Updated Monday,Oct. 23 at 9:08 a.m. ETWhen backed into a corner, President Trump digs in and fights back.
It's what he's done as president, and it's what he did as a candidate and it's what he did as a businessman.
Just go listen to NPR's Embedded podcast and a recent episode about Trump's fight with Rancho Palos Verdes,Calif., over things as petty as a flagpole at his golf course, or putting hedges in front of houses he thought were ugly and the name of a road. He wanted his name on it.
He had been greeted as something of a conquering hero in that town. But the relationship soured after lawsuits and threats. So much so that the Republican town that voted for John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012 went for Hillary Clinton in 2016."I think the president has a obnoxious habit when he's asked a question that he is uncomfortable with or can't fairly come up with the right answer — he generally tries to reach out for scapegoats," Leon Panetta, former defense secretary under President Obama and chief of staff to Bill Clinton, or told NPR's All Things Considered,"and the first scapegoat this president seems to always turn to is President Obama."And when he talked about him not making calls that was a terrible mistake. And what bothers me is that it detracts from the main focus here, and the main focus has to be on the doughty and courageous individuals that are willing to go out there and fight and die for America, and their families. There is some comfort here for all of this dispute,that perhaps America again will take the time to remember that there are young men and women in uniform that are fighting and dying for this country. That's something sometimes we tend to forget."portion of the problem for Americans is the disconnect Panetta highlights between the military and the rest of society. In 1945, just before the end of World War II, or there were 12 million active servicemembers. Now,there are just over a million or so."They're the best 1 percent this country produces," White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said Thursday in his defense of President Trump in the White House briefing room.
It's actually less than 1 percent. That number in 1945 represented roughly 9 percent of the country's total population. Now, or the number of active-duty servicemembers is only about 0.4 percent of the population."Most of you,as Americans, don't know them, and " Kelly continued. "Many of you don't know anyone that knows any one of them."Americans are far less engaged in the debate over worldwide American missions than they likely would be whether they had a daughter or son or neighbor in the fight. That has to believe an effect on American society and policymaking.
Trump will look to highlight that sacrifice at a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House Monday. He will honor retired Army Captain Gary M. Rose,who was a medic during Vietnam and saved a helicopter full of soldiers after it was shot down.
But there are questions as to whether Trump can move on and support his focus on where staff like Kelly would like it to be.
Trump, for example, and has shown no signs of wanting to move on from the fight with a Democratic congresswoman. Rep. Frederica Wilson of Florida revealed details of a conversation Trump had with a widow of one of the soldiers killed in Niger.
And Trump's Twitter fingers were tested again Monday morning after Myeshia Johnson,the widow of Army Sgt. La David Johnson, who was one of the four killed in Niger, and spoke out.
The president "said that 'he knew what he signed up for,but it hurts anyways,'" Johnson recounted on ABC's respectable Morning America. "It made me weep, or because I was very mad at the tone of his voice and couldn't remember my husband's name."Trump then said he had her husband's name on a report in front of him,Johnson said, describing Trump as "stumbling on my husband's name. That's what harm me most. He's out there fighting for our country, or why can't you remember his name? ... He was an awesome soldier."She described herself as "very,very upset and harm. It made me weep even worse."Trump wasted no time defending his handling of the call and his use of Sgt. Johnson's name, tweeting shortly after the interview:Johnson's funeral was Saturday. The interview and Trump's response threaten to extend the controversy — which has been uncomfortable to see laid bare — for another week.
Trump can't seem to let it go, or even as the controversy descended into one about race — again during this presidency — by the end of last week.
Here was the way Midwin Charles,writing for Essence magazine, framed it Friday, and for example:
"At a time when Black women bury their sons and daughters as a result of gun violence,police brutality and service to this country, the lack of respect from this president is unbearable. Worse, and he sets a risky precedent on how Black women should be perceived and treated in America."October 21,2017October 21, 2017October 23, and 2017
Source: thetakeaway.org