Dear Editor,
Just one boring week. That's all our country needs. Just one week without chaos. But we have the incompetent Trump Administration trying to run our country and mayhem ensues. (Yes, this is long but it is a complicated subject with a lot of website sources. Sorry if this is taxing your mind.)
Several years ago, when I was attending grad school for my Master's in Nonprofit Management, there was a detailed discussion in one of my classes about Crisis Management. The steps to manage a crisis are relatively simple but extremely hard to master. There are 5 basic principles.
1. As quickly as possible determine the W's, Who, What, Where, and How. Make sure that the information is correct.
2. Dust off the Crisis Management Handbook that you already prepared. (lol)
3. Get ready to address the press as quickly as possible with accurate information to. Apologize, in this case say something like this. "It has come to our attention that an unsecured chat occurred concerning the attack plan for the Houthis/Yemen bombing on March 15. This breach of military protocols is unacceptable. To make matters worse, a journalist with no security clearance was erroneously invited on this chat. We will be organizing a thorough investigation on how this happened. Those who are responsible for this breach will be held accountable. We sincerely apologize for the lapse in protocols and we will take steps that something like this never happens again." (or something to this effect)
4. Do what you said you would do.
5. Follow-up again with the press when all of the information is received and those who were responsible dealt with including firing.
Did President Trump or anyone from the administration do this? Of course not. They just keep digging the hole deeper. They can't admit their mistakes. The playbook is to first, malign the journalist Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic for reporting this mistake even after the DOD and Pentagon, would not return the journalist's calls. You see poor Trump's feelings have been hurt by some things Goldberg has written. Two days in and Trump trotted out the "witch-hunt" line again trying to place blame on the "Deep State" and press for this debacle.
For Trump's part in this, he seems clueless or feigning knowledge of this episode. He deflects telling the press they will need to talk to Waltz or Hegseth. Then, on Wednesday during a press conference on a different subject, Trump was asked about the then four servicemembers who were missing in Lithuania. He knew nothing about it and had nothing to say. Since then, the four were confirmed dead and nary a word from Trump. He has again shown his lack of concern and respect for the military.
Donald Trump Says He Wasn't Briefed About US Soldiers Missing in Lithuania
U.S. soldiers missing in Lithuania: Trump's lack of awareness
4 American soldiers who went missing in Lithuania have died, NATO leader says
Defense Secretary Hegseth immediately denied anything happened and tried to pretend that it was the journalist fault. He was not aware that an administration official had already confirmed the breach. Later in the week, it was announced that Hegseth's brother has now been brought on to be the Secretary's "liaison" or someone to hold his hand.
In another lapse of security, Hegseth's wife Jennifer, another FOX former employee without a security clearance, has sat in on a couple of high-level security meetings. I remember a few months back, the right was apoplectic because Jill Biden, with a security clearance, sat in on a Cabinet meeting that other First Ladies have also done in the past. No shortage of hypocrisy here.
Hegseth Brings in Emotional Support Brother as Pentagon Aide
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Included Wife in Sensitive Meetings: Report - Newsweek
Pete Hegseth's Wife Jennifer Tags Along for Top Secret Military Meetings
Between his diplomatic mistakes on the international stage and his mishandling of this chat, he is proving his detractors concerns if he should be in this sensitive position.
Bing Videos - Pete Hegseth Denies Texting Yemen War Plans As Calls Grow To FIRE Him
Pete Hegseth Faces More Calls to Resign Over Signal Texts | TIME
Hegseth's Signal texts a security breach, former pilots say
VP Vance, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and others totaling 18 of supposed national security professionals were on the chat. They probably would not have known Goldberg was mistakenly on the call if Goldberg had not gone public with what he knew.
Everyone in the administration and most Republicans in Congress kept trying to spin this as not serious. A debate ensued if the information on the attack was classified or not. That distinction is not the point. Lack of serious consideration for our nation's secrets is the issue for this amateur Cabinet. Deny, deny, deny. The bottom line is that the Signal app was deemed not secure enough for vital information, like military attack plans, to be used for high-level communication of any kind. The reason why the app was used was to have the information deleted after a few days so that no one, either in government, press, or public would ever know the details of the operation. A clear violation of protocols.
There are so many layers to this evolving story most notably it was discovered that up to this Thursday the Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz had Venmo accounts open on the phones that were used. Waltz included a list of his personal accounts that he uses.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff was on the chat from the Kremlin while visiting his "friend" Putin. Does anyone think that was a good idea?
DNI Gabbard, when questioned where she was and whether she was using a secure phone, stonewalled and said she could not even remember what country she was in when she was on the chat or what kind of phone she was using. These amateurs are in charge of our secrets. Heaven helps us.
If the peanut gallery comments are at all serious the comments should include an acknowledgement that there is something wrong here. This lack of concern about sensitive information on military planning with the use of semi-unsecured platforms and not knowing who is on the call or when they left the chat could get members of the military killed if this recklessness falls in to the wrong hands.
This is bigger and more concerning that whether I am a Democrat or as some assert obsessed with Trump. I will wear that obsession proudly. My question to my detractors, why are so obsessed with making excuses for Trump and not troubled by what is going on in D.C.? I am not responsible for this feckless government; I am just reporting it.
Rosemary Schwartz
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So you want to rip into people that are actually trying to make our country better.
Can we also back up to the 13 soldiers killed in Afghanistan? No? You never talked about that or about people falling from the plans.
Oh, that's right, Trump bad.
The what aboutism is a waste of time. There are serious problems now address that. I am not going to relitigate the past. There were plenty of people who found fault with Biden and were not afraid to say it. What happened then is over the seriousness of these issues are important no matter you did not like Biden. So what are you saying our democracy is fraying at the edges but Biden did this or that so that means we should just watch Trump tear it down and say anything? What is the old saying Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned.
BTW, why if the journalist had his angel wings on, why didn't he speak up IN THE CHAT and say, "Hey guys, I shouldn't be here..." I'm more concerned about who loaded up this chat. I doubt it was the bigwigs in the call, but some turncoat assistant. But that's to be expected in a Trump White House. They need to track that one down.
That's right, ignore the mess of the previous four years under an incompetent and mentally challenged Biden and his side chick Harris. Thanks to those clowns we had an open invasion on our borders of illegals and drugs flowing freely into our country. That was just one single long term crisis Biden had going one that none of you DEMS ever considered to be a problem.
Under Biden, every single day brought another long term crisis. Unlike Trump, Biden's crises were self inflicted because of incompetence and "Autopen" where now we realize anyone on Bidens staff or family could have been stamping his signature on Executive Orders, to include all those pardons he allegedly issued.
After the mess of the previous four years and the left pushing their idiotic ideas on the rest of us, it's going to be next to impossible to convince most of us that Trump is bad. Anything Trump does after Clown Biden is a drastic improvement!!! MAGA
The only people to blame for the Signal mess was his DEI hires of Hegseth, Gabbard, Vance, Waltz, etc. That "nobody is getting fired" for it tells us all we need to know.
Go ahead and spin, make excuses for the clown-show in DC - I'm loving the entertainment.
There is no reason for anyone else to complain about Biden when we have Gerald who never stops complaining about Biden. He and other complainers are so obsessed with Biden that they can’t think straight.
If you all can ignore what Trump is doing now that is right under your nose, don’t expect me to chime in with your Biden complaints that is history now.
Get a grip. I have never seen so many clinging onto the past like the Trump supporters are doing not letting go of the previous administration.
As I remember, it was Trump supporters who named people lamenting the election of Trump 1 as snowflakes. Do you ever look in the mirror and see a blizzard because the snowflakes are coming down fast?
Rosemary Schwartz
Trump is doing everything he promised to do and everything he was voted into office to do. You may not like it but the vast majority of us do..
It is bewildering why on earth you would have an issue with Trump and Musk cleaning up the massive fraud and abuse when it comes to federal spending. Maybe you do not care but I do. I do not want my tax dollars going to illegals or ridiculous programs to study transgender mice. I certainly believe our tax dollars should go to Americans who need help and especially the ones ignored by the corrupt Biden Crime Family. Americans in Appalachia who still suffer from devastating flooding of the folks in Ohio who are still trying to recover from a toxic train derailment. I sure as hell do not want to see social security or my tax dollars spent on illegals who have no legal right to be in this country and have made no contributions to anything.