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"But Trump decided against firing him in large part because he did not want the Atlantic and the news media more broadly to have the satisfaction of forcing the
by bediger4000 2y ago
"But Trump decided against firing him in large part because he did not want the Atlantic and the news media more broadly to have the satisfaction of forcing the ouster of a top cabinet official weeks into his second term."
That's about Michael Waltz. The decision is based not on whether Waltz revealed classified info, but about appearances. Seems dangerous to make decisions this way.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- hybrid_study 2y agoyou think?
- jfengel 2y agoI wonder what their source is for that. An alternative interpretation is simply "I don't care": So top secret info leaked; don't do it again. You're doin' a heck of a job. If it does happen again... honestly, would the rationale be different? Sure, they'd have a conniption if it had happened under Biden. But that would be purely about harassing Biden rather than a serious consideration of national security.
- bediger4000 2y agoThe difference is that the media would pick up the conniption fit, and ask questions endlessly. Here, we see a shrug and a decision to not follow up. The acceptance of sorry opsec practices is baked into the coverage
- jfengel 2y agoIt's sometimes called "sanewashing". There has been so much overwhelming incompetence that it has become the dog-bites-man story. Even otherwise competent news media can't figure out how to say "this is just plain criminal".
- bediger4000 2y agoWith all due respect, that's an aggressive assumption. "The media, after 4 years of Trump, can't figure out what to write", seems less likely than "media's editors and owners like Trump and want him to make sense and succeed".