Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Mr. Trump participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on August 26. A cemetery employee tried to ensure rules which prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds were being followed when she was allegedly "abruptly pushed aside" by Trump's staff.
Trump politicized this solemn ceremony and blamed Biden/Harris for the withdrawal debacle: "A video shared by Trump on TikTok also shows several clips of his visit to the cemetery. As a guitar strums in the background, there is a voiceover of the Republican nominee saying, 'We lost great, great people. What a horrible day it was. We didn’t lose one person in 18 months, and then they took over. That disaster, the leaving of Afghanistan.'” https://apnews.com/article/trump-arlington-cemetery-altercation-18086b03bb1214bc9b6a23f2aaea1c98
In the past, he called fallen soldiers “suckers and losers” and did not honor those who gave their lives to this country. Now he is using the photo opportunities at Arlington National Cemetery to change his narratives in order to improve his image to the public.
There must be some psychology behind these often nasty obscene controversies he creates. I don’t think it’s by accident. A certain element of the population is attracted to this. I think he has two main constituencies: (1) The smaller in number (but politically better equipped) are those who stand to profit from tax cuts for the very wealthy + less stringent enforcement of tax codes. (2) A much larger number (to whom these controversies play) consist of poorly educated people of insufficient financial means (mostly white) who buy into this rhetoric of meanness and condensation toward the “haves” in society. For them, being “against” most anything is preferable to being “for” something. Thus, you get the crazy talk of inviting Russia to invade our European allies. Or, in this case, trampling upon the sacred ground of Arlington. There are also some “red meat” issues involving religion, gays, transexuals, second amendment rights and immigration that come into play. But those are mostly just the bait used to attract the disaffected.
"This change has been evident this week in the response to Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery with the family of a soldier who died in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago for campaign videos and photos attacking Harris, despite the fact that federal law prohibits campaign activities in the cemetery, in what is widely considered hallowed ground. The moment almost passed unnoticed, as it likely would have in the past, but Esquire’s Charles Pierce asked in his blog: “How The Hell Was Trump Allowed To Use Arlington National Cemetery As A Campaign Prop?”
Led by NPR, different outlets begin to dig into the story, and Trump, Vance, Trump’s spokesperson, and Trump’s campaign manager Chris LaCivita all tried to brush off their lawlessness with their usual rhetoric. Trump tried to change the subject to say he was being unfairly attacked for supporting a military family. Vance tried to suggest that Harris should have attended the private ceremony and that for criticizing it she should “go to hell,” although she hadn’t commented on it. The spokesperson suggested that the female cemetery official who tried to stop them was experiencing a “mental health episode,” and LaCivita, a leading figure in the Swift Boat veterans’ attacks on John Kerry in 2004, reposted an offending video to “trigger” Army officials, he said.
It hasn’t flown. Today, MSNBC’s Dasha Burns asked Trump directly: “Should your campaign have put out those videos and photos?” Trump answered: “Well, we have a lot of people. You know, we have people, TikTok people, you know we’re leading the Internet. That was the other thing. We’re so far above her on the Internet….” Burns interrupted and followed up: “But on that hallowed ground, should they have put out the images…?” Trump said: “Well I don’t know what the rules and regulations are, I don’t know who did it, and, I, it could have been them. It could have been the parents. It could have been somebody….”
Burns interrupted again: “It was your campaign’s TikTok that put out the video.” Trump answered: "I really don't know anything about it. All I do is I stood there and I said, 'If you'd like to have a picture, we can have a picture.' If somebody did it; this was a setup by the people in the administration that, 'Oh, Trump is coming to Arlington, that looks so bad for us.’""
"Trump tried to change the subject to say he was being unfairly attacked for supporting a military family. Vance tried to suggest that Harris should have attended the private ceremony and that for criticizing it she should 'go to hell,' although she hadn’t commented on it. The spokesperson suggested that the female cemetery official who tried to stop them was experiencing a 'mental health episode,' and LaCivita, a leading figure in the Swift Boat veterans’ attacks on John Kerry in 2004, reposted an offending video to 'trigger' Army officials, he said."
I read Ms. Richardson's article yesterday. What a bunch of lying, manipulative SOBs! To use such hallowed ground for filthy politics is utterly disgraceful. Unfortunately, Trump has no shame...
Comments
I just glanced at the wiki for Donald Trump controversies.
At 78 pages, this is quite a list!
Edit.. A comment from an army veteran.
https://msn.com/en-us/news/us/i-m-a-combat-veteran-here-s-why-trump-s-arlington-stunt-was-so-insulting/ar-AA1pFZTQ?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=5e39423ce0b84884bc37d168a9e6dc3a&ei=65
The Army did back-up its employee there in the incident.
nastyobscene controversies he creates. I don’t think it’s by accident. A certain element of the population is attracted to this. I think he has two main constituencies: (1) The smaller in number (but politically better equipped) are those who stand to profit from tax cuts for the very wealthy + less stringent enforcement of tax codes. (2) A much larger number (to whom these controversies play) consist of poorly educated people of insufficient financial means (mostly white) who buy into this rhetoric of meanness and condensation toward the “haves” in society. For them, being “against” most anything is preferable to being “for” something. Thus, you get the crazy talk of inviting Russia to invade our European allies. Or, in this case, trampling upon the sacred ground of Arlington. There are also some “red meat” issues involving religion, gays, transexuals, second amendment rights and immigration that come into play. But those are mostly just the bait used to attract the disaffected."This change has been evident this week in the response to Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery with the family of a soldier who died in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago for campaign videos and photos attacking Harris, despite the fact that federal law prohibits campaign activities in the cemetery, in what is widely considered hallowed ground. The moment almost passed unnoticed, as it likely would have in the past, but Esquire’s Charles Pierce asked in his blog: “How The Hell Was Trump Allowed To Use Arlington National Cemetery As A Campaign Prop?”
Led by NPR, different outlets begin to dig into the story, and Trump, Vance, Trump’s spokesperson, and Trump’s campaign manager Chris LaCivita all tried to brush off their lawlessness with their usual rhetoric. Trump tried to change the subject to say he was being unfairly attacked for supporting a military family. Vance tried to suggest that Harris should have attended the private ceremony and that for criticizing it she should “go to hell,” although she hadn’t commented on it. The spokesperson suggested that the female cemetery official who tried to stop them was experiencing a “mental health episode,” and LaCivita, a leading figure in the Swift Boat veterans’ attacks on John Kerry in 2004, reposted an offending video to “trigger” Army officials, he said.
It hasn’t flown. Today, MSNBC’s Dasha Burns asked Trump directly: “Should your campaign have put out those videos and photos?” Trump answered: “Well, we have a lot of people. You know, we have people, TikTok people, you know we’re leading the Internet. That was the other thing. We’re so far above her on the Internet….” Burns interrupted and followed up: “But on that hallowed ground, should they have put out the images…?” Trump said: “Well I don’t know what the rules and regulations are, I don’t know who did it, and, I, it could have been them. It could have been the parents. It could have been somebody….”
Burns interrupted again: “It was your campaign’s TikTok that put out the video.” Trump answered: "I really don't know anything about it. All I do is I stood there and I said, 'If you'd like to have a picture, we can have a picture.' If somebody did it; this was a setup by the people in the administration that, 'Oh, Trump is coming to Arlington, that looks so bad for us.’""
Vance tried to suggest that Harris should have attended the private ceremony
and that for criticizing it she should 'go to hell,' although she hadn’t commented on it.
The spokesperson suggested that the female cemetery official who tried to stop them
was experiencing a 'mental health episode,' and LaCivita, a leading figure in the Swift Boat
veterans’ attacks on John Kerry in 2004, reposted an offending video to 'trigger' Army officials, he said."
I read Ms. Richardson's article yesterday.
What a bunch of lying, manipulative SOBs!
To use such hallowed ground for filthy politics is utterly disgraceful.
Unfortunately, Trump has no shame...