Arlington Photo-Op

Only a lowlife would use Arlington National Cemetery for a political Photo-Op

I was sitting in a bar during the summer of 2016 when a bartender asked a fellow customer who he was going to vote for in the upcoming presidential election, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. The guy responded as though he had given up and said, “I suppose Trump because I support the military.”

This was after Cadet Bonespurs’ statement, “I like people who weren’t captured.” It amazed and confused me that anyone could believe Trump was pro-military or supportive of our troops. No, I didn’t confront the guy because I didn’t have the cure for stupidity in my pocket.

This continues today where people believe, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that Trump is good at things he’s not. Take the economy for example. A majority of Americans believe Trump will be better for the economy and even do a better job than Kamala Harris at lowering prices. Where do these people get this idea? Did they not live through the pandemic? How do people turn their brains off to facts that are right in front of them?

These same idiots probably believe Trump would be better at lowering the debt…after he added $17 trillion to it.

A lot of people say things were better under Trump with the economy…that he inherited from President Barack Obama. The 2017 economy is like most things Trump boasts about, he inherited it. Then he squandered it and left office with an economy in a shithole and with fewer jobs than when he entered office. Trump was the first president to leave office with a net job loss since Herbert Hoover. How does this sound like someone who’s good with the economy?

Four years after he left office, nobody was saying life was better with Hoover (maybe Republicans). I guess Hoover should have been better at gaslighting.

Believing Trump would be better with the economy is like believing Trump would be better at protecting the Capitol from white nationalist terrorists.

Trump sucks with the economy. He doesn’t know that American consumers pay the tariffs he raises. He increased our debt by $17 trillion because he gave huge tax cuts to billionaire assholes such as himself. He’s promising to do it again. He sucks with the economy just like he sucks with the military.

Trump claims that no service members died on his watch. That’s a lie because 65 service members died during Trump’s single term, but he keeps repeating it.

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump said John McCain, who spent five years as a POW in the Hanoi Hilton, was not a hero and that he “likes people who aren’t captured.” Donald Trump, who got several deferments from being drafted, one for bone spurs, thinks it’s a character flaw to be captured while fighting for your country.

Many of us are still wondering how this didn’t end the 2016 Trump Campaign. It used to be in this nation that disparaging our troops and sucking up to Russian presidents and other dictators would prevent a person from becoming president. Now, they become president with the assistance of Russian dictators.

During that same campaign, Trump started a feud with Gold Star families.

While Trump was president (sic), he traveled to Baghdad and told service members they were getting a raise finally after not receiving them during the Obama years, and he gave himself credit. But he lied about this and in the face of service member, service members who knew better. Members of the military received raises all eight years of the Obama presidency. What was most sickening with Trump’s lie is that these service members cheered. They cheered the lie.

While in the White House (sic), Trump continued feuding and insulting Gold Star families.

According to Trump’s Chief of Staff, John Kelly, he called those who died fighting for our nation “suckers and losers.” He once told Kelly he didn’t want amputees at events because “nobody wants to see that.”

During a ceremony in France honoring war dead from World War I, Trump refused to go because it was raining and he was concerned the Aqua Net in his hair wouldn’t stick.

Trump says he knows “more than the generals” who never knew before he came along that there were airports during the Revolutionary War.

Just a couple weeks ago, Trump said the civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, was greater than the Medal of Honor, saying, “It’s the equivalent of the congressional Medal of Honor, but the civilian version, it’s actually much better because everyone that gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead.”

He probably thinks the Presidential Medal of Freedom is better because you don’t have to be a “sucker” or a “loser” to get one. Trump gave Tiger Woods one for playing golf.

Just this week, Trump staged a photo-op at Arlington National Cemetery, a place so revered that not only is political campaigning considered tacky, it’s illegal. Trump’s team was told beforehand that it’s illegal but just like with stealing classified information and grabbing women by the pussy, he ignored that shit.

Trump has been bashing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over the withdrawal of Afghanistan where 13 service members were killed in a terrorist attack. Trump leaves out the part of him negotiating the withdrawal and abandonment of Afghanistan with the Taliban and that he released 5,000 terrorist prisoners.

Trump decided to visit the graves of some of the members who died that day and he brought along a camera crew so that he could give his patented tacky thumbs-up pose next to a grave. He also used this pose at the site of a mass shooting.

But despite the impression a thumbs-up might give, it wasn’t all Fonzies for everybody as NPR has reported there had been a “verbal and physical altercation” during the cemetery visit. A source with knowledge of the incident told NPR that a cemetery official attempted to prevent Trump’s team from photographing and filming in the area where recent US casualties are buried. In response, Trump campaign staff “verbally abused and pushed the official aside,” according to NPR.

The Trump Campaign says they had permission from the family of the fallen soldiers but the families don’t run Arlington National Cemetery. Even if that was the case, the video the campaign posted on TikTok, yes, TikTok includes graves of service members whose families did NOT give permission and they’re not being Fonzy at all about it. You know. Cool.

The Trump Campaign is very defensive about this because like with most things they’re defensive about, they’re guilty. A normal person would say this was a mistake, I’m sorry, I’m rebuking members of my campaign, and this will never happen again. I love the troops and I never would have allowed this to happen. But of course, Trump didn’t do that because he’s a narcissistic piece of shit who can’t ever be wrong or apologize for anything.

For Trump, it’s like, “Fuck those fuckers. They’re lying and we can go anywhere we want to go because we’re Trumpers. Cry me a river, snowflake groomers. Wah. And that person who tried to stop us hates our country, is a white-hating racist and probably got his current position by giving someone oral sex (have you heard about that one yet?). Murica!”

Trump spokesgoon Steven Cheung said there was NOT a physical altercation and an unnamed individual decided to “physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony.” Cheung suggested that Trump’s team has video to back up the claim. When you claim you have video evidence, the media tends to ask to see that evidence. Naturally, we haven’t seen it yet.

Mr. Cheung, why do you lie about shit that you can’t prove? Here’s an unsolicited tip: Don’t do that.

Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita shared a similar account with CNN, saying, “President Trump was there on the invitation of the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families to honor their loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country,” which apparently was dying so Trump could get a political photo-op.

LaCivita said, “For a despicable individual to physically prevent President Trump’s team from accompanying him to this solemn event is a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hollowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery. Whoever this individual is spreading these lies is dishonoring the men and women of our armed forces, and they are disrespecting everyone who paid the price for defending our country.”

Hey, LaCivita, if you’re bringing a camera “team” for the “solemn” event, then it’s not so solemn, especially if there are video fuckers who later share it on TikTok. Don’t tell me TikTok is a solemn place too.

What’s despicable is working for Donald Trump. It’s despicable to lie for Donald Trump, especially in regard to fallen soldiers. It’s despicable to use our war dead for political photo-ops. It’s despicable to allow a lying draft-dodging troops-hating piece of shit like Donald Trump to use members of your family killed in service for a political stunt. Shame on you.

Donald Trump does not care about fallen soldiers and if you let him use members of your family who died in combat for a photo-op, then you don’t really care about them either.

Fonzy wouldn’t think that’s cool.

Drawn in 30 seconds:

Drawn with a voiceover:

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