this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2025
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262
Tulsi Gabbard fires more than 100 intelligence officers over messages in a chat tool (www.nbcnews.com)
submitted 1 day ago by return2ozma@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world
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[–] RBWells@lemmy.world 6 points 6 hours ago

We have a vibrant and sometimes political teams chat at my work, we would be toast if we were taken over by the magas. Yes we know it's not private and do have also a group text. But haven't ever worried since the whole organization is laid back regarding language and expression.

If I worked for the government? Hell no. No teams chat, not even "how was your weekend?" Nope nope nope.

[–] orcrist@lemm.ee 25 points 14 hours ago

My God NBC can't even put the important fact in the headline? It was a political firing. Maybe they broke some rules but they weren't fired for breaking the rules. They were fired because of the person that they were targeting.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 53 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

to think, those fucking idiots thought they could bring down the US by flying planes into the twin towers when all they needed to do was wait for Republicans to get enough power.

[–] HuntressHimbo@lemm.ee 25 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

I mean the rampant islamophobia and patriot washing of conservative media absolutely got more pervasive thanks in part to those planes. Probably not the domino, but certainly moved us in this direction.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 5 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

it got dialed up, sure, but it was always there. it's not like the US started the first Gulf War after 9/11. you were already moving in that direction for decades, 9/11 just happened to be spectacular enough to be an accelerant. they got to falsely justify more atrocities faster.

[–] LastYearsIrritant@sopuli.xyz 6 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Bush 2 wouldn't have been reelected if it wasn't for 9/11.

We wouldn't have had the patriot act.

We wouldn't have spent trillions on the wars.

There's absolutely no way we would have ended up where we are right now if it wasn't for 9/11.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago

that's where we disagree. just because this was used as justification for a lot of bullshit doesn't mean something else wouldn't be otherwise. it would've taken a bit longer but it was going to happen one way or another

[–] _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 5 hours ago

Good. The more the US hurts itself, the better the rest of the world will be. She should do one better and fire the whole NSA. No good people work for a US spy agency.

I swear, these MAGAs are doing more to improve the rest of the world by taking the US government out of it than the democrats ever did!

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 12 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

russian mouthpiece doing what she is told by putin, also saying buzzwords on occasion, going on various platforms all right wing ones, and spoken on russia propaganda shows on one occasion.

[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 25 points 20 hours ago

This is an excuse and nothing more to consolidate power, remove oversight, and sabotage the American intelligence apparatus on behalf of Russia.

[–] DougHolland@lemmy.world 29 points 22 hours ago

Sounds like they specifically targeted the gay and trans groups, which is infuriating but can't possibly be surprising. They'll be coming for any group that had their own chat rooms -- minorities, Muslims, whatever.

This is America now.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 74 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Does anyone else not talk about that stuff on work accounts? They’re just used for work and I assume my boss and his boss and their bosses will all read everything.

[–] FoxyFerengi@lemm.ee 75 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

I don't think I'd be comfortable talking about stuff on a work chat, but this sounds like it was specifically a support group chat for lgbtq+ employees. The entire point of that would be to discuss that aspect of themselves.

Edit: https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/the-new-mccarthyism-lgbtq-purges

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 31 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That makes a bit more sense but I still wouldn’t trust it. We can get together outside of work.

[–] boydster@sh.itjust.works 35 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I think for younger people, this is probably feeling like a betrayal. Almost like, "The boss said smoking was OK as long as we stayed in the smoking area and didn't litter our butts everywhere, but then they just up and fired everyone that took smoke breaks the other day."

"Don't smoke at work" is an easy thing to say, and most people adhere to that in general. But it's still fucked up to fire the smokers, when company policy just literal days before was "it's fine, just follow these basic rules."

Older people grew up keeping their private life private a lot more than younger people today, who have grown up online having their data mined constantly. Just by the nature of having grown up without ubiquitous data harvesting devices feeding analytics companies, we had more privacy as a default condition.

These particular folks were told they had a safe space for the chats they had, and then the rug was pulled from under them.

[–] its_prolly_fine@sh.itjust.works 0 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

But it was a group chat for work. In anything even a little bit security driven it's only for work related activities, just like email. I can't imagine talking about anything related to sex or medical operations on teams.

[–] anindefinitearticle@sh.itjust.works 7 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (1 children)

It may have just been a meme dump, or a place to vent and get support.

Maybe someone is asking how well insurance covers a procedure or how to ask the doctor. Maybe someone is asking what is considered proper etiquette post-transition when they're in a new social role. Maybe someone is asking who wants to get drinks after work.

I doubt it was gorey or pornographic. As you say, it's work.

Spy work requires a fair amount of social skill and socially being aware of your partners and their ticks and habits and personality. Like in many professions, socializing is part of the job.

The firings stem from out-of-context chat logs leaked by far-right commentator Chris Rufo on Monday. Sources tell Erin in the Morning that the chat functioned as an ERG-adjacent LGBTQ+ safe space, where participants discussed topics like gender-affirming surgery, hormone therapy, workplace LGBTQ+ policies, and broader queer issues. Rufo, however, framed these conversations as evidence of misconduct, claiming that “NSA, CIA, and DIA employees discuss genital castration” and alleging discussions of “fetishes, kink, and sex.” To Rufo and his audience, merely talking about being transgender and the realities of transition is enough to be labeled “fetish” content.

I just watched the Jesse Waters clip linked in the above quote. He claims that the chat was pornographic and uses as justification an out-of-context quote from one trans woman saying she gets euphoria every time she pees after her bottom surgery, and that it's easier than it's ever been. No details, not even a "because I have a vagina now" or a "because I don't have a penis". She only said that peeing is now easy and makes her happy.

[–] its_prolly_fine@sh.itjust.works 1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Every example you gave is still inappropriate, as they are not about work. I worked in the public sector and that would have been shut down. Federal employees are held to a higher standard, especially if they have a high security clearance. They get funny about spending because it is tax payers dollars. Using a work computer on a government account during paid hours to talk about personal things, nope. There are a bunch of rules they were breaking.

I'm not saying they they weren't targeted, but they were still in the wrong.

[–] anindefinitearticle@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 hours ago

Then I'll repeat that they are spies, and socializing is part of the job. Being a spy is a social job. You are a better spy if you know and socialize with your coworkers and can recognize their patterns of speech and habits and actions. This makes for more unified and cohesive propaganda and social engineering. They are in fact getting paid to become better acquainted with each other and the work that the agency is doing so that they are more effective agents.

With virtual work, there is no watercooler or parkinglot. This is a virtual space for people to meet and chat.

[–] Snowclone@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I've never worked with someone that effectively reads anything other than the title or maybe the first sentance, but I would also not use work software or accounts for anything I wouldn't want printed on 20ft billboards with my name attached. That's about the least secure place to do anything.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 5 points 1 day ago

You would think that intelligence officers would know that.

(Note that this doesn't mean I think they should be fired, only that they should have known better than to have those conversations on a system operated by the fucking NSA.)

[–] voytrekk@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 day ago

The people working in intelligence are not always the smartest, especially when it comes to technology.

[–] boydster@sh.itjust.works 48 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

First they came for the T's

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a T

Then they came for the LGB's

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a LGB

Then they came for the immigrants

And I did not speak out

Because I was not an immigrant

And then they came for the non-Christians

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a non-Christian

And then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me

[–] madjo@feddit.nl 3 points 16 hours ago

Speak out! Use your rights, while you still have them!

[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 23 points 1 day ago (4 children)

“Someone might want to let Chris Rufo know that many of the best coders, hackers, and cryptographers are LGBTQ. The neurodivergent talent required for these skills often comes with divergence from the mean in other areas.”

Hrm. While I'm very sympathetic to their plight here I also hate this "Big Bang Theory" stereotype of people who work in technical fields.

[–] bane_killgrind@slrpnk.net 7 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I have a mix of friends and the most spicy ones are also the smartest and most talented. Stereotypes are true sometimes.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago

I fear it may be a bit of a self-fulfilling stereotype. Based on my experience (some extended family, some from when I grew up, and some from my kid's schoolmates), "spicy" far from guarantees intelligence, and intelligence far from requires being "spicy". Most of the folks I've encountered with mental health diagnoses are not particularly intelligent, excluding self-diagnosis, no more so than other folks, maybe a bit less since the sample includes low-functioning autistic.

One example of a high functioning autistic who was smart was a girl my kid knew. I'm not so sure about it, because she didn't seem strange to me. Turned out her parents were loaded, and bemoaned the mental health industry because they had taken their kid to 4 child psychologists who all claimed she was normal before they finally found a "good" one that would actually diagnose her. They seemed quite proud to have a "special" kid with a mental condition that meant she was smarter than other people.

Which is a huge part of the issue, ever since Asperger's became popularized back in the day. People heard "mental deficiency that makes it ok to be an asshole, and it means you are smart, and generally functional". I've known a few people that self diagnose because they want to be considered smart and didn't like considering other people's feelings. They mistake "incapable" for "not liking to" when it comes to accommodating others.

People who are neurodivergent can be smart, but the diagnosis is diluted by a lot of self-diagnosers or mental health professional shoppers. This leads to some bad outcomes, like a story where a company declared they wanted to exclusively hire autistic people because they wanted the smartest.

[–] blazeknave@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

I've been saying for years that I've never seen as many trans people in one place as defcon blackhat

[–] return2ozma@lemmy.world 6 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Alan Turing?

[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 5 points 22 hours ago

... Okay?

[–] aramis87@fedia.io 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Russian Asset says what?

[–] ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago

I'm going to hazard a guess that if they had been hating on trans people and culture, or promoting conservative values, in that work chat tool then they would still have jobs.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 6 points 23 hours ago

So, a lot of experts are going to be trying to find the Trump pee tapes?

[–] ShellMonkey@lemmy.socdojo.com 8 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This Cruella De Vil looking twat was no business in the Intel world when any given one of those people have more knowledge of actual security matters than she could even begin to comprehend.

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 1 points 15 hours ago

i thought she look like her, shes no glenn close.

[–] beejboytyson@lemmy.world 1 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Rofl, "she thinks she looks hot but she just looks like a bitch"

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 2 points 15 hours ago

she overdid it on botox.

[–] Veedem@lemmy.world -2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Oooooph. These people are fools for using a work app to talk about that crap.

[–] RagingRobot@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Sounds like it was an app like slack or teams where you talk to your colleagues. That doesn't seem like a weird thing to me if you are friends with someone at work you discuss your life with them.

[–] Veedem@lemmy.world 6 points 23 hours ago

I had a teams app at my previous gig and I was very close with the people in that app, but if it wasn’t work related, that conversation happened over iMessage, not in teams where the company had access