I saw it early on after Trump announced his candidacy. He never did any public service for the country. I felt that not having thought of the nation all his life rather than himself, he would be unable to appreciate what it meant to work for the benefit of others.
He easily confirmed my feelings early on. He attacked John McCain because he was a prisoner of war. Trump said McCain was no hero: “I like people that weren’t captured.” This from a man who faked a disability to avoid serving. Who would find comfort knowing that this person Trump did not like those people who fought in combat who ended up missing or were captured or are dead. He could not like them and had no empathy for people who wore the uniform because they did what he didn’t do. His MO was to resort to belittling others who had more courage than he did.
It isn’t only the people who wore the uniform but also people who worked in government. That is shown by his shabby treatment of Marie Yavanovich who worked for 33 years in the State Department. This woman whose family fled the Soviets and Nazis to come to America for its freedom, an immigrant so many Trump supporters are conditioned to hate, joined the State Department to show her appreciation for what America did for her.
Despite her admirable service Trump ordered her to leave her post as ambassador to Ukraine for no reason and to fly home immediately. That wasn’t the end of it. He maligned her. Sadly her boss Secretary of State Pompeo despite pleas from those who knew her record of service refused to stand up for her.
Trump in his telephone call with the Ukrainian President Zelensky said:”The former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news and the people she was dealing with in the Ukraine were bad news so I just want to let you know that.” Zelensky responded: “It was great that you were the first one who told me that she was bad because I agree with you 100%. After he went in some more Trump replied: “Well, she’s going to go through some things.”
Most recently while she was testifying to the House Trump tweeted “Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad. She started off in Somalia, how did that go? Then fast forward to Ukraine, where the new Ukrainian President spoke unfavorably about her in my second phone call with him.it is a U.S. President’s absolute right to appoint ambassadors.”
(Just as an aside the president doesn’t have the absolute right to appoint ambassadors. It is subject to the Senate’s approval. You’d think after 3 years in office he would know that.)
Why is it Trump maligns this woman who has dedicated her life to serving us Americans? She has twice come under live fire while stationed at some far away embassies. She has received rewards for her service. She has served as ambassador for Republicans and Democrats. Yet Trump unfairly and wrongly tears down her good name and, as she testified, she became frightened by it.
From the military to the civil service Trump has no empathy for these people or their families. I think he not only doesn’t value their service, probably thinks of them as hacks because the are on the public payroll and diminishes the value of their service. His callousness permeates through his followers hardening them from the travails of others.
Most amazingly many who have worked in public service who believe their actions contributed to giving us a better society agree with Trump that public service is a drag on our country and somewhat worthless.
The big question in my mind is what the hell do you order in a Ukrainian restaurant? How many times can you eat borscht, varenyky and holubtsi?
More food for thought:
FACTCHECK.COM, a liberal factchecker, says: “Posts Falsely Claim Trump ‘Stole’ From Vets”
A New York suit alleged that, over 10 years, Trump’s Foundation Mismanaged money. A major issue was Trump’s Iowa Fundraiser for Veterans held January 26, 2016.
“According to the final settlement, the fundraiser raised about $5.6 million — “of which $2.823 million was contributed to the Foundation; the balance was contributed by donors directly to various veterans’ groups.” Records obtained by the state show donations totaling $2.825 million were given to 34 veterans organizations between January 2016 and June 2016.” The problem was campaign staff were distributing charitable donations. Campaigning and charitable giving were mixed.
“New York State Supreme Court Justice Saliann Scarpulla, in her Nov. 7 court order, wrote that “the $2.8 million donated to the Trump Foundation “was used for Mr. Trump’s political campaign and disbursed by Mr. Trump’s campaign staff, rather than by the Foundation,” in violation of state law. However, she acknowledged that “the Funds did ultimately reach their intended destinations, i.e., charitable organizations supporting veterans.”
So, it’s false to claim that Trump “stole” the money.
What the judge found was that it was illegal to mix Foundation Charitable Fundraising and Campaigning (political activities). The Court fined Trump $2 million dollars.
“Instead, the judge agreed that the foundation — through the fundraiser and the subsequent grants to veterans groups (which were announced at campaign events) — was illegally used for political activities.
Just food for thought. Even George Kent wants Burisma investigated.
Hunter Biden was commissioned as an ensign in May 2013 in the Navy Reserve and assigned to a coveted post as a public affairs officer in a Norfolk, Virginia.To get in the Navy, he received an age related waiver and a second waiver due to past drug use. One month later, June 2013, he tested positive for cocaine on a routine drug test. He was discharged in February 2014. He served 9 months. Why did it take so long to kick him out, if he tested positive in June? Why within two months of being discharged for drug use, was he hired by Burisma in April 2014? Because that’s the only company that would put him on their board? Why did someone who was kicked out of the Navy for drug abuse get an $50,000 or $80,000 a month job on Burisma’s Board of Directors? Why can’t we investigate that?
According to Rudy Giuliani’s notes from his January 2019 interview with fired Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin, Shokin claimed that his “investigations stopped out of fear of the United States.”
“Mr. Shokin attempted to continue the investigations but on or around June or July of 2015, the U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt told him that the investigation has to be handled with white gloves, which according to Mr. Shokin, that implied do nothing,” the notes from the interview stated. The notes also claimed Shokin was told Biden had held up U.S. aid to Ukraine over the investigation. Rudy shared those notes with the State Department.
Why can’t we investigate that?
Everyone says Shokin was fired because he was corrupt. O.K., perhaps so. That doesn’t mean Burisma was not corrupt or the hiring of Hunter Biden was not corrupt or Hunter’s hiring did not make Ukrainian officials back off Burisma.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that by the time of Biden’s intervention, the Burisma probe had been dormant.
However, Shokin, at the time, according to the Guiliani interview, was investigating Mykola Zlochevsky, a former Ukrainian minister of natural resources and also the founder of Burisma. Hunter Biden was appointed to the board of the firm, which Shokin claimed was an appointment made by Zlochevsky “in order to protect himself.”
So, lets investigate these things thoroughly and put the matter to rest, as we have put the Russian Collusion matter to rest. Why not?
Why not take one last look at these things?
“George Kent, deputy assistant secretary at the State Department, said he believed alleged corruption related to Ukrainian gas company Burisma should be investigated, a point Republicans have emphasized in their defense of President Donald Trump.
“To summarize, we thought that Mykola Zlochevsky had stolen money,” Kent said of the oligarch head of Burisma. “We thought a prosecutor had taken a bribe to shut the case, those were our main concerns.”
“Are you in favor of that matter being fully investigated and prosecuted?” asked Steve Castor, Republicans’ counsel on the House Intelligence Committee.
“I think since U.S. taxpayer dollars were wasted, I would love to see the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office find out who the corrupt prosecutor was and who took the bribe, and how much was paid, and that’s what I told the deputy prosecutor general on February 3, 2015,” Kent replied.
February 3, 2015. Hunter Biden was hired April 2014. Sholkin said the US Ambassador told him in June 2015 to treat Burisma with “white gloves.”
Why not ask Ukraine to investigate these things?
1. He said he would release his taxes–he didn’t.
2. He said Mexico would pay for his wall-they didn’t.
3. He said he would raise money for veterans–he did, but he stole it.
He said, he said, he said.
He said he had bonespurs-he didn’t.
He hasn’t released his taxes yet, and he’s got Mexico to do a lot more for border security. I don’t recall him being charged with stealing money. Most Veterans, however, support him.
His doctor said he had bonespurs. Doctors make medical diagnosis.
His doctor? You mean the Quack from Queens that owed Fred Trump a favor? Don’t even think of going down this path. It will end badly for you.
A physician, whatever his repute, not 22 year old Donald Trump, certified that he had “bone spurs.”
You are pathetic. How does it feel to give up your ability to face the truth?
He did NOT have bone spurs, William. As LBJ once said, “Nothing like tripping on a flat stone and banging your head to make you wish you just stepped in a big old pile of West Texas cow flop.” Take a couple aspirin. The headache will subside in a few decades.
Can’t you just see Donald Trump, the one in those pictures of him and his buddies at frat parties and glamming it up in Manhattan, crawling under barbed wire with his belly in the mud at Fort Dix? Can’t ya? Or pulling KP or cleaning the urinals in the barracks until they sparkle? He would have gladly been that PFC if he only could. Don’t ya think? Don’t be a sucker, Bill. He is a fucking draft dodger. You’re too smart for this shit. You’re too good of a person to be a dupe for this fraud. There is a name on The Wall down on The Mall where his might have been. But we’ll never know, will we? Maybe he would have done well. Even a Bronze Star or maybe a Silver. A Purple heart or maybe just a bad morphine habit. I wonder if he ever thinks about it. I hope it rages in him, but I seriously doubt it does.
Matt, THE FOLEY TAPE.
I went back to the Foley Tape (Colonel Foley’s talk at Somerville Library) and found what we were looking for. Between minutes 22 and 24 Foley says the following: “Whitey and Billy, they fed off each other. One was a huge force to be dealt with on the criminal side, the other a huge force to be dealt with on the political side.”
Before saying that Foley says, “In the 1980s, Flemmi told us, it was rumored, that Whitey went to Billy to ask him to do something (about another State Colonel who was investigating Whitey). ” According to Colonel Thomas Foley, Billy tried to get a Bill passed to force the other Colonel to retire early. You can get the exact words by listening to the tape. It’s only two or three minutes.
Now, remember, Foley is relaying a story about what Flemmi “told them” presumedly after 1995 when he was arrested. And Foley also says “it was rumored”, meaning what? That Flemmi told Foley that “it was rumored” Whitey went to Billy. I guess so.
Anyway, this is what Foley was carrying around in his head while he was deputized as a FED by Wyshak. 1. That Whitey and Billy fed off each other. A Complete Lie. and 2. That there were two forces he had to deal with, the criminal force, Whitey, and his accomplice the political force Billy. Another complete lie. 3. That Billy tried to get a Bill passed forcing Foley to retire early. Another complete lie, as I’ve read Billy had nothing to do with filing or pushing that Bill regarding early State Police retirements.
I believe this corroborates what I initially wrote. My memory is usually pretty good. As said, it proves what Foley was carrying around in his head all these years, and it’s fortified by similar expressions in his book.
Pretty interesting. Great learning experience for me reading all these posts. The more I learn about the whole affair the scarier it gets.
Jesus Christ!!!! Is everyone on acid????
Matt, you absolutely nailed it. I can’t even begin to annotate the replies. I’d rather have a go at punctuating Finnigan’s Wake. I knew I should have invested in knee pad stock.
There are many positions that require Senate confirmation, yet it is the President that selects the nominees for the positions first before submission for confirmation.
Matt: Once again, you cast everything Trump does in the darkest possible light.
PUBLIC SERVICE/MILITARY SERVICE: Eighteen of our 44 Presidents did not serve in the military. Clinton, Obama and Trump did not. I heard little criticism of Clinton and Obama for not serving.
Matt apparently thinks only government workers “think of the nation.” Or, if you haven’t worked in government, that is some evidence you’re not concerned about “the nation.” 80% of Americans work in the private sector. Newsflash: They too “think of the nation.” I’d argue that a man who employed tens of thousands of workers throughout his life has worked harder, gave more, thought more about the nation than most “public servants”. The 80% of businessmen, truck drivers, laborers, doctors, nurses, mechanics, engineers, scientists, inventors, managers, who work in the private sector, also think of their families, neighborhoods and nation. Bureaucrats sometimes forget who pay their salaries, who pay the taxes that keep this nation afloat.
There are those who serve heroically, who put their lives on the line, police, firefighters, and especially the military, and most especially combat forces. We all acknowledge this. We are grateful for their service.
THE MILITARY: Few, if any, Presidents have done more for the military than Trump. He has fully funded the Pentagon, dramatically increasing its budget. With the Veterans Mission Act he has extended and expanded Obama’s Veterans Assistance Act, allowing Vets to get broader medical help and emergency services outside the VA system. See:article in military.com, “Veterans Win with Trump Administration”. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/07/30/veterans-win-trump-administrations-mission-act-reforms.html He has recently restored to rank and freed from prison several combat vets, special forces, whom he felt were wrongfully convicted. What percentage of veterans and active duty military are going to vote for him? He’s hugely popular with the military and the police. He constantly praises the military and police, and thanks them for their service.
UKRAINE: As for Ukrainian Ambassador Yokanovich, both President Trump and Ukraine’s new President Zelensky lost confidence in her. Both said so during the July phone conversation. Presidents have the absolute, unqualified right to remove Ambassadors, at will. An Ambassador is like an employee at will. Articles in the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere indicate she was critical of Trump and obstructing his anti-corruption efforts. But even if the new Ukrainian President alone were dissatisfied with her, that’s reason enough to remove her. Some speculate that Yokanovich got too close to the former Ukrainian President, and she was not happy with the new president Zelensky’s ascendancy. Moreover, ordinarily new Presidents like Trump appoint new ambassadors. Yokanovich was an Obama appointee. Appointing new ambassadors is par for the course. See the recent Daily Caller Article: “Flashback: Obama Fired All of Bush’s Politically Appointed Ambassadors in 2008.”
MCAIN: We all agree the quip against McCain was bad. But from that one spontaneous, errant quip, we would not extrapolate that Trump “did not like” the military, their families and “the dead”. Trump and McCain had policy differences (e.g. Obamacare) They were political rivals. Bill Clinton criticized George H.W. Bush, a war hero like McCain. Obama said negative things about McCain, too, and 70 million people voted for Obama against McCain. Did the folks who opposed Bush and McCain politically, “not like people who fought in combat who ended up missing or were captured or are dead.” Did Clinton and Obama have “no empathy for people who wore the uniform” because they did not wear the uniform? That type of hyperbolic reasoning is beyond the pale.
VIETNAM DEFERMENTS: During Vietnam, everyone in college got four years deferments. During college or immediately after college, before induction, a physical exam was given. Some were declared 4-F or 1-Y because of such seemingly minor things as poor eyesight, flat feet, high blood pressure or bone spurs. Trump was declared ineligible due to bone spurs. You’ve offered zero evidence that Trump “faked his disability.”
Conclusion: We get it. You don’t like Trump. Tens of millions of Americans do, including millions of veterans.
What is admirable about Trump is that he is a promise keeper. He said he would cut taxes and he did. He said he would deregulate and he did. He said he would make us energy independent and he did. He said he would rebuild the military. He said he would appoint Supreme Court Judges from his list provided by the Federalist Society. He promised better trade deals( USMCA). He has kept all those promises. He is trying to disengage from these endless regime change wars that Bush and Obama gave us. Neither he, Dr.Stein or Tulsi are Russian assets as the crackpot Democratic nominee in 2016 claimed. Record low unemployment and almost 7 million new jobs in less than three years. A booming stock market. What is not to like? Happy days are here again.
NC, this is the best succinct summation of Trump’s accomplishments. It is why tens of millions of Americans support him. He’s a promise keeper, who gets things done. Great post, NC.