by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Memorial Day, a day set aside to honor America's war dead by visiting cemeteries and decorating their graves.
The Biden's are visiting Arlington National Cemetery today where thousands of America's war dead are buried. A trip to Arlington is standard fare for US Presidents or their Veeps on Memorial Day, whether they served in the military or not. (Biden did not wear his country's uniform, but his oldest son, Beau, did.) Joe Biden is extremely patriotic and takes his duties as Commander in Chief very seriously.
Biden's trip to Arlington today brings to mind a previous presidential visit to that same cemetery in 2017. Donald Trump, the country's political leader at that time, was clearly uncomfortable at military-related events. At one point in his presidency he declined to have his photo taken with military amputees because "it doesn't look good for me." In November of 2018 Trump declined at the last minute to take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at an Allied cemetery in France because of the impact that the rainy weather would have on his highly shellacked, dyed wisp of hair. He has also been reported to have referred to America's veterans and war heroes as "suckers" and "losers."
But it was on Memorial Day in 2017 at Arlington Cemetery when Trump really showed his disdain for America's fighting men and women. He attended that ceremony with retired Marine Corps General John Kelly, a man who served Trump initially as Secretary of Homeland Security and later as his longest serving White House Chief of Staff. As the two men came to the gravesite of General Kelly's 29-year-old son, Robert, who had been killed seven years earlier while fighting in Afghanistan, Trump turned to the bereaved father and said, regarding the dead service members: "I don't get it. What was in it for them?"
A person does not have to have worn their country's uniform and fought in combat to enjoy the privileges of living in a free and open society - and none of the Trump's family ever have served in the military - but still one should have the decency not to disparage those who did sacrifice and give their all for the folks who were at home cheering them on.
Donald Trump does not understand freedom or democracy. His values are based in vanity, greed, and avarice. He is enamored of dangerous autocrats and dictators who rule by brute force and tolerate no dissent. Trump understands them. He does not understand decent, hard-working, honest people who struggle just to stay even, and he certainly does not understand young people who would pick up a rifle and march off to war, and lay down their lives for nebulous concepts like freedom and liberty. They are suckers and losers.
Donald Trump is not a loser. Losers don't have their names on tall buildings. Donald Trump has built his whole life around grabbing things for himself. He understands greed. He gets that.
Some day he will be gone, and if there is a god perhaps She will see to it that his remains are interred next to his those of first ex-wife, Ivana, in the weed patch at Bedminster. Then, if his kids quit partying long enough to order a tombstone, perhaps it will bear an inscription reading: "So long all you suckers and losers!"
And he will be rid of us.
And we will be rid of him.
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