"Ignorance is strength" — George Orwell, 1984
Posting to the Signal group chat published by the Atlantic, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sounded like one of my grandchildren playing a video game:
“Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch…Trigger-based F-18 1st strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME) — also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s).”
And so it goes. But while the Trump team played their war games, Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was listening in.
And that’s a good thing. Hegseth is in way over his head, which is not a surprise given his lack of experience. He also lacks the maturity to admit that mistakes were made in this case. Instead, he remains defensive and defiant, giving the scandal new life and keeping it in the headlines.
Although he may survive for a while, I suspect Hegseth’s days are numbered. He’s not up to the job, and when it comes to that, he has plenty of competition in Trump’s Cabinet of the Mediocre.
One big problem with this administration is that it is based on ignorance. George Orwell foresaw the danger of this type of regime and tried to warn us 76 years ago. The question for Americans in 2025 is are we finally beginning to listen?
HEADLINES:
The Trump Team’s Denials Are Laughable (Atlantic)
‘The White House is in denial': A Republican rejects the latest group-chat deflections (Politico)
Trump Administration Live Updates: Intelligence Officials Grilled After More Signal Texts Are Released (NYT)
How the Signal transcript undermines key Trump administration claims (WP)
Disdain for Europe in US Signal chat horrifies EU (BBC)
Schumer says Hegseth should be fired (The Hill)
Hegseth’s Leak Would Have Warned the Enemy. The White House Is Using Semantics to Obscure That. (NYT)
They Lied, Again (Mother Jones)
Judge who ruled against Trump deportation flights will oversee Signal lawsuit (Axios)
Hegseth faces renewed scrutiny after Signal chat disclosures (WP)
What the Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mega-rallies are really about (Politico)
Measles cases rise to 370 in Texas and New Mexico, say state health departments (Reuters)
DOGE says it needs to know the government's most sensitive data, but can't say why (NPR)
DOGE staffer 'Big Balls' provided tech support to cybercrime ring, records show (Reuters)
Trump signs order seeking to overhaul US elections (AP)
PBS and NPR Prepare for Showdown With Congress (NYT)
Appeals court upholds temporary block on Alien Enemies Act deportations (WP)
Supreme Court upholds rules requiring background checks for ‘ghost guns’ (CNN)
Hundreds join Gaza's largest anti-Hamas protest since war began (BBC)
Trump's Black Sea truce plan is a 'gift to Russia' that risks undermining sanctions, analysts warn (NBC)
How Trump’s policies have helped Russia and furthered Putin’s goals (WP)
NATO chief appeals for unity as Europe builds its armies and the US eyes security threats elsewhere (AP)
Three Hundred Years Later, a Tool from Isaac Newton Gets an Update (Quanta)
NIH Ends Future Funding to Study the Health Effects of Climate Change (ProPublica)
We asked 5 AI bots to write tough emails. One beat a human. (WP)
Inside A.I.’s Super Bowl: Nvidia Dreams of a Robot Future (NYT)
Taylor & Francis has announced it will produce AI generated, and human
reviewed, translations of non English academic works to expand their
access (Publisher’s Weekly)JD Vance Begins To Suspect There Another Group Chat (The Onion)
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