Losers & Suckers

Asking that future military photo ops not include the wounded, canceling a visit to veterans’ graves in France due to bad weather while other leaders attended, proudly and smugly stating Senator John McCain was “only a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured,” disparaging a Gold Star family because they spoke at the opposition’s convention, holding a campaign event disguised as honoring the soldiers killed* at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan without following Arlington Cemetary protocol, and declaring the civil Freedom Award given at a president’s discretion is “equivalent” and “much better” than the military Medal of Honor, given to service members who have sacrificed their lives, either dedicating it to our country or tragically losing it for all Americans, are moments off-script, laying bare the scorn heaped by Trump on people who have given more for our country than he’s ever done.

Why? Why does he have such disrespect for active and past service members, while parading as pro-military and pro-veterans? It pains me to see people in uniform, and their families, support Trump. I understand some will dismiss the evidence I offer with, “It’s just Trump talking. It doesn’t matter what he says.” Unfortunately, during his four years in the White House, what he says is what he actually feels or thinks in the moment; whereas the facade he presents after the backlash is cultivated and presented as polished as his team can maneuver, given the unpredictability of his stream-of-consciousness verbal output.

Back in the 1960’s, 2.594 million America’s mostly sons and some daughters were shipped to Vietnam, risking their lives, even if they weren’t sure why. They committed to or were drafted into the miliary. Upon entry, service members take an oath to our country, constitution, President, and the military.

The Oath of Enlistment (for enlisted):

“I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

The Oath of Office (for officers):

“I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the _____ (Military Branch) of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God.”

Among those whose service was legitimately deferred from war in Vietnam were the disabled, older men, college students and other categories regulated by the military, which changed as the war continued. Another sort altogether were the wealthy who could afford doctors willing to find a medical reason why those young people were disqualified from serving, in order that they could present supporting documentation of the pertinent diagnosis to the draft board when their number came up. Donald Trump deferred service to his country, four times for college and the fifth for medical exception, while millions were choosing it or were forced. His diagnosis? Bone spurs on his feet. He was called up the fifth time and five times avoided joining the U.S. fighting forces. His dad did send him away to New York Military Academy from ages 13 to 18, though.

My theory: Trump views everything as winners and losers. Throughout the 60’s and 70’s, he repeatedly sought to stay out of the military – and he won! Other people he knew won that game, too. They were an exclusive club, smarter and more important, in their own esteem. They were the winners; therefore, young men who didn’t have the same resources and had to go overseas were the losers. This was an ongoing effort, having to be revisited five times over. This solidified his view of himself and equally well-situated peers as champions and those who weren’t, or worse those idiots who chose to go, as the expendable, uneducated, less-necessary-to-the-future, lower class losers.

Nothing has changed. Trump truly can’t understand the dedication and loyalty service men and women have in our all-volunteer armed forces. He asked a general, “Why do they do it? What’s in it for them?” The idea of doing something to provide for your family or for a purpose higher than your own is outside of what he’s able to imagine. That’s understandable because Trump only and always does what benefits him in some way. His only allegiance is to himself and his definition of winning. Loyalty is demanded of the lucky ones he “chooses” to work for or serve him in some way, but he easily betrays them and those he purports to honor, love and respect. The level of commitment shown by our enlisted and officers to honesty, integrity, loyalty and dedication is anathema to the man who hasn’t been true to his wives, family, business associates, or anyone who becomes inconvenient in the present moment or circumstances. His mercurial, self-centered impulses would not be tamed. Following orders of a superior? That’s for suckers.

At his inauguration decrying the carnage in our streets, DJT took the oath of office. No point including it here. Given how seriously he took his vow to “forsake all others,” his habit of not paying his project contractors, emphasis on contract, and playing a shell game with boxes of documents, while he assured his lawyers that he’d turned over everything, I have no faith in him embracing and honoring his oath. Protect the Constitution? He wanted to suspend it.

Trump may have increased the budget of our military, but he cut funds to the VA. As president, when he planned to go aboard a docked aircraft carrier, the White House insisted that the USS John McCain’s name, visible in the background, be covered because he didn’t want to see it or have it in his photo op. On very short notice, the shipmen and women aboard had to temporarily mask the offending words. Good use of their time and our tax dollars? Was he putting his own fragile ego over our troops?

He purports to have been to Dover many, many times to receive the bodies of those we’ve lost and to see therifamilies. Those who know say otherwise.

“You can count on one hand the number of times Donald Trump has been to Dover,” said Jon Soltz, chairman of the progressive political group VoteVets and an Iraq War veteran. “There simply is no bottom when it comes to what he’ll lie about. I wish there was more outrage about Trump lying about the dignified transfer of the fallen for political reasons, because as a veteran it really disgusts me.”

One might consider that his largesse in the military budget also served Trump’s image and political purposes, while costing him nothing. When seen in light of his words and actions regarding our sons and daughters, that alone does not equate to honoring our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard. Can people with bone spurs even serve as Commander-in-Chief? Oh, right. More than once he’s told us he knows more than “his generals” about ISIS or about “offense and defense than they will ever understand. Believe me.”

*Before leaving office, #45 negotiated a speedy handover to the Taliban. He even wanted to have the Taliban at Camp David to sign. Thankfully, he was able to be persuaded that this would not be a good photo op. Did Biden ensure a safe and effective withdrawal? No. They both screwed up.

Source: Trump’s military insults are piling up, by Nicole Gaouette