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(CNN) - On Sunday night, President Donald Trump tweeted this:
LOOK: Trump assesses US response to attack in Saudi Arabia
“Saudi Arabia's oil supply was attacked. There are reasons to believe that we know the culprit, we are 'loaded and securely placed' depending on the verification, but we are waiting to hear from the Kingdom about who they believe was the author of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed! ”
The tweet referred to the drone attacks in the oil fields of Saudi Arabia, and it seemed a very clear threat that a military response was in perspective once the culprit became apparent. After all, the words “loaded and securely placed” directly imply that weapons are locked and loaded to be sent at the press of a button.
Except it doesn't! Look, what the president meant by "loaded and secure" really didn't have anything to do with a threat of military attack! No way!
READ: The repercussions on the international geopolitics of the attacks on Saudi Arabia
"I think that 'loaded and securely put' is a broad term and speaks of the realities that we are all much safer and firmer at the national level on behalf of energy independence," Marc Short, head of Vice President Mike Pence's cabinet.
Which is, of course, absolutely and totally ridiculous on your face. So, when Trump said that we are 'loaded and secure,' what he was talking about was “the reality that we are all much safer and stronger at the national level on account of energy independence”?
Come on man. You are not even close.
Ask Trump, who tweeted this in the wake of Short's "explanation" of his "loaded and secure" comments:
“Remember when Iran shot down a drone, knowingly knowing that it was in its 'airspace' when, in fact, it was not nearby. They became strongly attached to that story knowing it was a great lie. Now they say they had nothing to do with the attack on Saudi Arabia. We'll see?".
"We'll see!!"
This is an administration that has repeatedly tried to tell the public that what they are listening and seeing is not what they are hearing and seeing. Literally.
"Just remember, what you are seeing and what you are reading is not what is happening," Trump said in July 2018. "Just stay with us, don't believe the garbage you see from these people, the fake news."
Short's brazenness in stating that “loaded and securely placed” has nothing to do with a military threat is only possible in an administration and with a president who has deeply denigrated the idea of the facts and the truth. Short feels he is licensed to make these extravagant claims because the big boss would say the same. Instead of being punished for living in an unreality, Short will be praised for it.
LOOK: Oil prices rise after attack on Saudi Arabia facilities
Step back here and just use your instincts. Let's say that the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, was quoted as saying that Russia was “loaded and securely placed” to respond if the United States continued to push the idea that they wanted to interfere in the 2016 elections (they did, obviously.) Would you assume that with "loaded and secure" what Putin is doing was using a "broad term" that did not connote the possibility of a military attack? Of course you would not.
What Short asks the public to do is completely suspend common sense here. We all knew what Trump meant in the second he tweeted the term "loaded and secure." That he was ready for a military attack on Iran if it became clear that they had been responsible for the drone attacks against Saudi oil. Suggesting anything else is ridiculous.
Unfortunately, doing that has become a standard operating procedure in this administration. And for many of Trump's strongest supporters, all this is totally fine. They are willing to suspend their common sense in support of their president. And you don't have to be a space scientist, I say, to understand how slippery that slope is.
Saudi Arabia Oil