JUST IN: In a heretofore unpublicized recent memo, Pentagon delivers order to shutter @starsandstripes, a newspaper that has been a lifeline and a voice for American troops since the Civil War. Last publication (in all forms) will be Sept. 30. https://t.co/5DLHalA3Ew @kathykiely— Evan Rosenfeld (@Evan_Rosenfeld) September 4, 2020
Because that other denial is working out real well:
At the time of the France visit, everyone blamed Kelly aide Zach Fuentes as the reason the bad weather call was made. @peterbakernyt and me on the breathtaking Atlantic story https://t.co/BuBak0bTAP— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 4, 2020
“If people really exist that would have said that, they’re lowlifes and they’re liars,” Mr. Trump shouted above the noise of the plane’s engines. “And I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes. There is nobody that respects them more.” He added, “What animal would say such a thing?”
You see him in the mirror.
The report could be problematic for Mr. Trump because he is counting on strong support among the military for his re-election bid. He has made his backing for increased military spending, troop pay raises and improved veterans care pillars of his campaign at the same time he boasts of ratcheting down “endless wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But he has also clashed with the military leadership by extending clemency to accused and convicted war criminals, seeking to order active-duty forces into the streets of Washington to crack down on demonstrations and trying to block an effort to change the names of Army bases named for Confederate generals.
A new poll by The Military Times taken before the party conventions last month and released this week showed former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. leading Mr. Trump with 41 percent to 37 percent among active-duty troops, a stark departure from the military’s longstanding support for Republicans.
Yeah, I think that number is going up, in Biden's favor.
People familiar with Mr. Trump’s comments say he has long scorned those who served in Vietnam as being too dumb to have gotten out of it, as he did through a medical diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels. At other times, according to those familiar with the remarks, Mr. Trump would marvel at people choosing military service over making money.
This is why the Atlantic report is credible. And it's been backed up independently by AP. Excuse me: AP and WaPo.
There’s also the fact that the AP and WaPo have confirmed the essential claim in the Atlantic’s reporting: https://t.co/b5lLKxHIWJ— Sarah Longwell (@SarahLongwell25) September 4, 2020
So what we're seeing is:
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) September 4, 2020
I remember reading the Stars and Stripes. My Uncle Bill was career Army and always had it around. A newspaper by soldiers, for soldiers, it was surprisingly even-handed for the time period when I was around it, the late sixties and early seventies.
ReplyDeleteApparently it's been in print since the Civil War. Trump claims the funding for it was cut, but Congress didn't go along with that request. One has to wonder at this point if Trump isn't determined to lose; or he's just that completely incompetent.
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