I found a passage in an essay on a popular "alternative" medicine and nutrition site (which is generally good) that totally mistates the issue:

 

QUOTE: 

Problems with Hydrogenated Oils

Many, many diseases have been associated with the consumption of trans fatty acids, such as heart disease, cancer, digestive disorders and degeneration of joints and tendons (which is why we have so many hip replacements today). Trans fats are associated with auto-immune disease, skin problems, growth problems in children and learning disabilities. The only reason that we are eating this stuff is because we have been told that the competing fats and oils--butter, lard, tallow and suet, coconut oil and palm oil--are bad for us and cause heart disease. This message is nothing but industry propaganda to get us to buy substitutes.   UNQUOTE.

The problem here is obvious: if you totally hydrogenate a fat source, there are no trans bonds present, and all the fatty acids are then saturated.  Thus, there may be no problem with hydrogenated fats, so long as there are no unsaturated bonds present ("trans" or "normal").  Of course, there is no fat source in nature that is 100% saturated fatty acids, and I would rather consume fresh coconut oil than coconut oil that is totally hydrogenated, because I don't know what else is in the hydrogenated product, being that it has been subjected to all kinds of processing.

Source: http://www.westonaprice.org/modernfood/dirty-secrets.html