Trumps Dangerous Dishonest Message to the Troops

[brooklynite]

Defense One:

If you’re a soldier — say, an elite U.S. special operator at U.S. Central Command headquarters, maybe with some battle buddies from U.S. Special Operations Command and Joint Special Operations Command — answer me this: When your commanding general tells you that the reporters covering your work are important and he makes a public effort to engage, educate, bring them along to war zones and build trust with the press corps, but your commander-in-chief says those same reporters are “dishonest,” and accuses them of purposefully ignoring terrorism (and by extension ignoring your hard, life-sacrificing work to fight terrorism) for some wink-and-nod agenda of their own, whom should you believe?

The media — that’s me, hi — is accustomed to being a punching bag for politicians. Most of us wear their complaints like combat badges. One of my earliest mentors, Mark Feldstein, an award-winning former CNN and ABC News reporter who runs the broadcast journalism program at the University of Maryland, has this in the second line of his biography: “On assignment, he was beaten up, subpoenaed, and sued in the US; detained and censored by government authorities in Egypt; and escorted out of the country under armed guard in Haiti.”

When Donald Trump talked about the “dishonest media” on the campaign trail, I didn’t speak up much because a) we’re taught that we journalists are not the story, and b) it was just politics. Even by inauguration day, the new president’s quip was just an annoyance.

But when the newly minted commander-in-chief said it at CIA headquarters, it began to get worrying. And something changed for good on Monday when Trump traveled to Tampa. For the first time, he stood in front of CENTCOM commander Gen. Joseph Votel and SOCOM commander Gen. Tony Thomas — perhaps the two most important generals in the U.S. military today — and their teams. On camera, Trump praised the forces for fighting secret missions every day, and pledged to give them all the equipment and support they need to turn back the spreading threat of terrorism. Then he said this: “It’s gotten to a point where it’s not even being reported and, in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report it. They have their reasons and you understand that.” Wink. Nod.

With respect, sir, that’s not true. And I hope the men, women, officers, civilians, and whomever else was in that room don’t believe it. I certainly don’t think Gen. Votel does.

[gopiscrap]

1. fucking plain and simple:

trump is a traitor to the USA

[livetohike]

2. I wonder why there hasn't been more attention to this. The day he addressed the troops, I was

shocked by what he said to them. I haven't heard/seen anyone criticize him about that until now. Thanks for posting.

[democrank]

3. Trump's lying to the troops infuriates me like almost nothing else.

Imagine being a soldier in a war zone, facing death most every minute, knowing you're supposed to have faith in the Commander in Chief. Imagine being a young soldier fresh out of boot camp tying to make sense of what Trump says....about Russia, about nuclear weapons, about Muslims. Imagine being a disabled vet sitting in a wheelchair, hoping with all your heart that the VA can help with the prosthetics you need, even though everything Trump touches turns to chaos. Imagine being a Muslim soldier, knowing if Trump had his way you wouldn't be in our country's military....or even in our country.

President Trump is a national disgrace.