So on Wednesday, I hit President Trump for his pathetic bone spurs excuse to get out of serving in Vietnam.<\/p>\n
A story out of The New York Times highlighted the account of daughters of a former podiatrist out of Jamaica, Queens, who obliged Trump\u2019s father, Fred Trump, by writing up a phony diagnosis of bone spurs for young Donnie, after he\u2019d exhausted his education deferments.<\/p>\n
It was apparently a common ailment among the pampered progeny of the wealthy and powerful, back then.<\/p>\n
I closed out my piece with this:<\/a><\/p>\n Is it any wonder that in his two years as president, he has yet to visit our military men and women stationed overseas during the holidays?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Folks, I\u2019m not the type to hide from anything when I\u2019ve been proven wrong.<\/p>\n After I posted that column, the news broke that President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump had secretly whisked away on Air Force 1 to visit troops stationed at Al Asad Air Base, in Iraq.<\/p>\n Good for him.<\/p>\n As some pointed out, a bit of shaming did wonders.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know if it was the shaming, or not. Maybe he\u2019d had these plans for some time. I imagine it takes a bit to arrange for a trip of this nature, combined with keeping it secret, arranging for appropriate security, and all the necessary procedures.<\/p>\n So this marks the first visit for Trump to our troops stationed abroad. He followed up the Iraq trip with a visit to troops stationed in Germany, then, back home to the States.<\/p>\n Of course, President Trump\u2019s most loyal and obedient MAGA followers would have us believe that he parachuted down behind enemy lines and rescued an entire American platoon, while there.<\/p>\n With nothing but his tiny, bare hands, and the force of his MAGA will, ISIS was reduced to a pile of ash. The cowering troops lifted Trump on their shoulders and carried him back to the base, cheering all the way.<\/p>\n Ok. That\u2019s only a slight exaggeration<\/em>.<\/p>\n The facts are, the troops seemed glad to [finally] see their commander-in-chief.<\/p>\n Also fact: It was every bit the embarrassing mess that we\u2019ve come to expect from anything Donald J. Trump touches.<\/p>\n In his efforts to make it all about himself, there were several missteps and a few outright lies.<\/p>\n And yes, I know this is where those who either defend Trump as an act of worship, or who feel compelled to defend him, out of a lingering fear of being called a \u201cliberal\u201d or a \u201cHillary supporter\u201d will step in and whine that I never have anything good to say about Trump.<\/p>\n Hey, I gave him kudos for making the trip, but I think it\u2019s just dishonest to treat this as anything other than what it was: propaganda for the Trump regime.<\/p>\n Believe me, he kept it as brief as possible, got the shots for the cringe-worthy montage video that he\u2019ll play for the next two years at campaign rallies, as proof of his combat cred, and then he got out of there.<\/p>\n So among those things he did wrong: He lied about pay raises for our military.<\/a><\/p>\n With Trump, no matter what the facts say, he has to pump himself as the first, the greatest, the most impressive of all things.<\/p>\n He claimed that our military had not had a raise in ten years, until he became president, and then, by his grace, they received a ten percent pay raise.<\/p>\n That was a lie.<\/p>\n Sadly, this wasn\u2019t a mistake or a misspeak on his part. Trump lies because he is a liar, by nature, and his faithful acolytes reward him for it. They celebrate his lies, excuse them, and even swallow his lies in acceptance.<\/p>\n Because that\u2019s what cults do.<\/p>\n Speaking to troops at Al Asad Air Base during his surprise visit to Iraq, Trump told troops: \u201cYou protect us. We are always going to protect you. And you just saw that, \u2019cause you just got one of the biggest pay raises you\u2019ve ever received. \u2026 You haven\u2019t gotten one in more than 10 years. More than 10 years. And we got you a big one. I got you a big one. I got you a big one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey had plenty of people that came up, they said, \u2018You know, we could make it smaller. We could make it 3%, we could make it 2%, we could make it 4%,'\u201d Trump told the troops about the latest pay raise. \u201cI said, \u2018No. Make it 10%. Make it more than 10%.'\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Cause it\u2019s been a long time, it\u2019s been more than 10 years. Been more than 10 years, that\u2019s a long time,\u201d Trump said, repeating the false claim.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s always about him and what he did, isn\u2019t it? He\u2019s always looking to make himself the hero of heroes.<\/p>\n So here\u2019s the truth: Our military has received pay raises every year for more than the last three decades.<\/p>\n They haven\u2019t always been massive, or what our troops deserve, but they\u2019ve been there.<\/p>\n During Trump\u2019s short time in office, they got a 2.4 percent increase in 2018, and the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act has allowed for a 2.6 percent increase, which will be the largest in the past nine years.<\/p>\n So that makes a 5 percent increase under President Trump. Still only half of the 10 percent he\u2019s lying about<\/span> boasting.<\/p>\n I guess he really needs them to focus on how great he is to them, and to forget about how he has rejected the counsel of true warriors, like General James Mattis, when it comes to the use of our troops abroad.<\/p>\n Next, in his need for self-promotion, it appears the president may have given away the identity of a secret Navy SEAL team, stationed in Iraq, with that goofy promo video he posted to Twitter.<\/p>\n .@FLOTUS<\/a> Melania and I were honored to visit our incredible troops at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.! pic.twitter.com\/rDlhITDvm1<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n