I've written many times on why this is; Trump is a cruelly transactional thief who views everything in the lens what he's getting for himself and what he's getting over you.
I vainly thought that Trump shitting all over Medal of Honor recipients would be enough for the corporate media to call him the shameless gutless worm he is.
I naively thought when Trump was grinning his rictus grin while stomping all over Arlington National Cemetery giving the thumbs up over the graves of men and women far braver than he, the corporate media might have said enough is enough.
I stupidly thought when Trump was gleefully using the grief of families who've lost loved ones in the phony Republican War on Terror the corporate media might remind America how Trump callously dismissed the families of the US Special Forces whom he sent into Niger without a plan, without a QRF, with no hope and then shrugged and told the families this is what they signed up for...
So, now that Iran has apparently hacked his campaign and maybe issued a fatwa against him, Trump and his cabal of treasonous surrogates have no shame and no compunction in blaming it all on soon-to-be President Kamala Harris.
As War Criminal Benjamin Netanyahu continues to escalate violence and tension in the Middle East, hoping to provoke a major conflict and force President Biden and the U.S. military to intervene and invade Iran the same way Netanyahu lied and coaxed George W. Bush and Dick Cheney to invade Iraq, I figured the corporate meida might point out how Trump cruelly dismissed the injured Soldiers who were bombarded while he was in Office after Trump wanted to show what a big strong man he was by blowing up an Iranian General.
And then... and then Trump merely did it again.
Look at him smirk and shake his head as he downplays soldiers injuries. Then he goes into his canned answer of the bombs never hit the "fort"...
“What does ‘injured’ mean?” he said. “You mean because they had a headache? Because the bombs never hit the fort... None of those very accurate missiles hit our fort. They all hit outside. There was nobody hurt, other than the sound was loud."
There was nobody hurt... unlike like say Trump and his scratched ear from a small shard of glass...
Even his innovation of "fort" is so disrespectful as if these men deployed in Iraq where hiding in a fort of couch-cushions like Just Dishonorable Vance... At this point, as we saw at Arlington, there is nothing traitor Trump can do to alienate his rabid cult who yearn to get him into Office so that they might unleash their inner violent terrorism and murder millions of people here. But, alas the Corporate Media also openly desires another Trump Presidency so they will never stop Sane-Washing him.
So... it seems quite clear the Corporate Media was gearing up to let Trump's disgraceful use of Arlington National Cemetery as his personal campaign photo op slide and just chalk it up to there was a minor controversy as Trump team clashed with an official... but We, the People aren't!
The caption at the bottom of the image reads: President Donald Trump Should Have Never Happened
Donald Trump has a fundamental disrespect for service members and Veterans. Trump oozes with contempt for Veterans and Veterans know it.
While Trump was standing on the graves of better and braver people than him self, grinning his rictus grin, flashing his teeny thumbs up, literallyclowning on top of hallowed (not "hollowed" as Chris LaCivita wrote) ground, his team was pushing an National monument employee around, assaulting them and probably knocking them to the ground. And in this cemetery are Medal of Honor recipients whom Trump just a few days ago, repeatedly mocked and insulted. And it's quite fucking clear that Trump planned on using footage from Arlington to advance his despicable campaign.
And now, Just Dishonorable Vance has decided to tell future President Kamala Harris to "go to hell" in a transparent effort to seem like a tough guy and to try to drag Harris into this issue so Trump and MAGA can get the Corporate Media to attack VicePresident Harris for them.
Here's the thing, J.D. Vance is a coward. He never served in Afghanistan. He chickened out of service there and did not re-enlist when his time came. He's disgraced himself with this campaign and should be ashamed to call himself a Marine.
But, Trump's treatment of Federal employees and his weirdo campaign staff's giant fucking ego in thinking they can just trounce around whatever site they want in full fascist swagger is not new. This is exactly what Trump incited on January 6th when he sent his unruly mob into Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power and advance an Autogolpe to remain in power. His entitled behavior emboldens traitors to treat the National cemetery as their personal plaything.
Patrick Dillion points out there are numerous Trump staff members of whom it is conceivable would push a woman to the ground. And grotesque Steven Cheung claimed there was video of the incident and yet... we've not seen one second of that video released by the Treasonous Trump team. Instead what we have seen is exactly what we knew this was a tawdry political stunt and disgraceful use of
Republicans love Dead Marines because Republicans can stick their lies into the mouths of the dead and use Marines valor to help prop up evil Republican plans. Trump is using this family's grief, stoking it in the most obscene way, and blatantly using dead service members to help quicken his dying campaign.
It's the epitome of Stolen Valor. It's Trump's way.
In August 2021, after having overseen the end of the useless and futile Afghanistan Occupation, conservatives began an on-line campaign to blame Biden for everything.
While the narrative of Afghanistan withdrawal debacle was aided by War Boner Dick Engle and loony Lara Logan, and uncritically promoted by the Corporate Media an overnight rumor spread rapidly an rightwing Twitter that neither President Biden, nor Vice President Harris, nor anyone from the Biden Administration had gone to meet the last 13 returning service members slain during the withdrawal, during their dignified transfer. This lie quickly caught fire amongst the right as pictures of C-5 Galaxy's landing at Dover AFB without President Biden and pictures of President Biden's "official" White House schedule circulating without mention of attending Dover AFB. This caught the eyes of several prominent Republican congresspukes, former Trump officials, and the eyes of Faux News Liars who ran with the story.
Because as Joe Rogan says about every piece of rightwing trash he regurgitates without pause,“It’s got to be a real thing … it seems too good to not be … damn it, it better not be fake."
Even after their story feel apart rightwingers attempted to keep it somewhat alive by claiming their outrage had forced President Sleepy Joe Biden to scramble and rearrange his schedule to make the landing. Because what's important is too push those emotional buttons in the rightwing reptile brain, to get them riled up, to keep conservatives in a constant state of frenzied anger. By the time reality intercedes all rightwingers remember is that they were mad at Joe Biden and Joe Biden must have done something to make them mad.
Except, of course, it wasn't true. As always Republican love lies and always, always, always remember that Republicans shit on Veterans and use the bodies of the dead to advance their political agenda. The point was to get conservatives outraged, the truth hardly matters to Republicans. And once the lie became to much to maintain, Fox News simply deleted the story. Drats! Well, I'm certain they think, their next lie to slander Biden will catch on and they can always run a Hunter Biden dic pic for clicks! And after all some rightwingers will still believe the initial lie anyways.
The Kabul 13 they call them... what a slap in the face. What a despicable use of the the dead. Selective "waving of the bloody shirt." As if no one else fucking died over there. As if Joe Biden bears the responsibility of 20 years of pipe dreams of Nation building or Trump's 2020 Art of the Deal with the Taliban. As if Republicans give a rat's hind tit about Veterans or service members when they demonstrably don't, like last August when Senate Republicans fist-bumped after blocking key components of Veterans healthcare coverage.
It's outrageous the rhetoric around Afghanistan. President Biden extricates us from a 20 year hole and not only doesn't he get credit (from anyone) he gets the blame. That Marines who died in the last battle of a failed war were infants when I was in the same land they would later die in, doesn't make me angry at President Biden, instead I thank him for having the courage to end it so some 18 year old yet unborn today won't die in 2041 in Afghanistan.
Republicans hate America. Hate Americans. And hate everyone who doesn't aid them in their agenda of intolerance and oppression. So, of course, of fucking course, they will shamelessly lie about the treatment of the dead bodies they use as propaganda.
Thank you Prime Minister Erdogan for joining us yesterday to celebrate the launch of #TrumpTowers Istanbul!—Ivanka Trump 4/20/12
And the rush by Rightwing liars to justify whatever Trump does is off!!!
Conservatives #dgaf about the chaos in the Middle East or the struggle of the Kurdish people. The only thing conservatives care about is #OwntheLibs. DJ Traitor Trump has never and will never care enough about anything difficult to understand. Trump is a vile and venal creature who views the world and people as how they can aid him and whether or not they can make him pay his debts. Turkish President Erdogan clearly can make Trump pay,
"I have a little conflict of interest ’cause I have a major, major building in Istanbul" - Traitor Trump 2015
As Trump's impeachment is certain; Putin, Erdogan and others are going to call in their chits. And Trump is uncaring or too dumb to see the whole timing of the US pullout shows it. Turkey declares they are moving forward with a long planned military operation into Northern Syria and Trump gets a phone call from Turkish President Erdogan demanding payback.
So Trump being stupid but, needing the fawning adoration of his #Magat Horde declares he defeated ISIS and is now pulling back US Forces;
“Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria. The United States Armed Forces will not support or be involved in the operation, and United States forces, having defeated the ISIS territorial ‘Caliphate,’ will no longer be in the immediate area,” according to a White House statement.
Trump knows his rabid base only care about the semblance of victory. Conservatives long ago abandoned objective reality and treat Trump or a Republican administrations statements as stone-cold facts. So Trump tweeted out,
As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over... the captured ISIS fighters and families. The U.S. has done far more than anyone could have ever expected, including the capture of 100% of the ISIS Caliphate. It is time now for others in the region, some of great wealth, to protect their own territory. THE USA IS GREAT! Oct 7, 2019
It's shades of the conservative reaction to the Iraq War. Conservatives proclaimed Iraq a Glorious Victory dozens of times during W(orst POTUS Ever) pResidency, beginning when C+ Augustus awarded himself a Triumph aboard the USS Enterprise on May 1, 2003 and continuing until right-wingers declared V-I Day on November 8, 2008 in order to "get it on the record".
But, while the Iraq War Crimes and Middle East chaos were exactly what Dick Cheney and the Republican Party wanted in order to make off with Trillions of dollars in Wealth stolen from the American and Iraqi people, Trump's decision is actually more pathetic.
Ultimately, the chaos in the Middle East ties back directly to George W(worst President of All-Time) Bush ginning up a war in Iraq and ISIS is the unholy muslim love-child of Ronnie Raygun and W(orst) but, that doesn't matter right now because Trump's weakness is going to get a massive number of people killed, destroy any semblance of stability in the Middle East, and cede geopolitical dominance in the region.
Donald Trump has scammed Veterans Groups. This is not a surprise because Donald Trump's entire business model is scamming people out of money. Veterans are just another mark for Donald Trump to steal from. But, when called on it Trump executed a standard right-wing pivot and blamed the Media. Of course, pointing this out to the Trumpenproletariet is a useless endeavor. Criticism of Trump serves to reinforce his supporters defense of Trump, especially when the "sleazy" or "nasty" Liberal Media is doing the criticism.
Trump won over conservatives when he began his campaign by appealing to right-wingers sense of victimhood. Trump's blatant racism, mysogyny, and bigotry is what conservatives have yearned to hear for decades. Conservatives are no longer assauged by dog-whistles, conservatives are no longer satisfied with that svelte Southern Gentleman Newt Gingrich saying,
"I’m assuming that there’s some rhythm to Barack Obama that the rest of us don’t understand. Whether he needs large amounts of rest, whether he needs to go play basketball for a while or watch ESPN..."
It's a reaction by the Reactionaries. While the last two generations of conservatives had to get along with oblique references to racism, 'State's Rights', 'Busing', 'Welfare' and so forth; Today's conservatives have had enough! Today's conservative is very, very angry they've been "shackled" by America's PC Culture and want to go back to yelling Ni[clang], Ni[clang], Ni[clang] while cheering on the police as they choke and shoot black people.
One need look no further than the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a safe space where conservatives feel free to let their Confederate Battle Flags Fly.
At CPAC 2012, two White "Rappers" Steven Crowder and Chris Loesch at CPAC 2012 laid down a dope rap. When their rap-song "Mr. America" reached it's apex they yelled Ni-[clang], pretending they we're saying “knickers.” Then when the crowd groaned they responded,
"What? Knickers? I can say ‘knickers’ because I wear knickers.”
Eeriely at CPAC 2013, a discussion panel was entitled: Trump the Race Card: Are You Sick And Tired Of Being Called A Racist When You Know You’re Not One?
Also at CPAC 2013, a spokesman for the Frederick Douglass Republicans, K. Carl Smith, was brought into CPAC to provide cover and excuses to conservative racists in attendence.
While Smith spoke, a conservative named Scott Terry while flanked by his Confederate-flag festooned compatriot Matthew Heimbach, rose to complain the Republican Party was alienating, "young Southern white males" and minorities were "systematically disenfranchising” him and whites. Terry then scoffed when Smith spoke of Frederick Douglass forgiving his former slave masters and replied, "For giving him shelter? And food?"
Donald Trump has simply removed the filters. His supporters (i.e. Conservatives) are incensed over Political Correctness. This Atlantic piece an interview between Connor Friesdorf and a Right-Wing 22 year old white San Franciso resident covers the entire culture of aggrieved wimpy white victimhood. Here are few excerpts;
For me personally, it's resistance against what San Francisco has been, and what I see the country becoming, in the form of ultra-PC culture.
I don't know how to describe it, exactly, but I feel in a lot of ways that my identity as a white man is shamed.
If Hillary wins, we're going to see a further tightening of PC culture. But if Trump wins? If Trump wins, we will have a president that overwhelmingly rejects PC rhetoric. Even better, we will show that more than half the country rejects this insane PC regime.
But I see this overwhelming PC culture, especially online. I get frustrated by the dialogue of letting immigrants into the country without control, letting Black Lives Matter protest without consequence...
With Hillary Clinton, we have a stable America, sure, but one where we have to police what we say in fear of being fired by an overly liberal manager. With Trump maybe we can restore some sanity to this country and fight back against this PC craze.
While I've gone far afield from Trump's despicable but, typical right-wing use of Veterans the key is nothing is going to dissaude conservatives from voting for Trump. Despite the fact he doesn't possess any of the characteristics (Business success, Military Experience, or strong Family Values) supposedly necessary to be a True Conservative and fetishized by right-wingers. Donald Trump does check off one esstential quality conservatives demand from their politicans; Unabashed Racism.
Now, Bowe Bergdahl is facing the prospect of having President Trump personally execute him?
Here's conservative artist Jon McNaughton's Obamanation Painting. (Used without Permission)
Let's notice a few things. Everything is Obama's fault! See the BP Oil Spill? Obama's Fault!
Even more despicably look at Usama Bin Laden's picture (nearly dead center) and the Jet flying towards UN Headquarters in an obvious attempt to invoke 9/11, along with images of all the Right-Wing phony Obama Scandals.
But, just off the President's right is former POW Bowe Bergdahl. As Donald Trump continues his takeover of the Republican Party it's easy to forget that Bergdahl was at first a brave warrior left to rot by the scurrilous President Obama and then a terrible traitor worse than Benedict Arnold when his release was secured by that cad President Obama. So quick was the right-wing reaction, that conservatives and Republican politicians quickly back-tracked and scrubbed any positive mention to Bergdahl on their websites and election materials.
Well, Trump has resurrected Bergdahl only to pantomime shooting him dead,
"We get a traitor like Berghdal, a dirty rotten traitor, who by the way when he deserted, six young beautiful people were killed trying to find him. And you don’t even hear about him anymore. Somebody said the other day, well, he had some psychological problems. You know, in the old days ……bing – bong. When we were strong, when we were strong."
And this coming so soon after Trump ridiculed John McCain and saw his poll number sky-rocket. Conservatives love Trump's message, this is just another in the long line of Conservative un-Values.
Remember the Right supposedly is in awe and reveres the Troops. But, just as when Mitt Romney couldn't differentiate between Military Members and the Military-Industrial-Complex,
"When you give a speech, you talk about things you think are important... I didn’t use the word troops, I used the word military, and I think [giggles] they refer to the same thing.” - Mitt Romney.
Or the gross misogyny directed at the two Female Army Rangers, Conservatives only support Troops and Veterans who help advance their agenda of Intolerance, Oppression and Adulation of the Rich. This is why Donald Trump is doing so well, Donald Trump is American Conservatism.
The Letter from the 47 Traitors was a shot across the bow of Iran. However, it wasn't a warning but, a promise that as soon as they can the Republican Party will declare War on the Iranian People. Well, to be clear, the Republicans plan to send other Americans' children to war.
The Right-Wing Warmongers feel they have the perfect poster boy in Senator Tom Cotton, who despite being so stupid that he doesn't know that Tehran is the Capital of Iran, is leading the charge.
Tehran Tom is a true believer. He still believes the George W(orst POTUS Ever) Bush Administration Big Lie that Saddam was involved in 9/11, that Iraq still has WMDs, and the Iraq debacle was a Great and Noble Crusade. Senator Cotton is now calling for a ramp-up of Military spending to match the 1980's because he is a full-fledged member of the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Complex.
First, of the high-ranking Republicans leading this Crusade, all but perhaps one or two will have no family members anywhere near the War. The Young Republicans on college campuses will again beat the War Drum from the safety of their Quads. It'll just be working class Americans suffering and Republicans love when Poor people suffer.
Second, the Republican Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rich. The Rich used the Iraq War to steal at least 3 Trillion Dollars from the American People. A New War in Iran will be a windfall for the Rich while also providing the a crushing debt which the Rich will use to steal Social Security.
You see the Bush's Iraq War and the Huge Deficits associated with it have been used by Conservatives for over a decade to slash spending for the Social Safety Net and hamstring President Obama.
So, not only do the Rich get Richer, the Poor get Poorer. And when the Republicans launch the War on Iran a New Generation of Veterans will come home damaged and broken to be spit upon and left to suffer and die by the Republican Party.
Beyond the gross fetishization of every Servicemember being a Hero and every Servicemember having fought for our Freedoms the truth is that very little the US Military has done during the last 15 years has made America any safer, made Americans freer, or turned the world into a better place.
The Iraq War was a Monumental Failure, which has utterly destablized the region, stolen Trillions of dollars from the US Taxpayer, killed a million Iraqis, wounded a hundred thousand Americans, split the Nation asunder, and will be a black spot against the US for decades if not a century.
In the early stages of Iraq, after disgusting puke George W(orst President Ever) Bush declared the Iraq War over and was telling the Insurgency to bring it on, the Republican Warmongers and their feckless conservative lick-spittles needed a Hero to take heat off; Enter Pat Tillman.
Tillman, as most people know gave up a lucarative NFL career to enlist and served as an Army Ranger before being killed in a friendly fire incident in 2004.
After attempts by the Bush Department of Defense to cover up the facts surrounding Tillman's true cause of death and their use of Tillman's corpse to silence anti-war critics, we learned of Pat Tillman's atheism, utter disdain for George Bush, his disgust at the Iraq War, probable support of John Kerry for President and his admiration of Noam Chomsky.
Of course, Tillman was no longer a hero to conservatives. Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter, who had previously gushed and fawned over him, describing Tillman as "virtuous, masculine and pure as only the American Male can be" couldn't believe the man they had lionized would be against the War and read approvingly of works written by leftists.
So, conservatives abandoned the tributes to a fallen Soldier and buried his Hero Legacy with him.
Now, Chris Kyle is different. He massages every sick and twisted conservative pleasure center with his Book of Tall Tales. Blam! He killed so many Iraqis he became the Shaitan of Ar Ramadi... Blam! He gunned down looters in New Orleans during the Post-Katrina debacle... Blam! He punched out Jessie Ventura for bad-mouthing the US of A and President "I'm the Decider" Bush...
Chris Kyle is a hero to conservatives because he killed lots of Iraqis, whom Kyle called "savages". The same Savage Iraqis who attacked Us on 9/11! In reality, did anything Chris Kyle do in Iraq help the Iraqi people or the United States? Nope.
By all accounts he loved killing and thought every problem could be solved by guns. Thus, he lived by the sword and died by the sword... And the world is better off without him.
Update:
Remember when Free Speech Rights were the most important thing in the Universe? Ha, that was sooooo 2 weeks ago.
To Conservatives, "Free Speech" means the freedom for them to insult islam and threaten liberals. Semi-literate, mentally disabled right-wing darling Sarah Palin, not content with getting Congresswoman Gabby Giffords shot (in an attack which killed 6 and wounded 18 people) now is telling her cultists to 'set their sights' on Michael Moore.
Palin, along with MoH recipient Dakota Meyer. What's especially disgusting is the despicable Bush Regime used the natural sense of military brotherhood and camaraderie to stifle anti-war dissent.
"Tragically, all we’ve fought for in Iraq, all that 4,500 American lives were shed to gain, is on the cusp, potentially, of vanishing." - Mitt Romney 6/13/2014
The Big Loser Romney likes to talk all about War and Sacrifice but, those are for other Americans. Profiting off of the Iraq War that's what Romney and his ilk know.
Via Crooks and Liars comes a demand for More War in Iraq by Tyler Cowan, Chairman and General Director of the Koch-financed Mercatus Center, in order that the Koch Brothers and other Plutocrats may profit.
An additional explanation of slow growth is now receiving attention, however. It is the persistence and expectation of peace.
The world just hasn’t had that much warfare lately, at least not by historical standards. Some of the recent headlines about Iraq or South Sudan make our world sound like a very bloody place, but today’s casualties pale in light of the tens of millions of people killed in the two world wars in the first half of the 20th century. Even the Vietnam War had many more deaths than any recent war involving an affluent country.
Counterintuitive though it may sound, the greater peacefulness of the world may make the attainment of higher rates of economic growth less urgent and thus less likely. Rather, the very possibility of war focuses the attention of governments on getting some basic decisions right — whether investing in science or simply liberalizing the economy. Such focus ends up improving a nation’s longer-run prospects.
War is the Health of the State, especially when the Rich run the Government and profit mightily when the Poor are sent of to die. As Cowan points out it's just the poor dying so he doesn't care.
So, Mitt Romney continued at his at his Utah gathering, "I lost the election, but I will continue to fight." Now you have to understand that when Romney talks about fighting he doesn't mean himself or his sons. It means other, less Rich Americans.
Mitt protested in favor of the War in Vietnam and the Draft, "served" Overseas in Paris, France instead of French Indochina.
His five sons obviously inherited Romney's tough guy, We like to Talk the Talk but, we won't Walk the Walk,
"You know, I, ah, wanted to rush down to the debate stage and take a swing at him. But you know you can’t do that because, well, first there’s a lot of secret service agents between you and him…" - Tagg Romney, talked about wanting to Punch the President at the second debate in 2012.
Listening to the Romney's is like watching a beer muscle guy at the bar tell his friends to hold him back. He isn't going to fight but he sure wants to appear tough and strong! Tagg is a chicken hawk coward. Just like his father before him and just like his younger brothers,
Combined Days of Military Service for Tagg, Matt, Josh, Ben, and Craig Romney = 0
The 5 Romney "Boys" were born between 1970 and 1981. When their father is added in they have a combined total of Zero Days of Military Service. When asked in 2008 why his sons weren't serving in the military, Mitt stated his dandified sons were too important,
"One of the ways my sons are showing support for this nation is by trying to get me elected. Because they think I'll make a great President."
Republicans and Conservatives are by and large Chicken Hawks. They will gladly pontificate about the necessity of War while seated on their expansive posteriors, but when it comes to taking the Oath and putting their ass in Danger? Well that's for other people.
Chris Matthews: "Would you like to enlist in this war [Iraq]?"
Jason Mattera: "No."
Matthews: "What kind of people should fight in this war, if not you?"
Mattera: "Those who want to."
See, as Mattera explains in the above linked video, the modern young conservatives are, "Fighting the War for Ideas". The Idea being that other Americans need to die to advance the Right-Wing Agenda of Oppression and Domination by the Rich.
But, it's clear why right-wingers are pushing for a new Iraq War. They will again make Big Money off of Death and Destruction.
George W(orst POTUS Ever) Bush used the Iraq War to funnel Trillions of dollars into the Bank Accounts of the Plutocracy, the super rich and Corporations. His base as he called them. It's another part of the Monstrous Crimes Bush perpetrated which we've lost sight of in recent years and which the American people need to be reminded about. W(orst POTUS Ever), his Republican Guard Dogs, right-wing drones and conservative chicken hawks engaged in a War Crime similar to the Genocide of Native Americans.
Now, President Obama has deployed 170 forces into Baghdad to support the US Embassy, in the old Green Zone. There are an additional 100 waiting in reserve. And apparently there was discussion of inserting Special Forces Operators into the New Iraqi Army to provide support and bolster their flagging morale. Sadly, this has the smell of advisors all over it.
Of course, I'm glad he did it before Republicans Benghazi'ed the President again. For you see Republicans have this nasty habit of undermining the Troops and underfunding security for Agencies and then blaming the President for their despicable misdeeds.
NeoCon Frank Gaffney:"It is regrettable that they had to die, but I believe they did have to die... I'm still delighted that we did what we did."
Sure, under the George W(orst President Ever) Bush Administration Republicans repeatedly lied and claimed they cared about Veterans when the truth was the Republican Party was trying to get as many Veterans kill themselves as possible while Bush and Cheney used Veterans and active duty military members as props in their re-election campaign.
Throughout his mis-administration W(orst President Ever) repeatedly cut the budget to the VA and eliminated benefits and medical care for Veterans.
Because the only Veteran Conservatives love is a dead Veteran. Then Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity or any number of chicken hawk professional commentators can stick their perverted inhuman right-wing ideology onto the lips of the dead Veterans, as they did with Pat Tillman.
And when it turns out Pat Tillam was anti-war, was against every part of W(orst President Ever) decisions and regularly read Noam Chomsky. Right-Wing Garbage Ann Coutler can simply say, "I don't believe it." Chicken Hawk Hannity gleefully concurs, "I don't believe it either."
"The amounts have gotten to the point where they are hurtful. They are taking away from the nation's ability to defend itself."
So, the Republican Party under the direct leadership of Bush and Cheney began undercutting funds for Veterans.
In 2007, the Mainstream Media could no longer cover for the Criminal Bush and Cheney Regime when it revealed soldiers wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq,"fallen heroes," were being warehoused in Building 18, a rat- and roach-infested satellite of the Army's Walter Reed Medical Center.
In 2008 when CBS News revealed the Department of Veterans Affairs and Doctor Ira Katz the VA's head of Mental Health deliberately withheld critical information about the true suicide risk among veterans.
Additionally, in 2008 NPR reported Army officials pressured the Department of Veterans Affairs to stop helping wounded Veterans with their paperwork so Veterans wouldn't get their proper disability rating or benefits.
But, none of this absolves President Obama. I expect despicable evil from Republicans I expect better from President Obama.
The problem is America has a long and cherished history of casting aside the Veteran after the War is over.
After the Revolutionary War, Veterans found themselves at the mercy of corrupt Capitalists, who like the Hedge Fund thieves of today, swindled them out of the land grants and the promissory notes allocated specifically for Veterans. Perhaps 2000-3000 Revolutionary Veterans received a Pension. Post Civil War homeless Union Veterans were in such abundance that in 1868 NY Governor Reuben E. Fenton claimed they "numbered in the thousands". It wasn't until the Dependent Pension Act of 1890, pushed for by Widows, Children and Veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic that every Union Veteran was eligible for a Pension. Southern States had been providing Pensions, despite terrible economic hardships, for wounded Confederate Soldiers from at least the 1880's since traitors weren't eligible for Federal Pensions.
As a percentage of the federal budget, expenditures for Civil War veterans greatly exceeded those for veterans today (1989) which consume less than 3 percent of that budget. In 1893 veterans' benefits to former Union soldiers or their dependents constituted more than 40 percent of the overall federal budget.
In 1932 the Bonus Army, Veterans of World War I, peaceably assembled to petition the US Government for a redress of grievances but Republican President Herbert Hoover first sent the Washington Police and when they failed dispatched General Douglas MacArthur and his aide-de-camp Dwight Eisenhower along with George S. Patton and 6 battle tanks to forcibly disband the Veterans.
Much like Occupy the Bonus Army was attacked, driven out of their camp sites and had their tents and possessions burned.
Herbert Hoover's policies created the First Republican Depression, in a similar way that W's policies have created the Second Republican Depression.
While the World War 2 Veteran, received praise, understanding and was cherished for his knowledge and experiences, especially in the creation of the GI Bill many WWII vets still fell through the cracks in society. Of the survivors from the Iwo Jima Flag Raising, USMC hero Ira Hayes drank himself to death in 1955. As a Pima Native American, Hayes also faced the bigotry of his era.
But, Rene Gagnon another of the 3 Flag raising survivors died in 1979 at only 54 years old an alcoholic as well. Broken, bitter and nearing the end of his life, Gagnon reportedly said,
"When someone who doesn't know me is introduced to me, they say 'That was you in The Photograph?' What the hell are you doing working here? If I were you, I'd have a good job and lots of money.'"
It took a Veteran the stature of Audie Murphy speaking out about his post-traumatic struggles, previously known as Battle Fatigue or Shell-shock, for society at large to take note.
Nowadays, Hollywood can trot out any number of cliched movies with the homeless veteran cast aside by society or the self-medicating Veteran drinking a case of beer a night or the adrenaline junkie Veteran pushing the envelope to reenact the rush of combat, but these stereo-typed cliches exist because those Veterans exist.
The main issue concerning Veterans is Money. Whose going to pay for the wounded Veteran? Or provide the food and shelter so a psychologically scared Vet slowly re-acclimate into society?
Because Right-Wingers use the dead to advance their beliefs. Conservatives are natural cowards who will never follow through with the BS they spout, as they lack the courage of their convictions.
However, they love when other people die because conservatives are grave robbers and fakes who have no right to speak for the dead.
The Second Fort Hood Shooting has reved up Dana Loesch, Jim Hoft, Mark Levin, Sean Hannity and so many other right-wing nut jobs to take to their medium, be it Faux News, Toxic Right-Wing Radio or the Right-Wing Internet Fart Bubble to blame everything from Obama's Lack of Military response to Putin in Crimea to President Clinton banning active duty military from carrying weapons on base but, never, ever the ubiquitous gun culture the Right has created and championed in the US.
Of course, it was the DoD under George Bush 41 who issued the 1992 directive which outlined when the carrying of firearms on base was authorized but, that fact is irrelevant to the larger right-wing purpose.
Allen West and Sean Hannity can try and speak somberly about on President Obama's unwillingness to accept a Post-9/11 World and failure to stand up Putin as the causes but, what's important is to consistently and reflexively Blame President Obama and Liberals for everything and to use the dead to advance right-wing beliefs.
What conservatives would love to see happen in the case of an active shooter on a military base is for other military members to come out hunting.
However, unlike, conservative fantasies, the bad guy does not have a Glowing Red Xover his head indicating foe while other armed soldiers have Rotating Green Oover theirs indicating good guy with a gun.
More guns is not the answer. It never has been. The death of American Sniper Chris Kyle last year could have caused Firearm Fanatics to re-evaluate their beliefs but because gun nuts are zealots and madmen, every shooting just serves to further entrench them and hardens their fanaticism.
Related:
Senior Breitbart Contributer and conservative hero Pat Dollard's tweet after the Second Fort Hood Shooting demanding that Americans take to the streets to start slaughtering muslims deserves mention. Back during the Presidency of George W(orst Ever) Bush, Dollard was invited onto Faux News regularly and in 2007 revealed so much of the modern conservatives, "This is a propaganda war, and if I can fight with a camera the same as a Marine with his rifle, I will." Update:
True to form Speaker John Boehner is using the Second Fort Hood shooting to push for privitazation of VA Services. Of course, the Republican Plan would not address Mental Health or restrictions on guns but is a sick attempt to siphon off funds from the VA into the back accounts of the Rich.
Sequestration is back. Coming up very soon are the automatic cuts to Military Spending that were supposed to make Republicans balk at the Sequestration deal in the first place.
Except ha ha! It's time to change the rules. Republicans never, ever bargain fairly. Their goals are always to transfer as much taxpayer money to the Plutocracy. Thus, they agreed to Sequestration because they got the cuts to programs they wanted right away and once the cuts they don't like come into play they always planned to just renege on the deal.
"Deficits don't matter", Republican Arch-Fiend Dick Cheney. At least when Republicans control the White House, when a Democrat gets in their Republicans wail and moan about the Debt and beat their manly-boobs about deficits.
"Washington has a spending problem, but incessantly and mindlessly cutting national security will not get us out of our fiscal mess,” said Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn of Colorado.
Lamborn and Jim Bridenstein of Oklahoma have introduced the Republican Plan to steal Social Security, increase Federal Government employee pension contributions and eliminate Medicare, in a bill entitled Provide for the Common Defense.
The Sequestration cuts to DoD Budget, which Lamborn called mindless, is set to drop Military Spending from $670 Billion in 2013 to $625 Billion in 2014 and $590 Billion in 2015. So the cuts to the Official DoD Budget for 2013-2015 will be only a reduction in spending to $1.815 Trillion instead of $2.010 Trillion.
"In this protracted struggle, good management dictates that we resist overspending as resolutely as we oppose underspending. Every dollar uselessly spent on military mechanisms decreases our total strength and, therefore, our security" Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower 1961.
The Lamborn/Bridenstein Bill is nothing more than the slimy Republican tactic of Using the Troops to steal from the Working Class, poor, sick, elderly and Veterans in prostrate service to the insatiable appetite of the 1%.
But, this is a special circumstance, the Republicans see a way to accomplish their goals of Oppression and Subjugation while also transferring the blame onto the Democratic Party.
If they manage to get Provide for the Common Defense or any bill passed which affects Social Security, while President Obama is in office, Barack Obama will effectively save the Republican Party and dismantle his "own". It would be a simple four step process;
Step 1) Get President Obama to sign onto cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Step 3) Roll Social Security into Hedge Fund Accounts were the Trillions will be clipped, stolen and find its' way into a few thousand Cayman Island and Swiss Bank Accounts
Step 4) Run ads in every campaign for every office for the next 100 years that President Obama and the Democrat Party cut Social Security.
Sequestration has afforded the Republicans a special circumstance in order to really screw the Working Class over, but it's nothing new in the right-wing playbook. Back in the 1970's Jude Wanniski created the Two-Santa Theory by Jude Wanniski, which lead directly to the Creation of Supply-Side Economics.
Under Reagan and W(orst President Ever), Republicans engage in massive Government spending while unemployment is kept down and the "economy" is kept going by creating millions of Government jobs with millions of dollars in direct Federal aid to local and state government to help boost state government spending.
Ah, but see that all changes when a Democrat is the President because then, all of a sudden, the bills come due; "We're broke, broke going on bankrupt," Speaker of the House John Boehner in February 28, 2011.
Under President Obama, over 500,000 federal jobs have been eliminated, wages for federal employees were frozen for two years, deficit spending has decreased faster than under any President since Eisenhower, and since 2010 the only spending bills passed cut food stamps, unemployment benefits or programs for the sick and needy.
And if someone points out the incredible shrinking of Government spending under President Obama why Republicans simply ignore it.
"Are you arguing that there are fewer government employees under Obama than they were under Bush?" Senator Rand Paul asked.
"That's a fact. That's a Tremendous Fact." Paul Krugmann
"No, the size of government is enormous under President Obama." Rand Paul
But, while the Neoliberal Piss Down Your Back and Tell You It's Raining Prosperity Reaganomic Model has been incredibly successful at transferring Billions from the 99% into the pockets of the 1%, the Tea Party Fanatics don't have a grasp on the finer points of using the Apparatus of Government to steal The Wealth of Nations.
But, it's not the 1970's and 1980's anymore.
The Two-Santa Theory is being hampered by the Zealotry of the Tea Party types who have no time for RINOs and "Squishes", like Mitch McConnell and Grover Norquist, and in their quest for right-wing purity they make war on Working Class, minorities and women.
So, the Republicans have increasingly turn to the new Breed of Democrat, the so-called Reagan Democrat or Pro-Business Democrat or Third Way Democrats, to aid them in passing the Politics of Austerity.
Conservatives, as naked Authoritarians, demand absolute adherence to their principles of Bigotry, Subjugation, Oppression and prostration to the 1%.
Anyone who varies from that ideology must be destroyed.
Faux News Megyn Kelly, Trace Gallagher, and Gretchen Carlson have run multiple stories alleging Sioux Falls South Dakota School Board voted to remove the Pledge and time at the beginning of school day set aside to recite the Pledge.
First of all here is the original pledge from 1892, not 1776 or 1789;
I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Under god was inserted by rabid conservative bigots in the 1950s because commies were godless whereas America was the special child of jesus.
I've worked in a junior high school in Illinois, the Pledge was said everyday. I support anyone's decision not to recite the pledge. But, that's because, unlike conservatives and Faux News, I believe in freedom.
Of course, any disagreement about the Pledge could be turned into an awesome US history project about it's origins, changes and the nature of patriotism but conservatives fanatics demand unthinking allegiance to their principles, which I earlier enumerated.
So, predictably, the School Board is alleging they have received multiple death threats via phone and email. From Crooks and Liars;
"It wasn't dropped. That wasn't true at all," School Board member Kent Alberty said. "And that is what people were reacting to was the headline - not what we actually did. And then Fox picked that story up -- and again -- it was the headline they used, not the actual facts of what we did at the School Board meeting. The one that I guess got my attention the most was that this person feels that all five of us should be lined up and shot."
Okay, besides the shocking revelation that Faux News lies, I don't care if a veterans group made the request, Veterans aren't infallible. For instance in 2006, the Illinois Veterans of Foreign Wars supported never-served-a-day Peter Roskam, a Republican who has taken multiple gifts from the Government of the Republic of China, over Tammy Duckworth, an actual Veteran of a Foreign War who lost both legs in George W(orst President Ever) Bush's phony war on the phantom Iraqi WMD.
In 2006, while debating Duckworth, Peter Roskam repeatedly said the military needed to "finish well" in Iraq, going so far to declare the DuPage congressional region wasn't a "cut-and-run district". Roskam won that election and we here in Illinois are still plagued by his presence and his totally ethical and above board gift-taking from the Government of the Republic of China. But, IOKIYAR always holds sway. And the conservative outrage machine must be furnished with new logs of lies to stoke the fires of right-wing fanaticism. So, that's why it's okay that Faux News is lying about the Sioux Falls School Board and the Pledge.
"We’re not going to be disrespected… We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is..." Republican Marlin Stutzman.
The Government Shutdown isn't affecting everyone the same. Republicans continue to draw their congressional salaries,
"I’m working," Republican Senator Mike Lee. "I’ll continue to be paid." "I need my paycheck. That's the bottom line," Republican Renee Ellmers.
But, the Republicans in Washington DC have committed far worse crimes than just mere hypocrisy as they attempt to bring the American People to heel under their Oppressive Rule. Republican Randy Neugebauer took time out of his busy schedule letting children die of cancer, taking food out of the mouths of poor people, to blame his shortcoming on a Park Ranger,
Randy Neugebauer: "The Park Service should be ashamed of themselves."
Park Ranger: "I’m NOT ashamed."
Randy Neugebauer: "You should be."
Fortunately, a 30 year veteran of Federal Service tells Neugebauer the Park Ranger is not to blame for Neugebauer buffoonishness and the Republican Party's evil zealotry until Randy launches into the Right-Wing fart bubble talking points, 'Mr. Reid's to blame!' Of course, Republicans always find someone to blame for their despicable behavior. Racist Republican Steve Stockman declared, "Obama and the Democrats are curb stomping veterans... There's no other way to put it." There us another way to put it Stockman, go slide down a rusty 50 foot razor blade into a vat of rubbing alcohol and choke on your bolo tie. The Republicans in the House and Senate are all in on the Shutdown now. It doesn't matter what they may have thought prior to October 1st, Republicans, put Party over Principle and the Interests of the Rich over everything.
"We’ve passed the witching hour of midnight, and the sky didn’t fall, nothing caved in," Republican Steve King. If the sky isn't literally falling on Steve King's pointy head then there's no problem.
800,000 federal employees out of work, the EPA shut down, the FDA not functioning, the NIH turning away cancer patients these aren't negatives to Steve King or the Republican Party these are joyous outcomes of their Fanaticism. These are them paying back their Rich Overlords. I've refrained from calling Republicans evil but, no more. There are no doubts anymore. Republicans are fully engaged in a far-reaching, all-encompassing, Ultra-Reactionary plan to enslave the Working Class, grind the Middle Class into dust and deprive the American People of their Rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Update: In the Grand Fine Tradition of the Republican Party, the Party of Warmongering Chicken Hawks, has taken to Using the Troops to advance their malignant agenda of bile and oppression. Republicans attach themselves to Veterans the same way a tick attaches itself dog and with the same purpose.
Rape is always on the minds of Republicans. From when they first wake up in the morning to the time they close their eyes at night, Republicans are thinking about Rape. Rape. Rape. Rape. Republicans love Rape. Indiana Republican Senate Candidate Richard "Howling Mad" Mourdock decided to instruct Women that being Raped is God's Will;
“I’ve struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”
Lay back and enjoy it, honey. Rape is all part of God's Plan. Deus Vult! Legitimate Rape. Forcible Rape. Real Rape. Honest Rape. Transvaginal Ultrasounds. Hold the aspirin between your knees.
Of course, the reason Republican men always have Rape on their minds is without being able to rape people Republican men would never have sex. This is why Republican men support blue Boner pills but are against contraceptives. But, this isn't limited to stodgy old Republicans, so-called Libertarians and conservative women think about Rape and punishing rape victims all day long as well. St. Louis Tea Party "Darling" Dana Loesch stated that women who have sex are giving tacit consent to have Government conduct Transvaginal Ultrasounds at their lesiure. Liz Trotta of Faux News said Women who sign up for the Military are giving male service members consent to rape them. Phyllis Schlafly, the Grand Dame of the Patriarchy has stood staunchly behind Missouri Republican Senate Candidate Todd Akin.
Rape and controlling women's access to sex is a key plank of the Republicans Plan of Oppression and Subjugation of America.
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan stand behind the Blunt Amendment to allow Employers deny Women Birth Control because of "moral objection". Paul 90X Ryan and the criminal Todd Akin crafted 38 anti-abortion bills.
The Republican Battle to deny women access to Birth Control, to force women to submit themselves to Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's Rape Wands, to make abortions impossible by legislating the number of air molecules allowable in abortion clinics, to defund Planned Parenthood and finally to encourage conservatives murder abortion doctors is all designed with bringing women to heel.
The Rape-publicans. It's an appropriate term for the everything associated with the Republican Party.
9/11 will haunt this Nation for Generations because the Right-Wing Ghouls see corpses, especially of Americans, as valuable building blocks for their political gain.
It's a lesson Liberals didn't want to believe in the aftermath of the devastating attack on New York and DC and the brave sacrifice in Pennsylvania.
Republicans are grave robbers who use the dead to advance their agenda of Oppression and Slavery.
Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Darryl Issa, Lindsey Graham, Rob Portman and every disgusting grave robber with an R after his name has coated themselves in the blood of Ambassador Chris Stevens and are waving their bloody hands in front of every TV camera possible.
For Mitt Romney this is nothing new. Romney pranced and paraded around exploiting other mens' valor, sacrifice and deaths when he protested in favor of Vietnam War Draft. A draft which he himself would never be subjected to with his decision to flee to France.
Even the intercestion of Ambassador Stevens' father, begging Right-Wing Ghouls to leave his son's memory alone and not to politicize his murder have failed, “It would really be abhorrent to make this into a campaign issue. It has to be objectively examined. That’s where it belongs. It does not belong in the campaign arena," Jan Stevens stated.
Sadly, for Mr. Stevens, once Right-Wing Ghouls have latched onto the dead they will not let go until they drain every drop of blood to build their power. As always it's a selective Faux Outrage by Republican Shills and Conservative Dupes. "My position is that it’s regrettable that any Americans died. It is regrettable that they had to die, but I believe they did have to die." - Chicken Hawk Frank Gaffney, who now writes for Andrew Deadbart's website of lies and fabrications and is an Senior Advisor for Mitt Romney.
Yet, there goes Darryl Issa invoking George W(orst President Ever) Bush and declaring the Benghazi Terrorist Attack is Obama's "Mission Accomplished" moment. Yet, I don't recall Career Politican Multi-Millionaire Issa or any single Republican or Conservative making a peep when George W. Bush blustered, "Bring'em on!" Or when Dick Cheney declared the thousands of dead and tens of thousands of wounded Americans would be treated as Liberators in Iraq. Republicans didn't make a sound when Donald Rumsfeld declared, "You go to war with the army you have" when questioned by Soldiers dying in Iraq due to lack of up-armored vehicles, despite the Trillions of Dollars funneled to the Military-Industrial-Complex. Of course, Republicans didn't say anything about Bush's Massive Failures, they would never undercut a fellow Right-Wing Con artist when they're engaged in the Giant Swindle. Because to Mitt Romney and the Republicans a majority of the world is populated by disposable people, whose existence and deaths only matter as much as it advances their Political Agenda of Subjugation.
