Unforced Errors
I recall when Barack Obama was about to take office, and there was a hue and cry about what to do about his BlackBerry habit. The concern was that he could be hacked, or sensitive data could be compromised, if the president had a personal device like that in light of all the secure communications and special phone lines we had in place.
How far we’ve come—or fallen—in only 16 years. Now we have some of the highest ranking national defense and intelligence officials in the U.S. government gathering around an app called “Signal” to share details about military efforts and personal opinions about world affairs, right down to fist-bump and fire emojis.
I had no idea what “Signal” was until this all broke a few days ago, but it’s apparently like a group text only supposedly more secure. I hate group texts because you never know if you’re replying to the group, or often who is in the group. Sounds like the chat room within the app is the same way, because a journalist with a record of being anti-Trump found himself in the mix with the likes of Hegseth, Vance, and Waltz.
How the journalist got there is at some issue, but that misses the bigger point—whether the app’s chat room was hacked, or whether the journalist was accidentally invited, is immaterial. It’s apparently either not secure, or not dummy-proof, and either is no situation to be in when national security is being discussed.
I also considered this was a deliberate leak by someone in the chat, to send a message to the world about the mindset of those in charge these days. I still don’t discount that, especially since no one is taking the fall and losing their jobs over it.
But a lot of people are losing their minds, and with pretty good reason. Frankly, I’d prefer it was a deliberate leak. Because we can’t afford incompetence on a topic like this.
