August 31, 2024
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
Buddy took this picture on his way to work one morning while I was in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention.
So much of life is in the contrasts.
And after a very busy week, I’m going to go to bed early night. I’ll see you tomorrow.
[Photo by Buddy Poland.]
When Donald Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed 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. Trump 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. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.
Six years later, it appears that “Arlington-gate” has legs. Trump will eventually commit another atrocious act, and we will move on, but before we go we must ask, “will this be the straw to break the elephants back?” Unlikely, but at the least maybe this time this story will give the press the opportunity to fully flesh out trump’s hatred and vendetta against the military over his lifetime. Trump is a veteran of military disrespect. His record proves the point.
“Trump received 5 deferments for a fake medical condition from the draft during the Vietnam War. He demeaned a POW, attacked a Gold Star family and told a military widow that her deceased husband “knew what he had signed up for”. He downplayed the traumatic head injuries suffered by our troops after a missile attack as “not real” because they weren’t ‘missing hands and limbs.’ He tried to slash benefits for our veterans. He said he didn’t want to be seen with war-wounded amputees and to keep them forever out of his sight. He called our fallen heroes of war “suckers” and “losers”. He called our military leaders “dumb” and “overrated” while calling terrorists like the Taliban & Hezbollah “very smart”. He demanded the flags after McCain’s death be returned to full mast and demanded that a ship bearing his name be blocked from view. He stole, hid and lied about our national security secrets, potentially imperiling countless men & women in uniform all over the world. He suggested that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff deserved to be executed. He asked Gen. John Kelly (who lost his son in combat), why anyone would sign up for service because as far as he saw it, there was “nothing in it for them.” He said that as President he would allow our adversary to attack the same allies this county’s Greatest Generation fought beside and died defending. He said the Medal of Freedom he gave to his rich donors was “much better” than the Medal of Honor because the recipients of that honor are “in bad shape or dead.”
Finally, he insisted on using the sacred shrine that is Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place for more than 400,000 veterans, and the families of those veterans as a photo op for his campaign, even though he wasn’t allowed to do so. Arlington officials were attacked by his staff for trying to stop him. Trump can and only will be stopped by the American voter.
Kamala Harris issued her response today. “If there is one thing on which we as Americans can all agree, it is that our veterans, military families, and service members should be honored, never disparaged, and treated with nothing less than our highest respect and gratitude. And it is my belief that someone who cannot meet this simple, sacred duty should never again stand behind the seal of the President of the United States of America. I will always honor the service and sacrifice of all of America’s fallen heroes, who made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of our beloved nation and our cherished freedoms. I mourn them and salute them. And I will never politicize them.”
Happy to see you post a photo tonight and wow, serene and simply gorgeous. Rest well.