We are worrying about the wrong things
Even the BIG screwups are a distraction from something worse.
Should we be scandalized by the casual war planning that top Trump administration officials recently conducted in an unsecure group chat, like so many undergrads planning to meet up at the coffee house? We know about it because they accidentally included Atlantic magazine Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg (to quote Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, “Oopsie!”) But who among us hasn’t ‘replied all’ when we meant only to reply, right? Donald Trump said that his National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, who was on the chat, didn’t need to apologize for the shocking lapse because after all, he was “doing his best.” Republican Senator of Louisiana John Kennedy (no relation) shrugged it off, saying, “I don’t think most Americans care one way or another.”
Non-Republican Americans do care, though. Pete Buttigieg, former United States Navy Officer and Secretary of Transportation in the Biden administration, delivered an uncharacteristically scathing verdict on the error: “From an operational security perspective, this is the highest level of fuckup imaginable.” He concluded, “These people cannot keep America safe.” He is not alone in his horror.
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The internet, though (and of course) has exploded with memes. In the interest of keeping our spirits up, here are a few to enjoy:
You’re welcome.
But seriously, there are two other things to worry about other than Signal being an entirely hackable messaging app. No, there are at least three. I’ll probably think of a fourth before I’m at the end of this sentence.
Number One: Jonathan V. Last points out that “the Presidential Records Act and the Federal Records Act require preservation of official communications within the executive branch.” The Presidential Records Act of 1978, passed by Congress back when Congress passed things, states that “any records created or received by the President as part of his constitutional, statutory, or ceremonial duties are the property of the United States government and will be managed by NARA [the National Archives and Records Administration] at the end of the administration.” Presumably bombing other countries falls into the category of official action, although Trump himself was conspicuously absent from the chat. Keeping records of what presidents and their designees are up to is useful for 1) holding them accountable, and 2) history. The Signal app is the worst of two worlds: easily hacked by bad actors (or editors-in-chief who are just minding their own business) but NOT AN OFFICIAL RECORD OF ANYTHING.
Number Two: Why are we bombing Yemen?! We are not at war with Yemen. It apparently has something to do with the Red Sea and with Gaza, but maybe mostly with Trump recently designating the Houthis in Yemen a "Foreign Terrorist Organization” and telling them in his usual statesmanlike manner, “HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE.”
‘Terrorist’ has replaced Trump’s previous favorite word that starts with a T (Tariffs). His administration also recently designated 238 Venezuelan men as terrorists and gang members without bothering to provide proof or due process, and invoked the wartime powers of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (we are not at war with Venezuela) in order to hustle the men off to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
Number Three: Please also note that we aren’t even talking about Mahmoud Khalil anymore. According to Trump, Khalil is a terrorist too because he protested in favor of a free Palestine and against the ongoing murder of Palestinians in Gaza. Khalil was arrested in New York and whisked off to a notorious detention center (notorious confinement facilities abound) in Jena, Louisiana, where he remains. Trump’s Department of Justice is currently fabricating further charges against Khalil in order to strip him of his permanent legal resident status and to deport him, to Palestine one assumes, which is (as Khalil has pointed out) a war zone.
So to recap: the things we are worrying about right now will shortly be replaced with even more horrible things to worry about which will distract us from the previous horrible things which, in retrospect, might not even seem that horrible at all, at least compared with the new nightmare.
If at all possible, we must look out for the patterns that emerge and for the between-the-lines mischief so often obscured by the bold print, all-caps shouting of this president and his people. The worst things of all might be hiding in plain sight.
Sources:
Cursino, Malu. “US launches wave of air strikes on Yemen's Houthis.” BBC, 16 March 2025, www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05mvr3j3yro.
Fortinsky, Sarah. “Buttigieg assails leak as ‘highest level of f‑‑‑up imaginable’.” The Hill, Nexstar Media Inc., 25 Mar. 2025, thehill.com/homenews/administration/5211587-buttigieg-assails-leak-as-highest-level-of-f-up-imaginable/.
Jimison, Robert. “Republicans in Congress React to Signal Chat Leak With Collective Shrug.” New York Times, 25 Mar. 2025, www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/us/politics/republicans-congress-signal-leak.html.
Last, Jonathan V. “Our Semi-Authoritarian State.” The Bulwark, Bulwark Media, 25 Mar. 2025, www.thebulwark.com/p/our-semi-authoritarian-state.
Misick, Bobbi-Jean. “Mahmoud Khalil still detained in notorious Louisiana detention center as case is moved to New Jersey.” Louisiana Illuminator, States Newsroom, 21 Mar. 2025, lailluminator.com/2025/03/21/mahmoud-khalil/.
“The Presidential Records Act.” National Archives and Records Administration, /www.archives.gov/news/topics/presidential-records-act?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email.
Superville, Darlene. “Trump says Waltz doesn’t need to apologize for Signal flap.” Associated Press, 25 Mar. 2025, apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-3-25-2025#00000195-cebc-d424-afd5-cfffea940000.