Ass Clown Special Award

I try not to give out too many out-of-cycle Ass Clown Special Awards because I don't want to dilute their meaning and impact ... but I absolutely cannot let this one go by.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the latest

Ass Clown Special Award

is presented to

The "National Security" Establishment

of

Der Furor's Administration

In a staggering breach of operational security, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and a group of administration civilian advisors planned and carried out a military strike against Houthi rebels in Yemen using the encrypted messaging app "Signal," which is not approved for use by government agencies. Worse, the chat group accidentally included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, who went on to break the story after the strikes had taken place.

The reactions from the adults who are no longer welcome in the room were swift in coming. Historian Heather Cox Richardson summarized many of them in her latest "Letters from an American," posted last night:

Former commanding general of United States Army Europe and the Seventh Army Mark Hertling called the story “staggering.” 

Former CIA officer Matt Castelli posted: “This is more than ‘loose lips sink ships’, this is a criminally negligent breach of classified information and war planning involving VP, SecDef, D[irector of the] CIA, National Security Advisor—all putting troops at risk. America is not safe.” 

Former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, who spent seven years as an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve, posted: “From an operational security perspective, this is the highest level of f**kup imaginable. These people cannot keep America safe.”

Rhode Island senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said: "If true, this story represents one of the most egregious failures of operational security and common sense I have ever seen. The carelessness shown by President Trump's cabinet is stunning and dangerous. I will be seeking answers from the Administration immediately." 

Armed Services Committee member Don Bacon (R-NE), a former Air Force brigadier general, told Axios that “sending this info over non-secure networks” was “unconscionable.” “Russia and China are surely monitoring his unclassified phone.”

This horrendous breach of security and simple common sense is all the more incredible given the number of Republican heads which exploded after the endlessly-trumpeted security incidents in Democratic administrations (remember Hillary Clinton's e-mail server?). Indeed, SecDef Hegseth in 2016 rhetorically thundered,

"How damaging is it to your ability to recruit or build allies with others when they are worried that our leaders may be exposing them because of their gross negligence or their recklessness in handling information?"

As you might suspect from an administration purposely staffed by amateurs selected specifically for their incompetent subservience to Der Furor, the immediate reaction was to wave the whole thing off. House Speaker Mike Johnson, for instance, dismissively commented that

“I’m told they’re doing an investigation to find out how that [Mr Goldberg's] number was included [in the classified discussions over Signal], and that should be that ... I’m not sure that it requires much additional attention.”

But, as Professor Richardson pointed out,

"When they [Republicans] were accusing then–secretary of state Hillary Clinton of such a breach, they called for firings, accountability, and perhaps criminal charges. Indeed, [Der Furor] rose to power in 2016 with the charge that Clinton should be sent to prison for using a private email server. 'Lock her up!' became the chant at his rallies."

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the second Ass Clown Special Award of 2025 is presented to the dangerously, amateurishly incompetent national security establishment upon which we depend for our defense. By now, leaders in Russia and China are likely running out of champagne corks to pop over their good fortune.

Have a good day. As usual in these times, hope for the best, but expect (and prepare for) the worst.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo