Of Words and Weapons

 The pen is mightier than the sword.

— Edward Bulwer-Lytton


This has been an extraordinary week in American politics. As I thought about it, the famous quote above came to mind. In 59 days, Americans will decide who will be president come 20 January 2021. As always with politics, words (thankfully) remain at the forefront of the debates. A few words towards the end on weapons. Let’s turn to the words first, though.


Donald Trump has told more blatant lies since assuming office than any prior president and probably more than all previous presidents combined by orders of magnitude. In addition, he routinely (daily) puts out rhetoric that is full of hatred directed at any person or group he feels is a threat to him. If you beg to differ, I offer up his Twitter feed. Scroll through and see for yourself. 


As I type this, what has flummoxed Trump and his sycophants is The Atlantic article by Jeffrey Goldberg about what Trump really thinks of the American military. Trump is well known for using the military and its members as props for his political machinations. The most recent was during the Republican National Convention in August when he made an entrance that flat out plagiarized the entrances that Putin makes at the Kremlin. Goldberg, quoting four senior Trump staffers with first-hand knowledge, writes that Trump considers people in the military to be “suckers” and “losers”, including 1800 United States Marines buried in France after being killed in the battle for Belleau Wood during World War I. The five-time deferred from the draft Trump (who allegedly suffered from bone spurs) cannot fathom why anyone would enter the military, let alone put themselves in a position where death would result as a consequence of duty. The senior Fox News national security reporter Jennifer Griffin confirmed (on Fox News!) that the report by Goldberg was accurate after interviewing her sources. Joe Biden was quick to respond with anger; his late son Beau was a National Guard veteran who served in Afghanistan.


Now Trump is fuming and panicked. The military has been a constituency that Republicans took for granted for many years. Trump has seemingly sunk that with his lies, gaslighting, and now rhetoric about what he really thinks of the people in the armed forces. As a Navy veteran and with 27 years of service, first in the Army Reserve and then in the Navy, I was not surprised by the revelation at all. Donald Trump views the world in only one way: a transaction where everything is win-lose. He has made clear his entire life that the only thing he cares about is winning. The choice of military service is never so clearly win or lose. As with everything in life, nuances and complexity are the rule. If there are people in the military or military veterans who continue to support Trump, I have to believe they are as delusional as Trump himself. I applaud the many veterans who stand for their country and not for a man who remains what he always has been -- a con and a grifter. 

The part about weapons is shorter but needs to be said. A Republican candidate for the House of Representatives, Marjorie Taylor Greene, posted a photo of herself with an AR-15 rifle and a threat directed against Democratic representatives, all women, who are currently in the House. As of now, her Facebook page continues to show the picture, although as it was reprinted in various right-wing media. And in Louisville, Kentucky today armed militia members from the right and left opposed each other in protests that, thankfully, did not turn violent. This was probably the result of a heavy presence of city and state police as well as Kentucky National Guard troops. To be clear, THERE IS NO PLACE FOR WEAPONS IN ANY PROTEST TO EXPRESS FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS OF FREE SPEECH. It does not matter whether you and on the right or the left. Weapons do NOT belong in protests. Nor does violence of any sort. The time for this crap to be done is past.


And on a somewhat lighter note to conclude, the Trump Boat Parade in Austin, Texas did not go well today. Apparently sailing is something the Trumpers should attempt only in their bathtubs. Paul Krugman’s comment on Twitter today says it all. Peace and have a happy and safe Labor Day.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Obesity and Ozempic

  Obesity is increasing in prevalence worldwide. It isn’t only a problem in rich and developed countries but also in poorer and lesser developed countries. For our Current Events program here at MonteCedro, I prepared a presentation on obesity and the newest approach to it – drugs like Ozempic that reduce appetite and increase satiety. Their original use was as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes but the ancillary finding of weight loss during their use has promoted an awful lot of hype. Below the line is a list of references that I used in preparing the talk. I hope to provoke commentary about not only the health effects that surround obesity and these newer medications but also to look at obesity through a comprehensive biopsychosocial lens. Obesity has been labeled a disease by the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association but I wonder if it truly is a disease. Hope the links spur some reading and thought. =========================  Another Ozempic side effect? Faci
Read more

11 Months and Counting

  We are now at less than 11 months until the 2024 elections. The polls indicate that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee. President Biden by the polls consistently lags behind Trump and is blamed for the “poor economy”, the war in Gaza, and for being too old. Trump, indicted 91 times in multiple jurisdictions, meanwhile signals strongly that he will take on the mantle of a dictator if he is inaugurated in January 2025. He has vowed to install nothing but vetted loyalists to senior positions in a second administration; to fire thousands of civil servants so that he can do the same al lower levels in the Executive; to curb the media and anyone who criticizes him; and top take vengeance on those he hates personally (because he feels they have humiliated him). If that does not remind you of Germany in the 1930s, you failed history. Robert Kagan’s essay in the 30 November New York Times was a bleak read. The fact that we already have a government of the minority and a flawed syst
Read more

The death toll rises

  I am preparing a Current Events session for our group at MonteCedro on the continuing war in Gaza. We discussed this in the fall of last year when it started but it has become obvious that an update is (sadly) necessary. The death toll in Gaza has passed 32,000 but as the New York Times notes, it is likely much higher than that.   “ Gaza has become a 140-square-mile graveyard, each destroyed building another jagged tomb for those still buried within.” I have read through numerous accounts from a wide variety of news sources. The Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 was unprecedented, barbaric, and horrible: 1143 dead, 250+ hostages taken, rapes and sexual assaults. Israel’s response was predictable but equally horrible in its consequences. Dead: 32,000 and counting. Wounded: many, many thousands more. Gaza became a major humanitarian crisis overnight with forced evacuations from Gaza City to the south followed by an air and land assault of immense size. Famine looms, especially threaten
Read more