When dems say they want a “big tent” so as not to “alienate anybody,” they’re not referring to voters. They’re talking about wealthy donors. So prepare for candidate Newsome to lose every swing state. At this point I think they could even lose the midterms if it weren’t for Sanders, AOC, and a few others.
Interesting Thoughts
- A ton of media (and academic and political and etc) elites fell for the lore and thought conservatives were intellectuals even though it was always pretty clear they were just wrapping their authoritarian desires in pages torn out of a thesaurus.
- The minute the New Deal started conservatives were like “it’s only a matter of a few years before we go full communism” and yet, somehow, we never got within earshot of full communism. Meanwhile, all it took was electing one Black president and within a few years we’ve got Nazi salutes at CPAC.
Finally
Since it is a hot topic, then here is a quick primer on how to use Signal. Now trust me on this, reading the below is well worth the time because it is a work of art …
Text Stop …
Some good advice …
Bonus Item – Six small morsels of hope
What is fast becoming a welcomed bonus item is Robert Reich’s weekly list of. Here is this week’s list …
- Voters are furious.
- Bernie and AOC are drawing record crowds.
- April 5 protests are planned everywhere.
- Trump is fumbling on all fronts.
- Trump’s polls are plummeting.
- The courts continue to hold Trump and Musk in check, but for how long?
Here is his full substack posting that covers each of the above in more detail.