It is hard to avoid news about Donald Trump, particularly since he is President of the United States. That said, it is even harder for me to avoid a chill down my spine, particularly when I am reading online news sources. This morning’s case in point came from a Web page for the San Francisco ABC7 news channel. Presumably, this content was previously broadcast on television this morning; but there is something more permanent about the “printed word,” even when the “print” is actually a Web page!
United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick (from his Wikipedia Web page)
The headline for the above hyperlink reads as follows: “Trump excuses Howard Lutnick for saying there have been no US deaths in Iran war.” As might be expected, the Web site wasted no time in setting the record straight in response to what Lutnick said:
Eighteen Americans have been killed so far in the conflict, which has now been active for more than six months.
That said, the article continued with “the word from Washington,” which turned out to be just as disconcerting, if not more so. First, there was Trump’s attempt at clarification:
Trump wrote on social media on Thursday that Lutnick had "Venezuela on his mind" when he made his remarks.
This was followed by Lutnick speaking for himself:
Also on Thursday morning, Lutnick posted to X saying he "misspoke" and offering his condolences to the families of the 18 dead service members.
I find it hard to avoid an adage that I picked up in my American History class, presumably related to World War II:
Loose lips sink ships!
My guess is that pretty much every American from the second half of the last century not only knew this warning but also took it seriously. Can this now be said of the United States Secretary of Commerce? Do we now have to worry about whether it can also be said about our President?
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