Massie, Trump dissing troops

So little space, so much to discuss.

Let’s start with the Iranian bombing of Israel. It isn’t bad enough that we have pro-Palestinian demonstrations occurring on campuses of “institutions of higher learning” but we even have support for Hamas in Congress. As Mr. O’Rourke said, “a parliament of whores” indeed.

More than a dozen House Democrats voted against a resolution condemning Iran’s airstrikes on Israel Thursday.

Just one House Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted against the bill.

Massie was joined by 13 Democrats, including “Squad” member Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; Cori Bush, D-Mo.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y.; and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass. Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., was also among those opposing the bill.

I hear tell Massie is sometimes described as the Rand Paul of the House – a self-described libertarian who often goes out on the contrarian limb. In this case he seems to think the US is trying to police  hatred beliefs and he’s agin’ it. Can’t say he is totally wrong, especially in this administration who seems to immediate launch against any disagreement, but in this case Massie is keeping dangerous company. Something comes to mind about lying down with dogs? The good part, I guess, is that as such a contrarian he gets nothing actually done. Hardly a sterling recommendation for re-election, is it?

Now we get to the famous incident in which Trump called called US troops and Marines “suckers” and “losers”. Keep an ear out for this, as this seems to be a perfect example of a “big Lie”. Repeat a lie often enough, and people will repeat it and eventually believe it, right? This was amply proven in WWII by the Nazis and repeated today by the Biden folks, who seem to LOVE this one. Only fly in their ointment – just does not seem to be true. Now, I am not going to beat it to death, but I will throw out a few salient facts as reported by Snopes. (Believe me, if something left leaning gets to Snopes and they discredit it….it’s REALLY off. You can tell by the phrasing in the article that Snopes would LOVE to support the claim – but can’t.)

Biden continued: “He wouldn’t do it. Because they were all ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’ I’m not making that up. The staff who were with him acknowledge it today. Suckers and losers.”

One big flag of a falsehood is seeing things like ‘unnamed staffers’, ‘ anonymous witnesses say’ and the like – it provides good-sounding but empty support for the lie. Here’s Joe’s support:

Over the years, since the claim surfaced in 2020, a few alleged witnesses — i.e. people who were supposedly with Trump when he made the comments — have told journalists he did say those words.

However, there appeared to be no evidence of an audio or video recording of the remarks in question, nor was there any documentation, such as transcripts or presidential notes, to independently confirm or deny the alleged quotes’ authenticity.

…a number of reputable news outlets reported on the alleged comments in 2020, relying entirely on anonymous sources from his administration.

…one unnamed senior official with the U.S. Department of Defense and one senior U.S. Marine Corps officer confirmed the 2018 cemetery remarks from the above report in interviews with The Associated Press (AP).

Now from the other side:

Just days later, Zach Fuentes, a former White House aide who left the administration in early 2019 and was with the president on the Paris trip and presumably near him during the in-question conversations about the cemetery visit, stood up for Trump in an interview with Breitbart.

Referring to Gen. John Kelly, who was with Trump during the trip as his chief of staff, he said, “I did not hear POTUS call anyone losers when I told him about the weather. Honestly, do you think General Kelly would have stood by and let ANYONE call fallen Marines losers?”

Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton, who said he was on the trip, also issued a denial to Fox News, days after the article came out, saying it was “simply false.”

Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also denied the claims in an interview with Fox News in September 2020. He said, “I was with him for a good part of that trip, if I’m thinking about this visit and the timing right, and I never heard him use the words that are described in that article. Just, I never saw it.” Snopes

Very carefully phrased – several named sources who were on the trip say they never heard and would not believe Trump say such things.  Unless they were with him 24/7, I would not expect a blanket denial: what they say is that to the best of THEIR knowledge it did not happen. And note the difference between ‘unnamed sources’ and the named sources. I don’t particularly like most of ’em, but I place their credibility on a different level than hearsay from anyone anonymous.

 

Category: 2024 Election, Congress sucks, Iran, Israel, Trump!