What does this say about our military establishment that they would allow this type of intimidation of one of their members and not be able to protect them from DonOld’s fascist goons?
Yes. She's assigned to deal with this "event" and then her supervisors do not pursue recourse for abuse against one of their employees. Shameful. Cowardly.
Someone please explain to this non-military XX person: How could "our military establishment" prevent an event when they didn't know it was going to happen? And why is it "Shameful. Cowardly" to let the service member herself have a say in whether to follow up on the incident, when she's the one most likely to bear the brunt of any repercussions?
Unfortunately the military was aware of the event and tried to insure the law was followed, that is until pressure from MAGA republicans in congress started applying pressure on ANC and Army officials. Sorry but there is no place to hide from these despicable action. If the families wanted Donald Dump at the grave side that was their right, but without a film crew and maga entourage. This should have never been a photo op political stunt
You clearly have info that wasn't in the OP. However, even if your account is accurate, why should a woman who was doing her job as best she could get thrown to the wolves for the failures of those up the line?
Still waiting for some evidence of that "pressure from MAGA republicans in congress", along with the names of the "ANC and Army officials" who yielded to it. If this actually happened, they're the ones who should answer for it.
I read that the visit was denied but Mike Johnson “ made phone calls” and the visit was allowed. I don’t know why the employee must press charges. Seems ANC should be pressing charges.
Charles Pierce in Esquire (Aug. 29) quotes a report from the _Daily Caller_ ("god help us," says Pierce <g>) that Speaker Johnson and House Foreign Affairs Committee chair did intervene to make the wreath-laying ceremony happen, at the request of a representative of the Gold Star families. However, apparently these ceremonies are usually scheduled weeks if not months in advance, so that seems to have been an issue. And (AFAIK at this point) this did not include permission to make a campaign video, which is against Arlington policy.
You are 100% right, TC. I do wish the Department of the Army would go after Trump and his goons for what they did to the female service member rather than make it her decision.
Why *shouldn't* it be her decision?? She's the one who's going to get trashed if the Army "goes after" Trump et al. Remember what happened to Christine Blasey Ford, E. Jean Carroll, Shaye Moss, Ruby Freeman, and quite a few others, male as well as female? In the general scheme of things -- compared to, say, a SCOTUS confirmation hearing, or a felony trial, or attacks on election workers -- this incident is less than momentous. The honor of the Army is not at stake here. In fact, the Army does itself credit by respecting the employee's decision.
The employee's decision not to pursue charges against the unknown person who pushed her out of the way for trying to do her job has led to the Army dropping the matter. So, Trump and company get away with breaking the rules of Arlington National Cemetery. And the Trump representatives continue to defame this woman. How on earth can you defend the Army in this situation?
It is certainly the individual’s right to not wish her name to be associated with this incident, but, federal law was broken by Donny orange stain and he must be held accountable. DonOld has been allowed to thumb his nose at laws and get away with it time after time. I assume the fact that MAGA republican politicians are involved in this scheme are why the Army has decided that cowardice in the face of political corruption is the expedient course of action, to hell with the laws.
Who's defending the army? I'm defending the woman who's at most risk from the MAGAs. If army personnel at some level did allow the photo op (as Jack Cooper alleges), then they should take the fall, not a woman who didn't get the memo and was trying to do the right thing.
"In fact, the Army does itself credit by respecting the employee's decision."This seems to me to be a defense of the Army. Step back a second. Things are very screwed up when we are arguing about the employee's actions rather than holding Trump and party responsible for breaking laws about conduct at ANC. The Army should be shielding her from threats. In some sense, the Army is using this woman's vulnerability as an excuse not to battle Trump and his threats, to let him get away with it. He is posting videos of the visit as part of his political campaign. And why do you say the woman "didn't get the memo"? It seems to me that she knew exactly what she was doing - she saw the law being flaunted and tried to stop it. It is outrageous that even though she decided not to pursue actions against them, they are still degrading her. There is probably a very good chance that MAGAs will "out her" because that is how despicable they are! This is what happens when you cower to bullies!
Not if you are a woman in this position - "Remember what happened to Christine Blasey Ford, E. Jean Carroll, Shaye Moss, Ruby Freeman, and quite a few others, male as well as female?" As someone else here commented. I think thats a good question!
But what you seem to be advocating isn't "the right thing" at all, except maybe to people who think women should shut up and take it when men screw up.
It really frosts me that there arent more consequences for doofus BUT I think if I was in this gal's place - I'd do the same. None of us can afford (mentally or physically) the kind of fallout that would happen to us.
One can understand the reluctance of the female cemetery official to file charges. No knock on her for that, since no doubt she would be harassed - or worse - by any number of manly-man-MAGA Trump supporters (jackboots optional, since they may prefer a pair of those Trump Felony Fliers the Donald started hawking not long ago, all the better to make a quick getaway in).
It's just too bad that no one's releasing the identity of who it was exactly that did the pushing aside (btw... I believe Corey Lewandowski was in attendance, wasn't he?), since there just might be one or two combat-booted veterans out there somewhere who'd like a word or two in person with them about that.
I don't doubt for one minute that Johnson and Issa got involved in this mess. Typical. And I don't doubt the Gold Star families side of the story one bit either. The slant by this "news" agency doesn't change the fact that these people KNEW the rules, yet insisted that they be dismissed because THEIR dear leader needed to come when HE needed to come to pose with them in a sacred site, rules be damned. So they are whining to all the far right "news" groups that their needs were ignored. Balderdash. I would otherwise have sympathy for these families, but given what they did and why they did it, I have none whatsoever. IMO, THEY are as much to blame as anyone. And standing there with thumbs up at a gravesite. Who does that? MAGAts, that's who. They have absolutely no class, nothing redeemable to mention. As an aside, I would venture a guess that the woman who was assaulted is also a POC.
It seems that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson pulled strings and possibly twisted a few arms to allow trump to attend the ceremony at ANC which of course then devolved into a media circus. The GOP likes to pride itself as being the Party that supports the troops and their families, but then lets their leading Presidential candidate use the honored dead’s gravesites as a cheap political prop for a publicity stunt. Yeah, and the family of the dead Marine and a lot of veterans are OK with this and would vote for the smiling gargoyle in the photo…sickening…
A bit off topic, but Ruth Ben-Ghiat (Strongmen, p. 180) describes the types of people Trump hires and who are being vetted by Project 2025 for future posts in his civil service.
“. . .military, police, and civilians who took orders well but also thrived on transgression.” “Neo-Nazis . . .understood this mix of law-and-order and lawlessness.”
Our language as glorious as it is doesn’t possess words that accurately describe the smear, stain, scum that is the insipid orange turd and his devoted followers. Words that offend the ear at times fall way short. Tom learned to cuss like a sailor no doubt when he served as one, but even with that colorful vocabulary which has been honed in his years as a writer, especially in the motion picture industry, falls short of describing the stench that permeates everything and everyone in any way connected to that diarrhetic piece of shit. Good try TC, I agree with every word you wrote, and I lament our language’s inability to make him feel in his bones just how we feel. 💥💥💥🤬🤬
This is from Heather Cox Richardson's "Letters From An American" substack today, August 29:
And now the U.S. Army has weighed in on the scandal surrounding Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery for a campaign photo op, after which his team shared a campaign video it had filmed. The Army said that the cemetery hosts almost 3,000 public wreath-laying ceremonies a year without incident and that Trump and his staff “were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and [Department of Defense] policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.”
It went on to say that a cemetery employee “who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside…. This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the… employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. [Arlington National Cemetery] is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve.”
“I don’t think I can adequately explain what a massive deal it is for the Army to make a statement like this,” political writer and veteran Allison Gill of Mueller, She Wrote, noted. “The Pentagon avoids statements like this at all costs. But a draft dodging traitor decided to lie about our armed forces staff, so they went to paper.”
The deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said the Department of Defense is “aware of the statement that the Army issued, and we support what the Army said.” Hours later, Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita reposted the offending video on X and, tagging the official account for Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, said he was “hoping to trigger the hacks” in her office.
In Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall reported that the Trump campaign’s plan was to lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the 13 members of the U.S. military killed in the suicide bombing during the evacuation of Kabul, Afghanistan, in August 2021. They intended to film the event and then attack Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden for not “showing up” for the event, which they intended to portray as an “established memorial.”
It would be wonderful to see a plane with a banner for Harris/Walz/2024 flying over wherever Trump and those who must absorb his flatulence go on the campaign trail. Sigh. Did Trump remind the Gold Star families (once again) that the deceased "knew what they signed up for?"
“I do not have my hand in that cookie jar! And besides, those cookies don’t taste very good anyway!” elevates to "I did not rape that woman. She's not my type anyway!" So nice to see that his long-term ongoing misogyny is finally getting some notice. And that people are finally saying, "THIS IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE."
What does this say about our military establishment that they would allow this type of intimidation of one of their members and not be able to protect them from DonOld’s fascist goons?
Yes. She's assigned to deal with this "event" and then her supervisors do not pursue recourse for abuse against one of their employees. Shameful. Cowardly.
I was at ANC a few months ago. Even the bus loads of tourists knew how to behave.
Worse than shameful, gives license to cretins who are SS arses.
Someone please explain to this non-military XX person: How could "our military establishment" prevent an event when they didn't know it was going to happen? And why is it "Shameful. Cowardly" to let the service member herself have a say in whether to follow up on the incident, when she's the one most likely to bear the brunt of any repercussions?
Unfortunately the military was aware of the event and tried to insure the law was followed, that is until pressure from MAGA republicans in congress started applying pressure on ANC and Army officials. Sorry but there is no place to hide from these despicable action. If the families wanted Donald Dump at the grave side that was their right, but without a film crew and maga entourage. This should have never been a photo op political stunt
You clearly have info that wasn't in the OP. However, even if your account is accurate, why should a woman who was doing her job as best she could get thrown to the wolves for the failures of those up the line?
Still waiting for some evidence of that "pressure from MAGA republicans in congress", along with the names of the "ANC and Army officials" who yielded to it. If this actually happened, they're the ones who should answer for it.
I read that the visit was denied but Mike Johnson “ made phone calls” and the visit was allowed. I don’t know why the employee must press charges. Seems ANC should be pressing charges.
Charles Pierce in Esquire (Aug. 29) quotes a report from the _Daily Caller_ ("god help us," says Pierce <g>) that Speaker Johnson and House Foreign Affairs Committee chair did intervene to make the wreath-laying ceremony happen, at the request of a representative of the Gold Star families. However, apparently these ceremonies are usually scheduled weeks if not months in advance, so that seems to have been an issue. And (AFAIK at this point) this did not include permission to make a campaign video, which is against Arlington policy.
Such a cheap misogynistic cliché claiming that a woman saying no to them must have been suffering from a ‘mental health episode’.
She has a uterus, so that makes her prone to hysteria? A time-honored attack. I can’t recall a man ever being called hysterical.
So write ✍️ as little dt suffers from a running mental health crises instead of breathing. Forget thinking.
That bit totally fell into place once it was revealed that the service member who said no was a woman.
You are 100% right, TC. I do wish the Department of the Army would go after Trump and his goons for what they did to the female service member rather than make it her decision.
They're afraid he'll win in November, and then...
Well then shame on these supposedly big bad military men.
Sad but true!
Why *shouldn't* it be her decision?? She's the one who's going to get trashed if the Army "goes after" Trump et al. Remember what happened to Christine Blasey Ford, E. Jean Carroll, Shaye Moss, Ruby Freeman, and quite a few others, male as well as female? In the general scheme of things -- compared to, say, a SCOTUS confirmation hearing, or a felony trial, or attacks on election workers -- this incident is less than momentous. The honor of the Army is not at stake here. In fact, the Army does itself credit by respecting the employee's decision.
The employee's decision not to pursue charges against the unknown person who pushed her out of the way for trying to do her job has led to the Army dropping the matter. So, Trump and company get away with breaking the rules of Arlington National Cemetery. And the Trump representatives continue to defame this woman. How on earth can you defend the Army in this situation?
It is certainly the individual’s right to not wish her name to be associated with this incident, but, federal law was broken by Donny orange stain and he must be held accountable. DonOld has been allowed to thumb his nose at laws and get away with it time after time. I assume the fact that MAGA republican politicians are involved in this scheme are why the Army has decided that cowardice in the face of political corruption is the expedient course of action, to hell with the laws.
Who's defending the army? I'm defending the woman who's at most risk from the MAGAs. If army personnel at some level did allow the photo op (as Jack Cooper alleges), then they should take the fall, not a woman who didn't get the memo and was trying to do the right thing.
"In fact, the Army does itself credit by respecting the employee's decision."This seems to me to be a defense of the Army. Step back a second. Things are very screwed up when we are arguing about the employee's actions rather than holding Trump and party responsible for breaking laws about conduct at ANC. The Army should be shielding her from threats. In some sense, the Army is using this woman's vulnerability as an excuse not to battle Trump and his threats, to let him get away with it. He is posting videos of the visit as part of his political campaign. And why do you say the woman "didn't get the memo"? It seems to me that she knew exactly what she was doing - she saw the law being flaunted and tried to stop it. It is outrageous that even though she decided not to pursue actions against them, they are still degrading her. There is probably a very good chance that MAGAs will "out her" because that is how despicable they are! This is what happens when you cower to bullies!
Sometimes you just need to do the right thing, even if it is hard.
Not if you are a woman in this position - "Remember what happened to Christine Blasey Ford, E. Jean Carroll, Shaye Moss, Ruby Freeman, and quite a few others, male as well as female?" As someone else here commented. I think thats a good question!
But what you seem to be advocating isn't "the right thing" at all, except maybe to people who think women should shut up and take it when men screw up.
It really frosts me that there arent more consequences for doofus BUT I think if I was in this gal's place - I'd do the same. None of us can afford (mentally or physically) the kind of fallout that would happen to us.
One can understand the reluctance of the female cemetery official to file charges. No knock on her for that, since no doubt she would be harassed - or worse - by any number of manly-man-MAGA Trump supporters (jackboots optional, since they may prefer a pair of those Trump Felony Fliers the Donald started hawking not long ago, all the better to make a quick getaway in).
It's just too bad that no one's releasing the identity of who it was exactly that did the pushing aside (btw... I believe Corey Lewandowski was in attendance, wasn't he?), since there just might be one or two combat-booted veterans out there somewhere who'd like a word or two in person with them about that.
I, for one, would love to know who was assaulting her.
Instead of considering the case closed, perhaps the Army could assign the woman a Protection Squad and send the bill to the Trump Campaign
I don't doubt for one minute that Johnson and Issa got involved in this mess. Typical. And I don't doubt the Gold Star families side of the story one bit either. The slant by this "news" agency doesn't change the fact that these people KNEW the rules, yet insisted that they be dismissed because THEIR dear leader needed to come when HE needed to come to pose with them in a sacred site, rules be damned. So they are whining to all the far right "news" groups that their needs were ignored. Balderdash. I would otherwise have sympathy for these families, but given what they did and why they did it, I have none whatsoever. IMO, THEY are as much to blame as anyone. And standing there with thumbs up at a gravesite. Who does that? MAGAts, that's who. They have absolutely no class, nothing redeemable to mention. As an aside, I would venture a guess that the woman who was assaulted is also a POC.
No class, nothing redeemable to mention, for every last one of the MAGAts, whether they admit it or not.
It seems that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson pulled strings and possibly twisted a few arms to allow trump to attend the ceremony at ANC which of course then devolved into a media circus. The GOP likes to pride itself as being the Party that supports the troops and their families, but then lets their leading Presidential candidate use the honored dead’s gravesites as a cheap political prop for a publicity stunt. Yeah, and the family of the dead Marine and a lot of veterans are OK with this and would vote for the smiling gargoyle in the photo…sickening…
🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
A bit off topic, but Ruth Ben-Ghiat (Strongmen, p. 180) describes the types of people Trump hires and who are being vetted by Project 2025 for future posts in his civil service.
“. . .military, police, and civilians who took orders well but also thrived on transgression.” “Neo-Nazis . . .understood this mix of law-and-order and lawlessness.”
Not hard to predict what their version of the future would look like…
This episode serves as another example of the MAGA motto:
Party Over Country.
More like trump over country.
Our language as glorious as it is doesn’t possess words that accurately describe the smear, stain, scum that is the insipid orange turd and his devoted followers. Words that offend the ear at times fall way short. Tom learned to cuss like a sailor no doubt when he served as one, but even with that colorful vocabulary which has been honed in his years as a writer, especially in the motion picture industry, falls short of describing the stench that permeates everything and everyone in any way connected to that diarrhetic piece of shit. Good try TC, I agree with every word you wrote, and I lament our language’s inability to make him feel in his bones just how we feel. 💥💥💥🤬🤬
My sentiments exactly
God Bless You, Mr. Montagne. You expressed my heartfelt (and saltiest) profane feelings about the Melon Felon supremely well. Thank you.
This is from Heather Cox Richardson's "Letters From An American" substack today, August 29:
And now the U.S. Army has weighed in on the scandal surrounding Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery for a campaign photo op, after which his team shared a campaign video it had filmed. The Army said that the cemetery hosts almost 3,000 public wreath-laying ceremonies a year without incident and that Trump and his staff “were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and [Department of Defense] policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.”
It went on to say that a cemetery employee “who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside…. This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the… employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. [Arlington National Cemetery] is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve.”
“I don’t think I can adequately explain what a massive deal it is for the Army to make a statement like this,” political writer and veteran Allison Gill of Mueller, She Wrote, noted. “The Pentagon avoids statements like this at all costs. But a draft dodging traitor decided to lie about our armed forces staff, so they went to paper.”
The deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said the Department of Defense is “aware of the statement that the Army issued, and we support what the Army said.” Hours later, Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita reposted the offending video on X and, tagging the official account for Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, said he was “hoping to trigger the hacks” in her office.
In Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall reported that the Trump campaign’s plan was to lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the 13 members of the U.S. military killed in the suicide bombing during the evacuation of Kabul, Afghanistan, in August 2021. They intended to film the event and then attack Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden for not “showing up” for the event, which they intended to portray as an “established memorial.”
It would be wonderful to see a plane with a banner for Harris/Walz/2024 flying over wherever Trump and those who must absorb his flatulence go on the campaign trail. Sigh. Did Trump remind the Gold Star families (once again) that the deceased "knew what they signed up for?"
"The viciousness is a feature, not a bug."
This is a crucial recognition, despite how the mainstream media (TC, insert your far more colorful descriptors here) chooses to ignore it.
The Army's not just
concerned about the female
involved in this. They may
have legitimate concerns
about ANC turning into
another J6 if Trump & goons rile up the MAGATS. Think
about that. They don't
respect anything!
Yup. MoFos all.
“I do not have my hand in that cookie jar! And besides, those cookies don’t taste very good anyway!” elevates to "I did not rape that woman. She's not my type anyway!" So nice to see that his long-term ongoing misogyny is finally getting some notice. And that people are finally saying, "THIS IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE."