Any regular reader of this column over the years knows of my respect for our men and women in uniform and unwavering reverence for the sacrifices of the past that have kept us free today.
I can’t count the hours of research that have gone into untold number of columns dedicated to them over the years. Each one has been a privilege and an honor.
Which is why I was so adamant in my anger against President Biden’s political bug out of Afghanistan that got 13 of our best senselessly murdered. That dereliction of duty not only ignored the sacrifice and gains made over the past twenty years, it gave up the most strategic piece of real estate on the planet and showed weakness to Russia and Iran at the worst time in years.
Which is also why I find myself now writing in anger against the current Commander in Chief.
When I wrote in the “Too much talking, not enough doing” column “We’re in a defacto war with Iran that if not for first Obama and then Biden appeasements might very well have not been needed, but irregardless must now be won. A task made even more difficult by Trump himself and his inability to just keep his mouth shut and finish the job.” I meant every word.
Now complaints from some family members regarding the long deployment and poor conditions aboard the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln have broken out from the left corner of MS Now and made their way into the broader legacy media.
A week ago Friday, Mr. Art of the Deal had a short exchange with reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews regarding said complaints.
Reporter: Family members of U.S. service members are concerned about the conditions on board the USS Lincoln
Trump: Well no that ship is moving, no they’re not, that ship is moving right now or very shortly and it’s being replaced with another very similar ship
Reporter: Has the deployment gone on too long?
Trump: No, no, no, not nearly long enough, thank you everybody
And this past Monday at an Oval Office press availability he doubled down. After clashing with a CNN reporter (who chose to raise her voice and push her own question rather than maintain decorum) another asked: “Mr. President is there enough food on the USS Lincoln?”
Trump: “Yeah, there is, that was a CNN fake report. The Lincoln has uh been out there uh for a period of time, good period of time, but over the years we’ve had em out there much longer.”
Dan Merica writing in the Washington Post this past Wednesday put it best: “President Donald Trump had a choice to make: He could attempt to comfort the sailors’ families, who were growing increasingly worried about their loved ones’ well-being, or question the veracity of the reports. The president went with the latter.”
And it’s that “choosing the latter” that has been Trump’s Achilles Heel from the beginning. Call it ego, arrogance, or something else, Trump’s refusal to acknowledge there’s a political landscape outside the valley of MAGA has left Republicans with the slimmest of slim majorities in the House and several seats short of what the current Senate majority could have been. 2022 Senate candidates Blake Masters, Don Bolduc, Mehmet Oz and Herschel Walker just to name a few.
But this latest episode goes beyond incompetent candidate endorsements. This goes directly to the very men and women and their families that in my book this nation owes its very existence to.
A respectful Commander in Chief would have responded “I’m aware of the stories and I can assure the families and the American people that I take these issues seriously. I’ve ordered Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and the head of Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper to investigate and report back to me by the end of the month. We owe our men and women in uniform the best of the best that we have to offer and if these allegations prove true, those responsible will be dealt with appropriately.”
To date there are still serious questions as to the veracity and scale of the complaints.
Add in the reactions I’m seeing from other service members and veterans mocking them as trivial compared to what they’ve endured, and the odds are better than average that this is another media hyped, Democrat pushed political hit piece.
A swing and miss that would have been forgotten in a couple of weeks Mr. President. But instead, history will now record that when you had the chance to show concern for the troops under your command, you once again chose a petty feud with the press instead.
And that image of George Washington you see in your mirror Mr. President? It’s just that, an image. And it’s a fake one at that.
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