As I sip my coffee this morning, I am having a hard time not choking on it after reading Jeffrey Goldberg’s article in the Atlantic about Cheeto’s attitude toward the military. I might warn you that what I say should be read with the understanding that Cheeto thinks I must be a sucker and not very smart since I served in the military. Forewarned is forearmed.
Allowing that the article is anecdotal in content, but written by a respected journalist who not only is Editor and Chief of the Atlantic but also recipient of the National Magazine Award for Reporting, suggests that we need to respect that Mr. Goldberg is no schmuck who wandered in off the street. His article has also received corroboration from other independent reporters. That said, I am appalled at Trump’s attitude about the military and, trust me, it takes more than a ton to be more appalled than I normally am with anything Cheeto says or does.
In his article Goldberg talks about Trump’s visit to Paris in 2018. When Cheeto canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed the rain for the last-minute decision, saying that “the helicopter couldn’t fly” and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true. He rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead. According to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day Cheeto said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation, he referred to the 1,800 Marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as ‘suckers’ for getting killed. I am beyond speechless for his appalling disrespect. Belleau Wood is revered grounds to the Marines as a key battleground in WWI.
Is it no wonder he refuses to fulfill the sacred obligation to protect the military from harm by confronting Putin over the bounties for allied soldiers’ effort perpetrated by Vlad? If you disrespect the military and disrespect their service, why would you stand-up for them and confront Putin as any Commander and Chief with principles should do?
Goldberg suggests that Trump finds the notion of military service difficult to understand, and the idea of volunteering to serve especially incomprehensible. As we know he received a medical deferment from the draft during the Vietnam War because of the alleged presence of bone spurs in his feet and in the 1990s, Trump said his efforts to avoid contracting sexually transmitted diseases constituted his “personal Vietnam.” As a Vietnam vet I find his comments more offensive than you can imagine.
As reprehensible as Cheeto’s attitude toward the military is, perhaps he sinks no lower than his attitude toward wounded warriors. When planning military events/parades, Trump asked his staff not to include wounded veterans on grounds that spectators would feel uncomfortable in the presence of amputees. “Nobody wants to see that” he said. Let me parenthetically add that I gladly volunteer every week at the local VA clinic, and I assure you, I consider it an honor and a privilege that I can help those who were wounded serving their country and am more proud to be in their presence than you will ever know.
How anybody who has a scintilla of respect for the military or has served a day in uniform could possible support this POS stretches my understanding beyond the breaking point. In the 10 years I spent in the Air Force, I would like to think that at least a small piece of my motivation was the notion that citizenship carries some degree of obligation to give something back for the opportunities our country has provided to us. I would like to think that the soldiers with whom I served were not losers and suckers but cared a lot more for their country and its principles than the incumbent currently sitting in the White House. The only ‘loser’ in this analysis is the disrespectful and selfish buffoon occupying the presidency.
On that notion, I will try to keep my next cup of coffee in my mouth without choking. To say I am pissed beyond words is an understatement.