1/10/20: In an interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News, President Trump says he will try to block any attempt by former National Security Advisor John Bolton to testify during the Senate impeachment trial.
Bolton, of course, was listening in on Trump’s “perfect” July 25 call with the President of Ukraine.
 |
Sen. Tammy Duckworth. |
____________________
A twisted understanding of what patriotism is really about.
____________________
Trump says he’s only thinking of future presidents, who might have a hard time conducting official business if every time they thought about breaking the law, someone might rat them out.
Ingraham lets Trump slide and doesn’t bring up the fact that Republicans during House Intelligence Committee hearings kept howling about how it was mean to impeach Trump without “firsthand knowledge.”
No sense either, reminding Trump fans that their tangerine-tinted hero had tweeted on November 26:
The D.C. Wolves and Fake News Media are reading far too much into people being forced by Courts to testify before Congress. I am fighting for future presidents and the Office of the President. Other than that, I would actually like people to testify. Don McGahn’s respected lawyer has already stated that I did nothing wrong.
John Bolton is a patriot [emphasis added] and may know that I held back the money from Ukraine because it is considered a corrupt country, & I wanted to know why nearby European countries weren’t putting up money also. Likewise, I would love to have Mike Pompeo, Rick Perry, Mick Mulvaney and many others testify about the phony Impeachment Hoax.
Ingraham lets Trump have a second pass when he explains his decision to send additional troops to Saudi Arabia. “Listen, you’re a very rich country,” he tells her he told the Saudis. “You want more troops? I’m going to send them to you, but you’ve got to pay us. They’re paying us. They’ve already deposited $1 billion in the bank.”
New U.S. Army recruiting slogan: “See Saudi Arabia – because the Saud royal family can afford our mercenary services.”
It’s yet another example of the president’s twisted understanding of what patriotism is really about.
*
NOR IS TRUMP the only Republican voice shouting about patriotism without seeming to understand what patriotism is. On Wednesday, Rep. Doug Collins appeared on Fox News and blasted Democrats for questioning Trump’s decision to “terminate” General Qassem Soleimani.
“They’re in love with terrorists, we see that,” he angrily asserted. “They mourn Soleimani more than they mourn our Gold Star families who are the ones who suffered under Soleimani.”
By Saturday, however, Collins relented. He explained that a tour of duty in Iraq, as an Air Force chaplain, had something to do with his outburst.
As someone who served in Iraq in 2008, I witnessed firsthand the brutal death of countless soldiers who were torn to shreds by this vicious terrorist. Soleimani was nothing less than an evil mastermind who viciously killed and wounded thousands of Americans. These images will live with me for the rest of my life, but that does not excuse my response on Wednesday evening.
As a Democrat myself, this blogger would note that he joined the Marines in 1968. In other words, he was ready to go into combat, but got lucky, and was never sent overseas. He can attest he is not currently, nor has he ever been “in love with terrorists.”
More to the point, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat who did serve in combat, blasted Collins. “I’m not going to dignify that with a response,” the former Black Hawk pilot, who lost both legs when her chopper was shot down, told CNN on Thursday. “I left parts of my body in Iraq fighting terrorists. I don’t need to justify myself to anyone.”
Duckworth later pointed out that it was Trump, himself, who has often attacked Gold Star families.
Patriotism can be expressed in all kinds of ways, by all kinds of people, on and off the battlefield. Nor is it ever the province of just one side in politics. If some feel that the decision to kill Soleimani might lead to a bloody confrontation with Iran – then it would be patriotic to stand up and question the president’s decision. Patriotism doesn’t mean we must blindly agree with this president – or any other to come.
This blogger would suggest that Trump and his fans remember that patriotism has also been referred to as “the last refuge of scoundrels.”
“Patriotism” is often a complex matter, and Rep. Collins should have known better from the start.
No comments:
Post a Comment