Trump is a dangerous disgrace, here and overseas
On April 25 a letter writer wrote, “During (Trump’s) administration, we had … respect for our military.”
A most curious assertion, considering Trump ditched a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018 (with excuses that were not true), and said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” Later he called the 1,800 U.S. marines, who died at Belleau Wood, “suckers” for getting killed, and has mocked and denigrated Gold Star families. Of Sen. John McCain, five years a POW in North Vietnam, he said, “He’s not a war hero,” and “I like people who weren’t captured.” And called President George H. W. Bush a “loser” for being shot down by the Japanese in WWII.
Trump has taken credit for the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act, actually signed into law by President Barack Obama, and only extended by Trump, as the VA Mission Act, and he tried to erase McCain’s pivotal role in passing Veterans Choice. Trump has mis-truthed about this 156 times, as of 2020. And Trump wants to use the U.S. military for astonishingly vain military parades, and for squashing peaceful demonstrations of political opposition (in violation of the First Amendment and the Posse Comitatus Act). Trump also proposed extreme budget cuts for Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security benefits for veterans, and wanted to cut a rental assistance program that has kept many veterans from homelessness.
The letter’s author also asserted that the U.S. had “international respect” under Trump, which is abjectly wrong. Our enemies snickered as Trump lent credibility to Kim Jong-un’s regime with three summits. Kim flattered Trump into suspending joint military exercises with South Korea (without consulting the Pentagon or South Korea). Trump got 55 MIA remains repatriated in return (out of some 5,300). Trump is a dangerous disgrace, here and overseas!
Charlotte Mudar, Boulder
