Why Can’t I Support Donald Trump? Because He’s Not A Veteran.
UPDATED, RETITLED and RE-POSTED FROM MAY 2, 2016
Do I require every Presidential candidate to be a Veteran before I will vote for them? No, of course not. So why do I require Trump to be a Veteran and not other candidates?
When an American makes the challenging transition from late adolescence into early adulthood, they are faced with many decisions. One certain, specific combination of choices will be the choice of whether or not to serve their country by enlisting in the military.
Many will choose not to serve, and this is their right, during peacetime, and in some cases, it is also an option during conflicts, if there is an absence of a military draft.
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Me at a Donald Trump rally in protest.
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Does the term ‘Chicken Hawk’ mean anything to you?
The label ‘Chicken-hawk’ is is a political term used to describe a person who strongly supports war or other military action (i.e., a
war hawk), yet who actively avoids or avoided military service when of age. Chicken-hawk indicates that the person in question is hypocritical for personally dodging a draft or otherwise shirking their duty to their country during a time of armed conflict while advocating that others do so. Generally, the implication is that chicken-hawks lack the moral character to participate in war themselves, preferring to ask others to support, fight and perhaps die in an armed conflict.
This is not to say that everyone who does not enlist is a 'chicken' or a coward. As I've stated military service is not a pre-requisite to gaining my vote, and as I've pointed out the choice to serve is, for the most part, voluntary. The deciding factor may be economics or a sense of duty among other considerations, but during a conflict and a military draft, the duty rises to a sense of obligation and responsibility for many.
My problem is not with those who didn't serve, my problem is with those who chose not to serve, and either then, or at a later time, advocates for engaging our military and sending it into harm's way. It is this hypocrisy that I find intolerable, especially for someone seeking to be commander in chief in spite of their failure to see a call to duty.
By Definition, Donald Trump is a ‘chicken-hawk’, with the emphasis on ‘chicken’. It is one thing not to serve, as I’ve said it is a choice, but it is another thing to make such a choice and then hypocritically advocate for putting another generation in jeopardy as a moral stance.
Chicken-hawk mottoe: “Let’s you and him go fight; I’ll hold your coat.”
- I have more respect for those that opposed the Vietnam War and fled to Canada rather than face the draft…
- I have more respect for conscientious objectors who served under accommodations or served jail time…
- I even have more respect for the rich and politically protected who gained protection by enlisting in politically protected National Guard and Reserve Units like the Texas ‘Champagne Guard (at least they were supposedly under threat of a call-up…)
All these people get more respect from me than chicken-hawks like Trump, Dick Cheney, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh, who all just outright avoided service
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Like many of my generation (the same as Trumps) I had doubts about the Vietnam War, but I was raised with a sense of duty and service, not greed and entitlement. Along with my doubts I signed up for a 4 year enlistment. Two more years than Trump would have had to serve if he was drafted or enlisted for the minimum.
But here is the most important point about chicken-hawks
, with the emphasis on ‘hawks’. It is there willingness to send others, the next generation, off to war and advocating for adversarial responses, international stare-downs with the crazies of the world. All from the safety of their office, the campaign trail or a talk show. With the abolition of the military draft, they don’t even have to worry about their kids being put in harm's way.
Then there's the issue of Trump's attitude towards POW's:
“He’s not a war hero," Trump said dismissively of McCain, who spent more than five years being tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and suffered permanent injuries as a result.
Trump, who received a number of deferments to avoid serving in Vietnam, backtracked slightly after drawing boos.
“He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured” he said, to a mix of laughs and jeers from the several hundred social conservatives gathered at the Family Leadership Summit.
“I believe perhaps he is a war hero, but right now, he said some very bad things about a lot of people,” he continued.
NOT a War Hero? Because he was captured? PERHAPS a War Hero? This from a guy who sought and got
5 deferments! Make no mistake about it, this is a statement that reflects attitude towards others, an attitude that is dismissive of the worth of people not in his circle… what some would call his ‘world view’
John McCain did not just walk up to the North Vietnamese and say “I give up”. He was flying dangerous missions, was shot down, parachuted with two broken arms and one broken leg and landed in the water where he was dragged to shore by the North Vietnamese, with few options. Is Trump, a person who wouldn't even serve, suggesting that McCain and other troops should put a bullet in their own head? Who knows what he is actually suggesting. Most of us are worried that he has no concept of what he’s saying until after he says it and gets a negative reaction, and even then his ego will not let him believe he’s ever wrong… just misunderstood, or victimized.
Try to wrap your head around this: Trump claims that he would be ‘Great for the Military, the best ever.’ I love the military. Statements he makes about everything.
But if he doesn’t understand the concept of soldiers and sailors as heroes for answering the call to duty in the first place, of course, he won't see POW's as hero’s, because they shouldn't have gotten captured, in other words, he likes “people
who weren’t captured” more than he does people who were captured. People like himself that made the safe choices that would prevent them from ever being captured.
He’s obviously unaware of what happens in war, and that makes it scary to see him as the leader of the free world and our military. He just doesn't understand the concept of signing that 'blank check' and therefore volunteering to be placed in harm's way.
Donald Trump Reportedly Didn’t Know What A Gold Star Family Was
“…New York Magazine’s Gabriel Sherman reported on Saturday that when one adviser warned Trump he had just attacked a Gold Star family, the GOP nominee responded “what’s that?” The term is commonly used to refer to any family that has lost a loved one in war. The United States has officially recognized these families since 1936.
Trump has pledged to support veterans throughout his campaign. Earlier this year, he promised to donate millions to veterans groups, but only appeared to do so months later after The Washington Post noted that he had not fulfilled his promise.
Sherman also reported that Paul Manafort, who was then Trump’s campaign chairman, had to explain what ‘Gold Star family’ meant.
“The election is about the American people, it’s not about you,” Manafort reportedly said, adding that Khizr Khan wasn’t running for president….”
……………………Sam Levine Associate Politics Editor, The Huffington Post
Donald Trump reveals a superficial understanding of soldiers, military live, and the consequences of war.
“They see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over and you’re strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can’t handle it,” Donald Trump
While acknowledging concern over the issue of Veteran suicides he actually demonstrates the atmosphere that discourages Veterans and soldiers from seeking help. While we can argue if Trump is sincere or not over the issue we cannot deny that he does not understand the nuances or reality of military life, PTSD, and mental health in general.
"Approximately 20 former service members die by suicide per day, and veterans make up an astonishing 18 percent of all suicides deaths in the U.S. Trump’s comments are a prime example why many members of the military don’t ask for help: they’re fearful of appearing “weak” in a field that is so deeply associated with “being strong.” Research shows this stigma attached to mental health disorders actually prevents people from seeking treatment."
From <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-veterans-mental-health_us_57f280bbe4b082aad9bc4903?section=politics>
Veterans are not weak for having a mental health disorder. And it’s insulting to equate strength with not having a mental health issue after returning from combat.
What Trump loved was playing Army at Military School, not committing to the concept of Duty, Honor, Country.
He claims he will make the military strong again (like America he promotes his ability to rescue the military from a state of… ???) by spending more on the military. Well, its not going to be his money, and he feels no need to explain where the (taxpayer) money will come from, and hey, he’s good at spending money.
- One has to wonder though is it his love for the military or his love for spending money on extravagant toys.
Is his love for the military reflected in his generosity for Veterans? He claims so. But is that guilt or love? Is it politically correct posturing? Its certainly tax-deductible, but is it even his money?”
“…Mr. Trump refused to attend a Republican debate hosted by Fox News… …Instead, Mr. Trump hosted his own fundraiser to raise money for veterans groups.But several veterans organizations saw the fundraiser as a political move and refused to accept Mr Trump’s pandering donations.
Paul Rieckhoff, the CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, slammed Mr. Trump in a tweet at the time, saying “We need strong policies from candidates, not to be used for political stunts.”
Where in his life has he displayed any love for the military? Certainly not by joining and serving. From his Military education? He was sent to a military school for rich kids because his father said he was getting out of hand? His love for the military didn’t lead him to a collegiate military academy.
Trump's immigrant grandfather was also a draft dodger.
At age 16 grandfather Friedrich Trump left Germany for America in 1885. Having avoided mandatory military service he was stripped of his German citizenship four years later. When he returned in 1905 he begged local authorities in southern Germany (in a since published letter) to revoke the deportation order for avoiding military service as a teenager. His plea, it seems, proved unsuccessful, and he had to settle for a life across the Atlantic. Once the full translation is available it will be interesting to see if Friedrich offered to make right on his failure to meet his military obligation.
http://www.voanews.com/a/mht-1905-letter-shows-trumps-grandfarther-begged-to-stay-in-germany/3605969.html
NOTES AND RESOURCES:
Here’s what Trump and McCain were doing in 1968:
“Trump was 21 years old and handsome with a full head of hair. He avoided the Vietnam War draft on his way to earning an Ivy League degree. He was fond of fancy dinners, beautiful women and outrageous clubs. Most important, he had a job in his father’s real estate company and a brain bursting with money-making ideas that would make him a billionaire.“When I graduated from college, I had a net worth of perhaps $200,000,” he said in his 1987 autobiography “Trump: The Art of the Deal,” written with Tony Schwartz. (That’s about $1.4 million in 2015 dollars.) “I had my eye on Manhattan.”
More than 8,000 miles away, John McCain sat in a tiny, squalid North Vietnamese prison cell. The Navy pilot’s body was broken from a plane crash, starvation, botched operations and months of torture.
As Trump was preparing to take Manhattan, McCain was trying to relearn how to walk. …as Trump drove around Manhattan in his father’s limo, McCain was refusing to mention his dad for fear of handing valuable intelligence to the enemy.“
In his autobiography, Trump describes these early years as fraught with danger: a quick learning curve for the soon-to-be-celebrity CEO as he went around learning the business. “This was not a world I found very attractive,” he wrote in “Trump: The Art of the Deal.”“I’d just graduated from Wharton, and suddenly here I was in a scene that was violent at worst and unpleasant at best.”The danger? Collecting rent.”Trump said he didn’t serve in Vietnam because he was “going to college,” and because he "was not a big fan of the Vietnam War."
- [He] describes his battle with venereal disease as his own personal Vietnam.” (It’s true: In 1997, Trump told Howard Stern of trying to avoid contracting sexually transmitted diseases: “It is my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave solider.”)
- “In the ’80s, Trump tried to throw disabled vet street vendors off Fifth Avenue, accusing them of essentially being a blight on the aesthetics of the street. Before his presidential campaign, Trump’s charitable foundation gave more to the Clinton's than to veterans organizations.”
- “In January, Mr. Trump refused to attend a Republican debate hosted by Fox News… …Instead, Mr. Trump hosted his own fundraiser to raise money for veterans groups. But several veterans organizations saw the fundraiser as a political move and refused to accept Mr. Trump’s pandering donations. Paul Rieckhoff, the CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, slammed Mr. Trump in a tweet at the time, saying “We need strong policies from candidates, not to be used for political stunts.” The statement prompted Trump-supporting Internet trolls to bombard Mr. Rieckhoff with hundreds of disparaging and even threatening comments.
- Veterans groups who declined donations from GOP front-runner Donald Trump are now being flooded with nasty messages from the businessman’s supporters online, who want to punish them for challenging their candidate.”
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