Summary
Elon Musk’s DOGE website mistakenly published classified intelligence data, including personnel and budget details for the National Reconnaissance Office.
The breach sent Defense Department officials scrambling, as the NRO’s headcount and budget are typically classified. Intelligence aides confirmed the leak is problematic under current security standards.
Concerns have also been raised about DOGE’s inexperienced staff. The White House has not commented, and the site was later hacked.
The US political system is thoroughly broken but it’s not changed much leading up to the Trump era, it’s really the news media that made Trump happen right now.
It started in the 80s with cable news and continues today with toxic podcasts and social media. People are like your annoying ex-girlfriend - they don’t want to be told the truth, they just want to be validated. Billionaires and con artists (and billionaire con artists) have figured out how to use newer forms of media to exploit that tendency and I think it’s still getting worse. Eventually like all predators they’ll overconsume their prey but there’s a lot of suckers in the world for them to run through first.