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Posted
2 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Since these were all white guys, we can blame this on DEI, right?

This latest screw up is the most karmic thing ever. After all of Trump’s and Elon’s misrepresentation DEI and boasting about his “meritocracy presidency”, the toxic admixture of his cabinet’s hubris and incompetence has been put on full display for the whole world to see. Pete Hegseth is worse than I imagined he could be. It would be funny were it not so serious.

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Posted
6 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

Came to post this.

The Atlantic (and Goldberg) just flopped their cocks out on the table.

 

 

 

 

 

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Yesterday, we asked officials across the Trump administration if they objected to us publishing the full texts. In emails to the Central Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the National Security Council, the Department of Defense, and the White House, we wrote, in part: “In light of statements today from multiple administration officials, including before the Senate Intelligence Committee, that the information in the Signal chain about the Houthi strike is not classified, and that it does not contain ‘war plans,’ The Atlantic is considering publishing the entirety of the Signal chain.”

We sent our first request for comment and feedback to national-security officials shortly after noon, and followed up in the evening after most failed to answer.

Late yesterday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt emailed a response: “As we have repeatedly stated, there was no classified information transmitted in the group chat. However, as the CIA Director and National Security Advisor have both expressed today, that does not mean we encourage the release of the conversation. This was intended to be a an [sic] internal and private deliberation amongst high-level senior staff and sensitive information was discussed. So for those reason [sic] — yes, we object to the release.” (The Leavitt statement did not address which elements of the texts the White House considered sensitive, or how, more than a week after the initial air strikes, their publication could have bearing on national security.)

A CIA spokesperson asked us to withhold the name of John Ratcliffe’s chief of staff, which Ratcliffe had shared in the Signal chain, because CIA intelligence officers are traditionally not publicly identified. Ratcliffe had testified earlier yesterday that the officer is not undercover and said it was “completely appropriate” to share their name in the Signal conversation. We will continue to withhold the name of the officer. Otherwise, the messages are unredacted.

As we wrote on Monday, much of the conversation in the “Houthi PC small group” concerned the timing and rationale of attacks on the Houthis, and contained remarks by Trump-administration officials about the alleged shortcomings of America’s European allies. But on the day of the attack—Saturday, March 15—the discussion veered toward the operational.

 

At 11:44 a.m. eastern time, Hegseth posted in the chat, in all caps, “TEAM UPDATE:”

The text beneath this began, “TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch.” Centcom, or Central Command, is the military’s combatant command for the Middle East. The Hegseth text continues:

“1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”
“1345: ‘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)”
Let us pause here for a moment to underscore a point. This Signal message shows that the U.S. secretary of defense texted a group that included a phone number unknown to him—Goldberg’s cellphone—at 11:44 a.m. This was 31 minutes before the first U.S. warplanes launched, and two hours and one minute before the beginning of a period in which a primary target, the Houthi “Target Terrorist,” was expected to be killed by these American aircraft. If this text had been received by someone hostile to American interests—or someone merely indiscreet, and with access to social media—the Houthis would have had time to prepare for what was meant to be a surprise attack on their strongholds. The consequences for American pilots could have been catastrophic.

The Hegseth text then continued:

“1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)”
“1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets)”
“1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”
“MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)”
“We are currently clean on OPSEC”—that is, operational security.
“Godspeed to our Warriors.”

 

At 1:48 p.m., Waltz sent the following text, containing real-time intelligence about conditions at an attack site, apparently in Sanaa: “VP. Building collapsed. Had multiple positive ID. Pete, Kurilla, the IC, amazing job.” Waltz was referring here to Hegseth; General Michael E. Kurilla, the commander of Central Command; and the intelligence community, or IC. The reference to “multiple positive ID” suggests that U.S. intelligence had ascertained the identities of the Houthi target, or targets, using either human or technical assets.

Six minutes later, the vice president, apparently confused by Waltz’s message, wrote, “What?”

At 2 p.m., Waltz responded: “Typing too fast. The first target – their top missile guy – we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.”

Vance responded a minute later: “Excellent.” Thirty-five minutes after that, Ratcliffe, the CIA director, wrote, “A good start,” which Waltz followed with a text containing a fist emoji, an American-flag emoji, and a fire emoji. The Houthi-run Yemeni health ministry reported that at least 53 people were killed in the strikes, a number that has not been independently verified.

Later that afternoon, Hegseth posted: “CENTCOM was/is on point.” Notably, he then told the group that attacks would be continuing. “Great job all. More strikes ongoing for hours tonight, and will provide full initial report tomorrow. But on time, on target, and good readouts so far.”

 

What's amusing is Ratcliffe did some word-parsing there.  I don't think he said much in the chat, therefore HE personally did not reveal any classified information.

Which raises another glaring point:  having substantive policy discussions by phone chat is completely normal to this confederacy of dunces.  Not one word from anyone to the effect of "why are we doing this by chat" or "is it good/proper to do this by chat?" while Hegseth is talking about leaks and OPSEC.

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Posted
3 minutes ago, Satchel said:

This latest screw up is the most karmic thing ever. After all of Trump’s and Elon’s misrepresentation DEI and boasting about his “meritocracy presidency”, the toxic admixture of his cabinet’s hubris and incompetence has been put on full display for the whole world to see. Pete Hegseth is worse than I imagined he could be. It would be funny were it not so serious.

Competent. White. Men.   And Tulsi.

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Posted
17 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

America is a joke. 

 

"Nobody was drinking champagne.  I saw the empty bottle this morning, it didn't look like champagne.  And as a matter of fact, they've even changed  to calling it sparkling wine.  Because they know it's not Champagne."

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Posted
29 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Dems circling the wagons around Hillary and making sure she had no consequences for her private server is the reason we're here today with the Trump admin using fucking Signal for national security info.

Look What the Dems Made Us Do 

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Posted
3 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

Look What the Dems Made Us Do 

Sure, that's how they would spin it, but let's be real.  She did it for the same reason they are doing it now.  They don't want records of those conversations on official government servers.  So here we are...

Posted
11 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Sure, that's how they would spin it, but let's be real.  She did it for the same reason they are doing it now.  They don't want records of those conversations on official government servers.  So here we are...

Is there a Project 2025 out there that HRC was following? 

idiotic conflation

Posted
1 minute ago, Gourmand said:

Is there a Project 2025 out there that HRC was following? 

idiotic conflation

Lol.  Not conflating anything, dude.  But if behavior is wrong, there needs to be consequences for doing it, regardless of which team you're on.  Otherwise, we end up here, at the logical endpoint where nothing goes through the government servers anymore so there's no official record of anything. 

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Posted
Just now, Chewbacca said:

Lol.  Not conflating anything, dude.  But if behavior is wrong, there needs to be consequences for doing it, regardless of which team you're on.  Otherwise, we end up here, at the logical endpoint where nothing goes through the government servers anymore so there's no official record of anything. 

Someone should look into Hillary's emails.

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Posted
27 minutes ago, Skipper said:

This is what is funny to me.   How do these guys still not understand that shit really only works for Trump.  Don't get me wrong, I don't understand how it consistently works for Trump but it does.  He's the only one in the MAGA world that gets the blind loyalty.  My initial reaction to Hegseth's initial interview was that it was just a really bad Trump impersonation (lie, deflect, blame the Libs).   Waltz the same thing.  I mean on one hand they don't really have any other cards to play in this instance, but it doesn't come as natural to anyone else like it does Trump and just doesn't work.

The thing is he won’t have fire any of these people if he doesn’t want to because there is ZERO accountability in Trump 2.0. There are no adults in the room. There is no third rail.

 

11 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Dems circling the wagons around Hillary and making sure she had no consequences for her private server is the reason we're here today with the Trump admin using fucking Signal for national security info.

Well, it did kind of cost her the election ultimately.

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Posted
5 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Lol.  Not conflating anything, dude.  But if behavior is wrong, there needs to be consequences for doing it, regardless of which team you're on.  Otherwise, we end up here, at the logical endpoint where nothing goes through the government servers anymore so there's no official record of anything. 

Good news. We didn’t let her be President and she’s never held another government job! 

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Posted
4 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Lol.  Not conflating anything, dude.  But if behavior is wrong, there needs to be consequences for doing it, regardless of which team you're on.  Otherwise, we end up here, at the logical endpoint where nothing goes through the government servers anymore so there's no official record of anything. 

It's as idiotic as comparing Biden's mishandling of classified information and the aftermath of that event with Trump's brazen criminality with his classified documents case.

Claiming that somehow this shit is the Dems fault is silly and stupid as fuck. 

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Posted
3 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

It's as idiotic as comparing Biden's mishandling of classified information and the aftermath of that event with Trump's brazen criminality with his classified documents case.

Claiming that somehow this shit is the Dems fault is silly and stupid as fuck. 

When you won't hold your own people accountable, how can you expect to ever hold anyone accountable?

I'm referring specifically to the use of Signal and other outside normal channels communications here.  Not the rest of the shit show we're watching.

Posted
30 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Sure, that's how they would spin it, but let's be real.  She did it for the same reason they are doing it now.  They don't want records of those conversations on official government servers.  So here we are...

I don’t think it would have mattered that Hillary’s recipes were compromised. Planned military incursions are a different matter.

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Posted
27 minutes ago, C-Man said:

The thing is he won’t have fire any of these people if he doesn’t want to because there is ZERO accountability in Trump 2.0. There are no adults in the room. There is no third rail.

 

This is what people don’t understand. This is not regular politics. There is no accountability. The can be no Achilles heel, no gap in the armor. Don’t admit fault and deny until you die. They are lying to our fucking faces and people believe it simply because it’s the President and the White House. 

I imagine this is what it was like in the slavery-era when people questioned government officials about slavery and indentured servants. White House response: “Well clearly the Constitution says ‘all men are created equal’ so I have no idea what you are talking about.” 

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Posted
1 hour ago, Red Five said:

Someone should look into Hillary's emails.

sure, sure, but be sure to announce that you are 10 days before an election.

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Posted
1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:

Sure, that's how they would spin it, but let's be real.  She did it for the same reason they are doing it now.  They don't want records of those conversations on official government servers.  So here we are...

The George Bush Administration did it first :)

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Posted

I'd say we're a joke of a country, but jokes should be funny.

We're just fucking pathetic.  I don't know what's worse, the fact that we are repeatedly shooting ourselves in the dick, or that a majority of voters, as each bullet rips through another shred of our dick, yells "AGAIN!"

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Posted
11 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Incredible.  

image.thumb.jpeg.2c9fa044a253568111376e6d3e29f4af.jpeg

WTF are they doing? Venmoing Bibi with the note “Get bombed on us! 👊🇺🇸🔥”?

8 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

The best.  People.

Adults.

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Posted
Quote

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be willing to reduce tariffs to get a deal done with TikTok's Chinese parent, ByteDance.

ByteDance faces an April 5 deadline to find a non-Chinese buyer for TikTok or face a U.S. ban on national security grounds.

In the latest twist over the fate of the popular short-video app, Trump said he was willing to extend the deadline if an agreement over the social media app was not reached.

"With respect to TikTok, and China is going to have to play a role in that, possibly in the form of an approval, maybe, and I think they'll do that. Maybe I'll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done," Trump told reporters on Wednesday.

Fuck over american consumers who wish to buy cars, no problem. Cut a deal for China so some of his tech bro buddies can buy Tik Tok, sure. 

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Posted
6 minutes ago, Blotto said:

Fuck over american consumers who wish to buy cars, no problem. Cut a deal for China so some of his tech bro buddies can buy Tik Tok, sure. 

9or2mi.jpg

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Posted
Just now, Satchel said:

Why are they going where they’re clearly not wanted?

Anger in Greenland over Usha Vance and Mike Waltz’s planned visit this week

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/24/greenland-usha-vance-mike-waltz-visit-anger

Greenland’s prime minister says move is ‘demonstration of power’ and accuses US of interfering in its political affairs

Answer:  Because they're assholes.

 

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Posted
21 minutes ago, Satchel said:

Why are they going where they’re clearly not wanted?

Anger in Greenland over Usha Vance and Mike Waltz’s planned visit this week

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/24/greenland-usha-vance-mike-waltz-visit-anger

Greenland’s prime minister says move is ‘demonstration of power’ and accuses US of interfering in its political affairs

Wouldn’t it be pretty easy just to deny them visas?

Posted
1 hour ago, Satchel said:

Why are they going where they’re clearly not wanted?

Anger in Greenland over Usha Vance and Mike Waltz’s planned visit this week

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/24/greenland-usha-vance-mike-waltz-visit-anger

Greenland’s prime minister says move is ‘demonstration of power’ and accuses US of interfering in its political affairs

Vance’s only job is to play the victim at every chance. I am guessing he was told it would be bad to send his wife to be booed by herself. And he could play the victim if he did it with her. 

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Posted

I mean, if Nixon and Reagan had had Fox News and full control of all three branches, an expanding executive, and the DOJ in their pocket, the history books wouldn't even remember Watergate and Iran Contra.

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Posted
4 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Lol.  Not conflating anything, dude.  But if behavior is wrong, there needs to be consequences for doing it, regardless of which team you're on.  Otherwise, we end up here, at the logical endpoint where nothing goes through the government servers anymore so there's no official record of anything. 

That's true and what Hillary did probably deserved some kind of sanction.  However, I do tend to believe the FBI/DOJ personnel that declined to prosecute because intent would have been hard to prove.

Posted
2 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Incredible.  

image.thumb.jpeg.2c9fa044a253568111376e6d3e29f4af.jpeg

Years ago on Surly, I was posting something about the Stormy Daniels case. Before I posted, I checked the spelling of Stormy making sure it wasn't ie or ee at the end. You know, because I'm careful enough to make sure I spell the porn star's name right as I post what was probably a joke under the name of an anthropomorphic, washed up sitcom actor horse from a cartoon on a Longhorn sports focused website. Sometimes, when I look at Venmo, I'll see the stupid shit people leave out in the open such as what are most likely weed purchases and wonder how in the fuck they're not more careful to make those transactions private. Of course, none of us are god damn national security advisors. 

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