OPINION: The Fog Of Gaslight

Pete Hegseth has been condemned and ridiculed for trotting out a “fog of war” defense for what smells a lot like a war crime.

The Navy killed two survivors of its strike in the Caribbean on what the U.S. defense (or “war”) secretary called a “narco boat.”

Even if this boat and the others that our military has attacked really were carrying illegal drugs, the occupants weren’t posing an immediate threat to our country or even committing a capital offense. (Of course, suspects should be apprehended and tried. And if convicted, they should be punished — not pardoned, regardless of how rich their crimes have made them.)

But fog is the Trump/Project 2025 administration’s specialty, as Donald Trump demonstrated Tuesday in Monroe County, where he kicked off his “affordability” tour in hopes of convincing voters to elect members of Congress who’ll stay under his thumb.

The venue, the Mount Airy Casino Resort’s ballroom, should have been an uncomfortable reminder of the fit-for-a-king one he’s building after demolishing the White House’s East Wing. And nothing says uncertainty like a gambling joint.

Still, Trump was preaching to a MAGA choir that seemed happy to hear him blame former presidents for problems he’s causing, congratulate himself on dubious-at-best achievements and veer wildly off-topic.

Among other tangents, he bashed wind power, drooled over Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s lips and dusted off his false claim that he won the 2020 election. Strangest of all, he said miners of “clean, beautiful coal” wouldn’t trade places with him, and he referred to Susie Wiles, his chief of staff, as “Susie Trump.”

No wonder the White House only released a synopsis instead of a full transcript.   

But the audience apparently took his word that the higher costs we’re all facing (and that he campaigned on cutting rapidly) are both a Democratic hoax and the result of Joe Biden and Barack Obama’s policies, not his.

The 1 1/2-hour speech ended with his signature campaign slogan, an inadvertent admission that the golden age he promised hasn’t arrived after all. “With your help,” he said, “we will make America wealthy again.” And “healthy,” “strong,” “safe,” “proud” and, of course, “great” again.

But look at what Trump and his Project 2025 allies are actually doing:

* Making Affordable Care Act policies a lot less affordable.

* Burdening hospitals and other health care facilities with $100,000 visa fees for foreign doctors and other professionals.

* Putting national health in the hands of an anti-science crackpot.

* Imposing haphazard tariffs, sometimes during a Trump hissy fit.

* Promoting artificial intelligence, which is poised to eliminate millions of jobs, and attempting to prevent states from regulating it.

* Full-throated support for burning fossil fuels, which scientists say has caused more frequent and destructive natural disasters.

* Blocking renewable energy projects that could mitigate spiking electricity costs from the AI data centers that the administration is pushing.

* Warmongering. ( At Mount Airy, Trump laughed about the lethal boat attacks, saying, “nobody wants to go fishing anymore … I think we’ve destroyed the boat market.” The next day, the U.S. seized a Venezuelan oil tanker and is keeping its cargo.)

* Abandoning our allies in favor of bloodthirsty dictators.

Most important, Trump and his Project 2025ers are doing their utmost to stifle dissent. Remember the threats they leveled at people who continued to criticize Christian nationalist political operative Charlie Kirk after he was killed? And how they blamed the murder on the “radical left” instead of the gunman who believed Kirk ignited the hatred directed at people like him and his transgender partner? 

The administration wasn’t blowing smoke. Earlier this month, independent journalist Ken Klippenstein published a leaked memohttps://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/leak-fbi-list-of-extremists-is-coming detailing the Justice Department’s McCarthyesque plan – including an enemies list and cash rewards for volunteer informants — for hunting down and dismantling “domestic terrorist” groups.  

While the stated targets are violent criminals resembling but probably excluding the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, merely opposing the corruption, lawlessness and cruelty of Trump 2.0 might land someone in the cross-hairs, the Democracy Docket reported.   

The department’s tactics haven’t yet hit us the way the Trump economy has, but if they’re implemented, the effects would be far-reaching.

Public outcry has prompted Trump and his Project 2025ers to dial back some of their abuses. Without it, they wouldn’t even need to spin what they do, let alone try to distract us with a rally. 

Canary note: Opinions expressed in any Op-Ed column appearing on this site are the views of the writer and are not necessarily the opinions of Coal Region Canary.

Want to be a columnist with Coal Region Canary? Contact us at newscanary@gmail.com.

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