Butt Dial Intel
When government secrets come back to bite you.
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This week, I wanted to talk about something in the news that wasn't about Donald Trump or the antics of his administration, so I've found this article in The Atlantic about Hitler.
Timothy W. Ryback
Enjoy.
But first... Let's get to The News.
Hot Takes
Week 13 of 2025
Butt Dial Intelligence
This week, Pete Hegseth accidentally sent top-secret war plans to an Atlantic reporter when National Security Advisor Mike Waltz inadvertently added the journalist to a text thread. Now the heat is on Pete for texting sensitive military plans in an unsecured app, and ending with the term "LOL." His critics said Hegseth is a "DUI hire," and it's not surprising.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt calls the media, enemies of America that are spreading fake news. She said the whole story is a hoax, adding the pants on fire emoji to her comments.
Trump downplayed the incident, saying that sometimes these things can happen. For example, sometimes you scroll down, stalking months of posts from a crazy ex, and accidentally drop a deep like on an old photo, unintentionally informing them that you were spying on them. In the same vein, anyone can slip a little intelligence info out to Tim-Houthi Chalamet and accidentally share top secret documents on Instagram stories. It happens all the time.
The consequences of the leak can be steep. For comparison, Jack Teixeira was sentenced to 15 years for sharing intelligence information on a messaging app called Discord. Experts are expecting Pete and Mike to face relatively similar consequences. For example, Trump may start calling Pete "My Pete," and whenever he calls on him in a crowd, he'll say, "Where's my Pete?" The consequences don't currently have a time limit, but they should act as a helpful deterrent for future blunders.
In an effort to prevent this from happening again, Washington has said that it will stop communicating war plans on Signal and instead communicate them on Truth Social, because the risk of anyone using the app is pretty low. (more)
The Greene Thumb
This week, Marjorie Taylor Greene led a hearing to address government waste funded by taxpayers, such as NPR and PBS, and also, just to help complete the list, Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Congresswoman stated that the networks were pushing a biased disinformation agenda, unlike the time that Greene accosted a British journalist and told her to go back to her country because immigrants are raping our citizens. (more)
Green No Deal
Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife, Usha, plan to visit Greenland to take a look under the hood. Trump has said that the US will go "as far as we have to" to take control of the island. The citizens call it "highly aggressive." Putin has weighed in as well, saying he thought it would make sense for the US to annex the island. (more)
Speaking of green, I'm not one to eat a banana before it's ripe, but we can see a trend here. Trump is an excellent negotiator and a wizard with a can of spray tan, or at least knows how to hire someone who is, but I don't think that makes him a good choice for the long-term future of the country. If you want to find writing critical of Trump, you can easily find it here (which is just the home page of the website), but this week, one more thing has given me cause for alarm. The importance of which is conveniently being overlooked by his supporters.
Trump has targeted at least four major law firms through executive orders, including one signed this week. The firms have represented claimants in cases challenging Trump's policies, including freezing grant money appropriated by Congress. We are talking about executive attacks, blatantly naming the law firms that represent the claimants who oppose Trump. These happen alongside attacks on the media and voting access. It is logically a path toward authoritarianism, if we aren't already there.
Trump is not only stretching the reach of the executive branch, but he is also thinning out the power of the would-be coequal branches. As reported in the Atlantic, to win in America, you have to bow to Trump, and the Oligarchs are stretching their backs beyond repair to yield to him. Noses are browner, and lips are positioned more phallic. Soon we won’t have a country anymore, for it will be gripped by the gonads, in one man’s small hands. (more)
That's it for this week.
Remember: The Lorem Ipsum is not quite an authoritarian regime, although it is run by me and me alone. But your vote still matters. Your feedback, thumbs up, and shares are appreciated.
Have a great weekend!