#Happy Memorial Day | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 4 months

Text

Happy Memorial Day

Veterans and Active Service Members who support Conservatives and/or Trump, let's have a chat. I'm going to run a few things by you and see if they sit right with you....

If we're being honest here, when it comes to trusting Donald Trump on anything related to the military (or in general for that matter), maybe just don't. You've heard all this talk about how those on the left are "communists" or "fascists," meanwhile, for all you 2nd Amendment folk, here's Trump back in 2018 saying, "take the guns first, due process second."

Question: Did you know that Trump made his 2nd wife, Marla Maples, sign a prenup that would have cut off all child support if their daughter, Tiffany, joined the military? In fact, not a single member of Trump's family tree has ever served in the military; this spans 5 generations, and every branch of the family tree. Apparently, the whole reason his grandfather immigrated to America was to avoid military service.

In his 2015 biography, Trump says: “I felt that I was in the military in the true sense because I dealt with those people,” because he went to a military-style academy and that he has “more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military." Matter of fact, according to Trump, he knows more about ISIS than American generals.

This self-proclaimed "military genius intellect" in action?

In 2017, he sent commandos into an ambush due to lack of intel and then sent contractors in to pick them up, resulting in a commando being left behind, tortured, and executed. Trump reportedly approved the mission because "Bannon told him that Obama didn’t have the guts to do it."

When retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal criticized Trump on his withdrawal of troops from Syria, Trump attacked him saying that he "got fired like a dog by Obama" and is "known for [a] big, dumb mouth." Let's not even get into the botched Afghanistan withdrawal...Oh, and it was definitely strategic and totally not an accident when he revealed the faces, names, and location of SEAL Team 5 on Twitter.

SIDE NOTE: If conservatives only remember 13 of the 2,420 service members that died fighting in Afghanistan over the past 20 years, then aren't they really just scapegoating your demographic?

If we're being frank, it's not just Donald that you shouldn't trust, either. It never has been, he's just a useful mouthpiece for the GOP and corporate America's impulses. Conservatives don't really care about the troops, if we're being honest with each other. You've been fed this lie that it's the liberals that hate you, when most of us don't (can't speak for everyone). You're just being used as a cudgel against people who are looking out for your own best interests. It's quite obvious and sad, actually, how much they love using the military as canon fodder for their propaganda.

When COVID reared its head in 2020, Capt. Crozier of the USS Theodore Roosevelt wrote a letter pleading with 10 navy officers (3 were Admirals within his chain of command, 7 were to other captains on the Roosevelt), asking to offload most of the sailors on the Roosevelt in order to allow for social distancing and the sanitizing of the ship due to how crowded it was. On March 30, 2020, the day Capt. Crozier sent his letter, cases peaked as 736 of 4,085 sailors on the ship had tested positive for COVID-19, a 25% infection rate. The following day, his letter was leaked to the press. Trump attacks Crozier's letter calling it “terrible” and "not appropriate” leading the Secretary of the Navy to remove Capt. Crozier from his post. Later in the pandemic, on June 24, 2020, the White House ended the National Guard's deployments to assist the American people during the COVID-19 pandemic, which just so happened to be the day before thousands of National Guard members would qualify for early retirement and education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI bill. Convenient.

Then, in the midst of all that, he visits the troops deployed in Iraq and claims that he's giving them all a 10% raise and that it's their first raise in over a decade. False on both accounts. What actually happened was that he tried to give the military a raise that was lower than the standard living adjustment. Congress told him that idea wasn't going to work. Then, after Congress had to force him to give the military an actual raise, Trump of course lied about it, claiming that it was larger than Obama’s. (Not the first time, probably...)

This is just a guy who wants to claim he made the call, just to see his name pop up on the chyron. He admitted he believed that his administration's assassination of al-Baghdadi was more significant than the Obama administration's assassination of Osama Bin Laden.

Still think he's a patriot?

On ⁠October 8th, 2019, Trump planned to withdraw from the Open Skies treaty, giving Russia the ability to target our military aircraft. Then in 2020, the New York Times published an Op-ed on CIA intelligence claiming that Putin was paying the Taliban for the bounties he reportedly placed on US Soldiers heads, Trump said he never mentioned the rumors when meeting with Putin later that year. The validity of the intel has since been ruled inconclusive. Trump, however, also directed the CIA to share counterintelligence with their Russian counterparts despite the Russians also arming the Taliban.

Friendly reminder that in May 2019, Trump also got the bright idea to pardon war criminals Eddie Gallagher, Mathew Golsteyn, and Matthew Behenna. A few weeks later, on July 31, 2019, Trump ordered the US Navy to rescind the medals given to prosecutors who failed to convict Gallagher.

This is the same guy who demanded that US military chiefs stand next to him and made the U.S. Navy Blue Angels violate ethics rules by having them do a fly-over at his 4th of July campaign rally, really patriotic right? I mean, who else would be more preoccupied with an intelligence briefing when the leader of the free world could be ordering a milkshake? Does this sound like a "leader of men"? Because blocking a veteran group on Twitter because they criticized you and hurt your feelings, doesn't fit my mental image of "leader." Actually, kinda sounds more akin to a dictator than the Commander in Chief. Not to mention how often he likes to cozy up to dictators and autocrats.

For example: when the alt right protesters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, Trump demanded that the National Guard protect his supporters. Meanwhile, the US Army recently concluded that the DC National Guard misused their helicopters in 2020 when they flew them too low over BLM protestors, one reportedly "hovered under 100 ft."

Remember when Trump refused to sign his party’s funding bill, which caused the government to shut down from December 22, 2018 to January 25, 2019? This temporary shut down would force the members of the US Coast Guard to go without pay, otherwise they would be listed AWOL. This led to service members relying on food pantries to eat. Somehow, though, Trump's appointees ended up with a $10,000 raise.

But don't worry, it only took him 2 years of being in office and 154 vacation days at his various properties before he finally visited the troops in December of 2018. Later, the following June, Trump sent additional troops to the border to paint the fence for a better “aesthetic appearance.” Don't let this distract you from the fact that under his administration, we saw more illegal border crossings than before. (You know, just in case that was another reason you were planning on voting for him.)

Halfway through his presidency, he used troops as a political prop for optics during the midterms by sending them on a "phantom mission'' to the border and made them miss out on Thanksgiving with their families in 2018. Of course, in typical Trump fashion, he then called troops on Thanksgiving and told them he’s most thankful for himself. Even though he stopped using troops as a political prop immediately after the midterms, the troops remained in their muddy camps at the border.

Then, in early 2019, Trump tried diverting military housing funds to pay for the border wall, but a federal judge subsequently denied this. Later that July, SCOTUS ruled that Trump could in fact divert military housing funds to pay for his wall, as well as funding from military pensions and Afghan Security Forces.

That same July, Trump denied a US Marine with 6 years of service entry into the United States for his scheduled citizenship interview. The next month, his administration looked to change the policy which granted citizenship for children of deployed US troops. This change would no longer grant automatic American citizenship to children born overseas during US military deployments, including US troops posted abroad for years at a time.

Imagine coming to America to fight for a country that isn't yours on the promise of citizenship, only to be deported. But don't worry, your family isn't safe either! Trump once deported a spouse of a fallen US Army soldier killed in Afghanistan, leaving their daughter parentless. The US has thankfully overturned this as of April 16, 2019. His administration actually doubled the rejection rate for veterans requesting family deportation protections.

Not surprising, considering this is the same administration that deported veterans, too. Hell, ICE even tried to deport a US-born Marine. He later ordered the discharge of active-duty immigrant troops with good records who were already promised citizenship, just so he could say he was tough on immigration.

Or how about just before the 2018 holidays, when they discharged 2 Air Force members living with HIV? Or how his administration denied female troops access to birth control to reportedly "limit sexual activity"? In 2019, he even banned service members from serving based on gender identity, but this has since been reversed by the Biden administration.

Trump even urged the officials in Florida to not count mail-in votes, specifically those of the actively deployed.

You know, I kinda get the sense that Trump and his MAGA lackeys seem to simultaneously dislike and fetishize being in the military, because that seems to be all you are to them: drones, existing to shoot, be shot at, and die for America, a manifestation of their own gun fetish. The moment you remind them that you aren't just professional killers but human beings who need social services or housing benefits, they lash out.

Here's another FACT for you: over a decade, Trump sought to kick veterans of Fifth Avenue because he found them unsightly nuisances outside of Trump Tower. In 1991, he was even quoted saying, “While disabled veterans should be given every opportunity to earn a living, is it fair to do so to the detriment of the city as a whole or its tax paying citizens and businesses?”

During the Trump administration, the VA in Atlanta purged 200,000 veterans’ healthcare applications due to known administrative errors within VA’s enrollment process and enrollment system. When making changes to the VA at a meeting in Mar-a-Lago, Trump recruited Bruce Moskowitz, a Palm Beach doctor; Ike Perlmutter, the chairman of Marvel Entertainment; and Marc Sherman, an attorney; to run it. None of them have experience with the military or veterans. These shitheads ended up trying to sell veteran's medical records.

Trump increasingly privatized the VA, leading to longer waits and higher taxpayer costs. For example, in January 2016, Trump sent funds raised from a veterans’ benefit to the Donald J. Trump Foundation instead of the promised veteran’s charities. The foundation has since been ordered shut down because of fraud and Trump had to pay $2 million in damages as of November 2019.

When a man was caught swindling veterans’ pensions for high-interest “cash advances,” Trump’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined him $1. As a reminder, the Trump administration’s goal was to dismantle the CFPB, installing Mick Mulvaney as the director, who publicly stated the bureau should be disbanded.

Eventually, his administration tried to slash disability and unemployment benefits for Veterans, and eliminate the Extraschedular Individual Unemployability (TDIU) from the VA. Trump even changed the GI Bill through his Forever GI Act back in 2018. This change caused the VA to miss veteran benefits, including housing allowances and forced many veterans to run out of food and rent.

Ironically, at one of his rallies in 2016, Trump accepted a Purple Heart from a veteran supporter in the crowd. He said to the crowd: “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier.” Earlier in 1998, Mr. Bone Spurs himself was quoted saying having unprotected sex was his "own personal Vietnam." I guess naturally, when it comes to stolen valor, no one knows it better than Trump.

Don't think his contempt stops when you've died for our country, either. He apparently could care less, unless he can make it about him. Once while at a cemetery to pay respects to the fallen soldiers on the anniversary of D-Day, Trump started his commemoration speech by attacking a private citizen, Bette Midler, following later with an attack on Robert Muller, former FBI special counsel and a Vietnam War veteran. (Speaking of Vietnam, did I mention that Trump had dodged the draft 5 times, 4 for college and 1 by having a doctor diagnose him with bone spurs?) Then later, while in Europe in 2018, he didn’t even attend a ceremony at a US cemetery commemorating the end of WWI due to the rain – every other world leader went anyway.

He's insulted Gold Star families. Both, Myeshia Johnson — a gold star widow and the Khan family—gold star parents, have negative stories about being contacted by Trump. To add salt to the wound, he even forgot a fallen soldier’s name during a call to his pregnant widow. In fact, under the Trump Tax Plan, some Gold Star families had to pay increased taxes on the death benefits they received. The surviving family of US Navy Lt. Cmdr. Landon Jones in particular, went from paying $1,100 in 2017 to $5,400 in 2019.

In an apparent attack directed at the late-Sen. John McCain, Trump said he doesn’t consider POWs heroes because they were caught. Specifically, he said he "prefers people who were not caught." I mean, Trump even turned away Navy Sailors from his 2019 Memorial Day speech in Japan because they were from the destroyer USS John S. McCain. Trump initially ordered the USS John S. McCain out of sight during his visit, which led to the ship’s name subsequently being covered. Then, on March 20, 2019, after Sen. McCain's passing, Trump complained that he was never thanked for the funeral. But really, how spiteful can you actually be?

Maybe it's because I'm such a lib, but the most damning for me, is the deafening silence if you're a POC veteran. Remember Army Spc. Vanessa Guillén? Remember 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario?

10 Benghazi investigations, 0 into the Fort Hood murders. Can you guess who blocked that? I wonder what conservatives would be saying about Lt. Nazario if he had happened to have kneeled next to Colin Kaepernick?

Conservatives seem to support and/or believe in an abstract, fetishized version of the troops, all fueled by handshakes, prayers and yellow ribbons. Y'all hear about how libs strip money away from the military, because "we don't care" or whatever Fox News is saying, right? Meanwhile, here's Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) sitting on the House Armed Service Committee and using his position on the committee to make over 90 trades of stock, some in a major defense contractor, earning millions of dollars in the process.

Do you honestly believe that any conservative, let alone Trump, thinks you should even have the benefits of healthcare?

$725 billion annual military budget, but instead everything goes to the NSA, the CIA, the DHS, ICE...How many times were we lied to about help coming with regards to the VA? This is the best help we can give our veterans? Is this a joke? “You can count on us to serve, but we can’t count on the VA to make a deadline,” as one veteran said. No one steals from service members while lying through their teeth like these MAGA conservatives or Trump!

Let's not pretend he's an advocate for mental health, either; look no further than Ashli Babbitt. Talk about being used as a political prop! (Sadly, nearly 1 in 5 of those arrested for storming the US Capitol have served.) They only seem to like you when you're a martyr, it seems. But he's just pulling on your heart strings, making you feel like this is the next Pat Tillman.

Do you ever ask yourself why it always seems to always suddenly shift from "lives spent" to "lives wasted" whenever the other guy's in office?

Speaking of lives being used for political gain, how many of you enlisted after 9/11? Never forget how the GOP fought tooth and nail to not have to pay for 9/11 first responders medical treatments.

Bennington College published documents showing the US military ordered the clandestine burning of over 20m pounds of AFFF (Aqueous Film Forming Foam) and AFFF waste between 2016-2020, emitting these toxins into the air and onto nearby communities, farms, and waterways.

Is this the America that you signed up to fight for? Cuz if not, then vote like it.

Here's to hoping y'all read this and choose to make a difference again.

#us politics #us military #republicans #conservatives #donald trump #happy memorial day #gop #trump administration #long post #my thoughts

16 notes · View notes