As an antiwar activist from my early teens on, I have opposed every war that the US has undertaken during my lifetime. However, I have always believed that service people are not responsible for starting wars, so loving warriors is equally important with hating war. I have always honored the service of our troops and supported measures for their care. That is not so for Republicans. They claim that we, who oppose war, do not support our troops, but Republican support is only so far as using them as cannon fodder. When Putin’s Pervert disrespected four dead special forces troops and their families, he evaded and projected by lying about Obama’s support.
President Trump falsely asserted on Monday that his predecessor, Barack Obama, and other presidents did not contact the families of American troops killed in duty, drawing a swift, angry rebuke from several of Mr. Obama’s former aides.
Mr. Trump was responding to a question about why he had not spoken publicly about the killing of four Green Berets in an ambush in Niger two weeks ago when he made the assertion. Rather than answering the question, Mr. Trump said he had written personal letters to their families and planned to call them in the coming week. Then he pivoted to his predecessors.
“If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls,” Mr. Trump said during a news conference in the Rose Garden with the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell. “A lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate.”
Mr. Trump’s assertion belied a long record of meetings Mr. Obama held with the families of killed service people, as well as calls and letters, dating to the earliest days of his presidency. Before he decided to deploy 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, Mr. Obama traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to greet the coffins of troops…
Inserted from <NY Times>
Rachel Maddow discussed Trump’s disrespect and lies in detail.
In my opinion, Trump may have feared that GOP mismanagement of the military might spark an investigation. After all, had Hillary been elected before this happened, Republicans at all levels of government would be screaming "BENGHAZI!!" through force of habit. On the other hand, Trump may not have notices, because he was too busy spending his free tokens from the Kremlin on a webcam girl from FullRussianHookers.com. Either way, our troops deserve better than anything the GOP will do.
RESIST THE REPUBLICAN REICH!!
18 Responses to “Disrespecting Troops with a Lie”
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It’s really worse than just making this (like everything!) about Obama. “…President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls…” EVERY President has made calls, or recognized military dead in some way, even Short Shrub. This B-Hole* is uniquely disrespectful, uniquely uncaring.
*because he hasn’t got what it takes to be an A-Hole.
This Twitler lie has left me LIVID!
Drumpf is such an asshole! . . . and a big fat one to boot! I am convinced that his obsession with Obama is race related. Obama, like all of us, is far from perfect, but compared to Drumpf, he is a saint!
Well, dt shows nothing or feelings about our military. He was golfing when one of the soldiers came home to Dover. What was this ID doing? dt was golfing! He didn’t even say anything till 12 days later about the deaths of these servicemen. His disrespect is palpable, he’s a fraud, and a liar!!
If any of you expect tRump to “man up,” or do anything appropriate, honorable, presidential, you are going to be hugely disappointed. I’m not suggesting that we make his craziness the accepted normal for how a human ought to act, but he’s nowhere near any society’s normal, and never will be. He lies, ducks weaves, projects, projects…oh, did I say projects? This is, I remind you again, the clown who never had to ask God for forgiveness “…because I’ve never made a mistake.”
Last week I e-mailed my “Wait a year, maybe you’ll change your mind” about tRump, cousin with the heading “Well, it’s been almost a year, have you changed your mind?” The body of the e-mail was the Norman Ornstein )that wonder of the conservative think tank The American Enterprise Institute, their resident guru) article in The Atlantic, describing how horrendous tRump and his administration have turned out to be. Have any of you heard form her…I surely have not?
Are you referring to his Kakistocracy article?
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/10/american-kakistocracy/542391/
He was not kind – but spot-on!
Excuse my indifference, or rather lack of understanding, of the strong feelings and great respect Americans have towards their military. But where mine may be excused on the basis of being a foreigner, born and bred American Drumpf’s indifference is simply inexcusable, unless one believes that his sociopathy (total lack of empathy ‘for losers who got themselves killed and embarrassing America’?) combined with his dementia (he just forgot what hardly registered in the first place) is an excuse.
When confronted with any acknowledgement over the course of nearly two weeks of the death of four American soldiers in Niger, Drumpf does what he always does: he tries to shift the blame on someone else, in this case Obama because Hilary couldn’t possibly be blamed in this. And Drumpf does it the only way he knows how: by lying or changing reality in such a way that he “did better” by suggesting that he made a personal call instead of sending an impersonal letter. I’d love to see the timeline on those calls; if they’re not pure fabrication, they were probably made right after this press conference.
BTW: Kudos to the reporter who challenged Drumpf right there and then on his lie, forcing him to retract it with the same old, weak “I was told.”
Lona, between Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, almost everyone here have known several people who have been killed, maimed, or traumatized as a result of their military service. I was a conscientious objector, who planned to go to jail before I went to Vietnam. When I lost my student deferment, I lucked out in the lottery. I had immense respect for those who did go, including my best friend from childhood, who died there. That respect widened to included heroes like JD and Pat B.
I’m familiar with what you mention in your comment, TomCat – I have been coming here for quite a few years now – and I also relate to it and respect it on a personal level, have done so in the past and do so now. When I say this foreigner can’t understand it, it implies she isn’t brought up with it and doesn’t share your background, then understand it is personal observation and the remark is nothing more than a point of reference. In no way am I demeaning the feelings of so many Americans, nor am I belittling or am disrespectful those who serve or served.
I’m sorry, Lona. My intent was to inform. I never inferred disrespect.
Drumpf’s obsession with Obama is insane! He should be suitably obsessed with the deaths of American troops, not Obama.
Drumpf is a poor excuse, very poor excuse for a human being!
Resist, Persist and Remove!!!
Silence is Consent!!!
Thanks all! Hugs!
Good Morning, Tom,
Thank you for your Kudos.
My first duty station as a ‘green’ Navy Wave, was working with SeaBees who were fresh off the boat from Vietnam. Great and honest group of guys. Their stories were reminiscent of the ‘MASH’ shows on tv.
At my second duty station I volunteered to work, (after hours), with patients at the hospital sent to recuperate from the war, to write letters home, or just talk to the guys/gals who were hospitalized, who needed support both mentally and physically. My most vivid memory is of one young sailor who I visited almost every day, talking and writing letters for him, and trying to get him to laugh. I saw him continually at the ward, for about 3 months. One day, I went in (as usual), and found that he committed suicide the night before. He was 21 years old. To this day, I cry for his young life being taken, but also in having realized the effects of wars, and the damage and heartbreak(s) of it. I always say a prayer for those lives lost in conflict, and will never forget this young man, it’s been 46 years since he died.
Yes, Tom, wars have no place in this world that we live in.
Thanks for letting me share my stories.
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{ Pat B }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Thanks Joanne!
Thank you so much for sharing your stories.
Thanks, Tom for letting me do so.
My heart is heavy with the lives lost, and the debacle of dt, ‘let’s go play GOLF!!’, he says.
Un-fvking real.