I am a reader of Duffleblog, and in today’s topsy turvy world, while they are supposed to be satire – they approach the truth to a much closer degree than they care to admit.
You should know I am talking about the story in The Atlantic where Jeffery Goldberg reminded us, yet again, what an extraordinarily soulless and evil person Donald J. Trump is.
Which brings me back to Duffleblog. They nailed it with this particular fake headline.
Entirely accurate and accentuated by the fetishization of military service by the general public since 9-11. It’s all too easy to imagine Trump saying it because Trump does not understand non-transactional life choices and denigrates those who served this country selflessly. He can’t fathom the idea of doing something for someone other than himself. He thinks that anyone who does anything when there’s no direct personal gain to be had is a sucker. There’s no money in serving the nation.
Of course, he said those things. He’s on the record saying things that are just as bad, if not worse. It’s probably a good time to remember that the only reason he is in the US is that his grandfather avoided military service in Germany back in the day.
What does that have to do with Duffleblog? Everything.
WASHINGTON — Americans everywhere are condemning President Donald Trump for allegedly calling dead American soldiers “suckers” and “losers” in 2018, publicly voicing opinions of contempt for the military which most Americans say should only be expressed in private.
“I think it’s absolutely disgraceful that Donald Trump has said out loud what many of us clearly believe but are afraid to say in public,” said Ana Holcomb from Battle Creek, Mich.
Holcomb said she proudly supports the troops and thanks them for their service and everything they do, while privately admitting that she would do everything possible to stop her own son from ever wearing a uniform.
“He’s just better than that,” Holcomb added. “Don’t get me wrong: I respect the military, but I think those jobs should be saved for the less-advantaged members of our society, like people trying to get off drugs or out of juvenile delinquency.”
In real life, I have heard variations of these sentiments more times than more might care to remember. Consider, if you will, that maybe 5% of all Americans have any military experience at all – and at any given time, only .5% of the total population is serving.
Even though many – could have avoided huge student loan debt by doing so.
Indeed, that is true of most of the people who are in Trump’s inner circle:
Stephen Miller? Could not be bothered to serve a day in uniform. Chief of Staff Mark Meadows? No way he served – even though his father did, and he was born in France.
Mike Pence? Same story as Meadows. The call of sleazy politics beckoned him and transforming himself into a partisan hack in the ’90s.
Now two people in the cabinet served – and in fact, are from the same West Point Class ( which probably explains a lot ). SECDEF Esper and SECSTATE Pompeo took their free education, served on active duty for a time, and then moved on, one to the reserves and Guard, one to Harvard Law school. They had bigger ambitions – especially Pompeo. You would never know they served now, however. Esper is allowing Trump to use military personnel as part of a flawed social experiment, and Pompeo has set the record for being the worst SECSTATE ever.
Mnunchin? Not a fucking chance. No money in it – and we have very well established money is all he cares about.
And many more in his administration. They mouth words like his lying press secretary, but they could not be bothered to live the experience.
Which brings me back to Duffleblog. This article from Jim Wright explains precisely why, in satire, there is considerable truth.
So the bottom line for me? I absolutely believe he said it. I’m with David Frum when he quite correctly points out the lack of adequate defense from anyone who has not already established themselves as selling their souls for Donald Trump.
Few former employees of the Trump administration praise him as a boss. Few business partners speak of his honesty. Few tenants of Trump buildings have anything good to say about the homes he supposedly built. Few officials of any city have been willing to celebrate any contribution to urban life. Few beneficiaries of any Trump philanthropy.
Imagine a man who has lived in the public eye for half a century, supposedly one of the country’s leading business figures, and when in trouble he struggles to summon credible or trustworthy witnesses from outside the Fox Cinematic Universe. There’s just a gaping zero where goodness should be.
Trump is the evil man he has long been. That so many Americans give him a pass on his ghoulish behavior, that is what one should be really angry about.