Transcription
In the aftermath of Trump's bombing of Iran, he made the following announcement.
"Earlier today, Sentcom shared the news that three US military service members have been killed in action. As one nation, we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. Even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives, we pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen. And sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That's the way it is. Likely be more. But we'll do everything possible where that won't be the case."
"There will likely be more before it ends. That's the way it is. Likely be more."
First of all, I know that this cartoon is making its rounds. Maybe you can tell why.
"Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make."
But I want you to engage in a little thought experiment with me. I want you to imagine that after four Americans died in Benghazi, Hillary Clinton came out and said, "That's the way it is. Likely be more." I wonder if all those Republicans who spent the last decade clutching their pearls about Benghazi would have shrugged it off the same way they're shrugging off Trump's comments today. I think we all know the answer.
And I actually think that this is instructive. Not just because it puts on full display the disparity between the media ecosystems on the right and left, where Republicans literally dined off of four dead Americans for almost a decade. And yet, when three Americans died needlessly because Donald the Dove decided to engage in yet another Middle Eastern war, it comes and goes like a fart in a hurricane. The left simply does not exploit death and tragedy the way the right is built to do exactly that to an unfathomable degree.
But it's also instructive because it should tell those Republican voters that their elected officials and media personalities don't actually care about the things that they pretend to care about. Again, this is what we watched for years regarding Benghazi. If there was anyone other than Hillary Clinton, they would be in jail right now.
"Nobody is above the law, not even Hillary Clinton, even though she thinks she is. Mishandling classified information is still a violation of the Espionage Act."
"When you have the Clinton emails, on top of the fact that the sitting president of the United States admitted he had documents in his garage where they didn't prosecute, they didn't go after these folks."
"I think if you did it, if I did it, if somebody else did it, it would be a big deal. But she gets away with a lot of things. She gets away with things like this. And I'll be honest, the whole Benghazi thing, Sean, you talk about it and a lot of the Fox people talk about it, but outside of Fox, Benghazi has never resonated. And yet now, nothing. So either those Republicans stopped caring about dead Americans 5 minutes ago, or they never cared and just exploited those deaths for partisan purposes. And it doesn't get more disgusting than that."
Watching these Republican officials and media personalities use dead Americans as a cudgel against the Democrats. And yet, when a Republican president is responsible for dead Americans, they can't even be bothered to utter a single complaint. Other than, of course, "there will likely be more before it ends." Yes, the paragon of empathy.
And let's be clear, the fish rots from the head, which is why Trump's acolytes are repeating Trump's tone-deaf acceptance of dead Americans. His UN ambassador, Mike Walls, took to Twitter writing, "Freedom is never free," with an American flag emoji. That's it. A basic platitude about freedom, a little emoji, and then call it a day. No demand for hearings, no 24-hour news cycle meltdowns.
In fact, it is the opposite. We get jingoism like it's a badge of honor. Like it's a badge of honor for Americans to die because a guy who was elected with a mandate for peace decided to bomb another Middle Eastern country. And it's not just him. Laura Ingram offers a simple "pray for our troops." You know how many times she tweeted about Benghazi? 20 times. But at least Laura Ingram used words. Republican Anna Paulina Luna only managed to spare a sad face emoji. That's it. An emoji.
And look, I understand that people die in war. The point is that Donald Trump entered office with a mandate not to engage in one. Don't take it from me. Take it from him.
"We don't want to see wars. I don't want to see wars. I was in no wars other than we finished a war with ISIS and we completed it. 100% complete. Uh but I don't want to see wars. I think it's so horrible, so unnecessary, so costly in terms of lives and money in that order and and destroying these countries. You know, you're destroying culture. When you look at Ukraine, that would have never happened if I were president. You look at the October 7th attack on Israel. Would have never happened. I'm not going to start a war. I'm going to stop wars. No more wars, no more disruptions. We will have prosperity and we will have peace under Trump. We will have no more wars, no more disruptions, and we will have prosperity and peace for all. I am the candidate of peace. I am peace."
It's bad enough to have American service members' blood on your hands. It is worse when you lied about never resorting to war to get elected only to basically usher in George W. Bush 2.0 when it comes to Middle Eastern policy. Need proof? Here you go.
"At this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq. A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran."
"My belief is we will in fact be greeted as liberators."
"To the great proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand."
"There will always be some uncertainty about uh how quickly he can acquire a nuclear weapon. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud. They can never have a nuclear weapon >> again."
Trump's entire mandate was to focus on Americans. It was to make sure we are taken care of. It was to make sure we could afford life, to protect earned benefits, to lower the cost of groceries, of healthcare, of housing. And yet, what has he actually done in office? Launched a trade war that raised the cost of everything. Cut the most affordable healthcare when he gutted Medicaid for 17 million Americans and ACA subsidies for 24 million Americans. Cut food assistance to the tune of $186 billion for the hungriest Americans. Grocery prices are higher. Housing prices are higher. Rent prices are higher. Inflation is literally on the rise right now, nearly at the same point it was when Biden left office. Life is even less affordable than it was before.
And yet, where is Trump spending our tax dollars? Surprise, surprise. On foreign wars in the Middle East. All the money in the world to engage in military action in Iran, in Venezuela, in Yemen and Somalia and Nigeria and Syria and Iraq. How that helps a regular family in South Dakota, I have no idea. And I'd venture to guess that that family doesn't know either.
The reality is that Trump doesn't care about his voters. That's why they get nothing that was promised. He cares about himself. He cares about his family business. He cares about his legacy. That's why he gets a ballroom while your SNAP benefits get cut. Trump is in office to help one person and one person only, and that is the guy he sees when he looks in the mirror. And every single Republican is allowing it. When you vote the GOP into power, they have no concern for the people who put them there and instead engage in the most corrupt system of governments we ever seen. Something to consider when it comes time to vote just a few months from now.
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