PATRIOT OR SCUMBAG

First Amendment Common Sense

The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg erroneously received a text message that was part of a message chain on an encrypted chat application called Signal. The other participants in the message chain included the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the National Security Advisor, and other top national security heads.

It is unclear how Goldberg was included in the message chain. That is what is important. It was an error and indicates that a “mainstream media” journalist’s electronic address was on the Nation’s security network. So the question should be “how did it get there?”

The Pentagon maintains that no classified intelligence was exchanged in the subject group chat; however, potentially classified information could have been exchanged—and that is a problem. So that needs to be fixed immediately—period.

Jeffrey Goldberg has the right to report whatever he wants, thanks to the First Amendment. In my opinion, he should have contacted the National Security Advisor or the Secretary of Defense and advised one or the other that he had been included in the message chain by mistake. That would have been noble and the patriotic thing to do. Instead he writes an anti-Trump administration hit piece. So he is a scumbag. The First Amendment protects patriots and scumbags. Lucky for Goldberg.