0
Share on bsky{Editor’s Note: Elephant is a mindful community that hosts different voices—as long as facts and caring are present. From my perspective, we care about good journalism. Truth. Empathy rises from knowing, not ignoring. As Trungpa Rinpoche noted, “Compassion automatically invites you to relate with people because you no longer regard people as a drain on your energy.” We can afford to do more than “I’m gonna ignore the news and hope all this blows over” and “good vibes only” mentality. ~ Waylon}
~
I don’t know for sure if Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was in a fraternity in college.
I could look it up, but it isn’t that important. He has always struck me as the frat boy type, complete with the swagger, sense of entitlement, bravado, and chauvinism.
Now, not to diss fraternities writ large (full disclosure: my husband was in one, and yes, it bugs me) but certain concepts and pictures come to mind when I think of them. Ideas like loyalty and hierarchy. The heckling and immaturity. The forced submission and conformity. The glee they take in hazing one of their own. The standing around a keg of beer at a basement party, caught up only in themselves and the indulging.
Now that I think of it, this entire Trump 2.0 administration is like a group of fraternity brothers.
And that takes on a whole different meaning when the keg they’re standing around doesn’t hold beer but is the powder keg that could blow up the whole world.
It matters when their gleefulness is no longer about making someone run around the block in their underwear in the winter; it’s about launching military strikes in which people will die.
When it’s not a video game, but actual life and death.
By now, you have most likely heard about the massive security breach that involved members at the highest level of our current cabinet—up to and including Vice President JD Vance. Without regard to protocol, precedence, and even the most basic security protections, these individuals engaged in discussions in a group chat on Signal about strikes on the Houthis in Yemen—in minute-to-minute detail.
Why do we know this? Because they included the Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, Jeff Goldberg, in their “war games” group chat. It was such an egregious violation of protocol, ethics, trust, and basic competence, it seems to have frozen the news cycle in its tracks.
It’s truly stunning, isn’t it? Most of us are more careful to make sure the right people are in a dinner party group chat than they were with our national secrets.
Fraternities steal mascots; this frat house steals our trust.
Their members brazenly and openly flaunt their high positions and trivialize the responsibilities they hold. They were as carefree with our war plans as a frat house with cheap champagne after winning a national football championship.
I’m old enough to remember when the discussion of a military strike created photos such as the ones shown in this article. The seriousness with which they undertook these discussions was remarkable. Sigh. Such sweet nostalgia.
On the bright side of all of this, finally, it seems, this administration has created a story that’s got staying power. You cannot go on any social media channel right now and not see wall-to-wall coverage of this jaw-dropping breach.
On X, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee Mark Warner pulled no punches:
He has also called for Secretary Hegseth to step down. This is no small matter.
For years now, we have been watching Trump and those in his circle sidestep one crisis after another. They seem to be able to defy the odds. Because they are following Steve Bannon’s advice to “flood the zone with sh*t,” we can’t keep our attention on one story long enough to make it matter.
This time, it could be different.
I’m not going to go so far as to say I’m hopeful that it will be different—we’ve done this song and dance enough times to squeeze the naivete right out of me. But I am watchful that maybe, there is a line that has been crossed. Perhaps there is a bottom that even Fox News can’t right side.
Because the alternative—that they get away with this with no consequences—is unthinkable.
In Malcolm Gladwell’s recent book, Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering, he backpedals a little on his more hopeful self, the one who made the concept of “tipping points” part of our cultural vocabulary.
Even so, I still believe in the idea of tipping points. The idea that small, individual actions or moments create a change in movement beneath the surface that eventually appear in the collective.
Because while Donald Trump is distancing himself from this—of course, he was not the one who created the Signal group chat nor was he involved in the discussions—he is the president of this fraternity. And he personally chose this group of irresponsible frat boys to guard the powder keg: our secrets, our security, the lives of our troops, and so much more. There has to be accountability for that, doesn’t there?
Still, maybe this scandal, like all others before, will not touch him. He has proven so incredibly tip-proof his entire life.
But, c’mon. There must come a moment when things get so serious and so unbelievably reckless that no one can pretend anymore that it’s business as usual. A moment that no amount of gaslighting, minimizing, or downplaying will work to pacify the American people any longer.
Could this be that moment?
~
This account does not have permission to comment on Elephant Journal.
Contact support with questions.