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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHillary Clinton: How Much Dumber Will This Get?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/opinion/trump-hegseth-signal-chat.htmlhttps://archive.ph/QmWfr
Hillary Clinton: How Much Dumber Will This Get?
March 28, 2025
By Hillary Clinton
Mrs. Clinton is a former secretary of state and United States senator and was the Democratic nominee for president in 2016.
It’s not the hypocrisy that bothers me; it’s the stupidity. We’re all shocked — shocked! — that President Trump and his team don’t actually care about protecting classified information or federal record retention laws. But we knew that already. What’s much worse is that top Trump administration officials put our troops in jeopardy by sharing military plans on a commercial messaging app and unwittingly invited a journalist into the chat. That’s dangerous. And it’s just dumb.
This is the latest in a string of self-inflicted wounds by the new administration that are squandering America’s strength and threatening our national security. Firing hundreds of federal workers charged with protecting our nation’s nuclear weapons is also dumb. So is shutting down efforts to fight pandemics just as a deadly Ebola outbreak is spreading in Africa. It makes no sense to purge talented generals, diplomats and spies at a time when rivals like China and Russia are trying to expand their global reach.
In a dangerous and complex world, it’s not enough to be strong. You must also be smart. As secretary of state during the Obama administration, I argued for smart power, integrating the hard power of our military with the soft power of our diplomacy, development assistance, economic might and cultural influence. None of those tools can do the job alone. Together, they make America a superpower. The Trump approach is dumb power. Instead of a strong America using all our strengths to lead the world and confront our adversaries, Mr. Trump’s America will be increasingly blind and blundering, feeble and friendless.
Let’s start with the military, because that’s what he claims to care about. Don’t let the swagger fool you. Mr. Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (of group chat fame) are apparently more focused on performative fights over wokeness than preparing for real fights with America’s adversaries. Does anyone really think deleting tributes to the Tuskegee Airmen makes us more safe? The Trump Pentagon purged images of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb that ended World War II because its name is the Enola Gay. Dumb.
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BrianTheEVGuy
(697 posts)And at this point, can you blame her?
hamsterjill
(15,719 posts)God, what could have been!!!!
Fucking morons who support(ed) Trump. I hate every last one of them for taking my future away.
flashman13
(1,099 posts)ahlnord
(103 posts)THIS!!! This is the explanation that ties together the big picture -- weakening our security, government, economy, education, health, etc. -- ALL OF IT. Every decision Trump has taken has weakened us, and benefited Putin. It is a "no brainer."
flashman13
(1,099 posts)IronLionZion
(48,219 posts)I worry about how dumb things can get. Probably much dumber than any of us can imagine.
alarimer
(17,057 posts)They simply do not care about the rules that other administrations have abided by
It's all just a fucking game to these assholes. They are GLAD the world is mad at us. It's what they want. You can't really even insult them; they revel in our hatred and ridicule. "Cry more, libs" is pretty much the standard response.
calimary
(85,604 posts)A brilliant, open-minded, compassionate, fact-friendly, and historically magnificent President.
A bold and decisive President who broke the last glass ceiling into little shards and slivers.
A President America could - and would - have been so proud and so deserving and so blessed to have.
Sometimes I could almost cry.
Gimpyknee
(103 posts)iluvtennis
(21,107 posts)0rganism
(24,934 posts)Futurecasting is becoming simpler - for any given national dilemma, just ask yourself "what would greedy stupid people do? " and you'll be well on your way to predicting the outcome.
red dog 1
(30,532 posts)#TrumpIsARussianAsset (on X)
betsuni
(27,678 posts)That's dumb.
Response to dalton99a (Original post)
vapor2 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Buns_of_Fire
(18,273 posts)Now we're seeing what happens when two black holes (Krasnov and Musk) come close to each other.
Skittles
(162,945 posts)REAL maggots serve an actual critical purpose on this earth
Buns_of_Fire
(18,273 posts)no longer insult them with the comparison.
Skittles
(162,945 posts)omfg!
Sparkly
(24,547 posts)



Skittles
(162,945 posts)WTF
thank you Hillary, for speaking out
returnee
(467 posts)Her theme is “Trump’s actions are ‘dumb’.” Well, of course aTSF is dumb, and his actions are ‘dumb’ if looked at from the perspective of what’s good for The US. However, if looked at from the perspective of a Russian asset of Putin causing the destabilization of the US, well, not so dumb after all.
It bugs the crap out of me that she does not address what she knows as well as we do, something that needs to be more central in the American people’s understanding of the situation.