Trump Is Hurting The Military For His Own Political Benefit

Frida Ghitis, in an opinion piece for CNN:

The wall is a fantasy conjured by Trump to get elected. While Trump has imbued the wall with near-mythical powers, many experts say it will do little to stop the current flow of migrants from Central America, who typically turn themselves over to authorities to seek asylum, rather than trying to sneak in undetected. In the horror story Trump told voters in 2016, America was being invaded by rapists, drug dealers and other criminals who "threatened" the country. […]

In his speech at the Republican National Convention in 2016, Trump spoke of a dystopian America with a broken political system and broken borders, before taking on the mantle of the superhero by declaring, "I alone can fix it."

It’s hard to quantify the amount of hubris it takes to make such a claim. Talk about a god complex.

The Trump administration is taking $3.6 billion from approved military construction projects to pay for part of the wall. […]

Altogether, 23 states and three US territories are losing $1.8 billion in funds, and another $1.8 billion will come from construction overseas. Among the projects losing money, according to the Pentagon, are military bases devastated by hurricanes in Florida, North Carolina and Puerto Rico, funding for the US Military Academy at West Point, cyber operations facilities, schools for the children of service members, upgrades to facilities storing hazardous waste and Navy ship repairs.

I’ve written about this a few times before; it’s a subject that really gets under my skin, as it should for any true patriot.

It is absolutely shameful that the greatest military in the world has a Commander in Chief who has proven himself, time and time again, to be completely unconcerned with the successful execution of their day to day operations. It’s too bad he had those bone spurs in 1968 that prevented him from serving in the Vietnam war (see: “draft dodger”), if it weren’t for that, he may have developed some respect for the brave men and women who make sacrifices every day for our freedom. Alas, he seems to have no appreciation for their commitments, as he frequently uses them as political props to fire up his base, which unfortunately, is too ignorant to realize (or, after 2016, too prideful to admit) that such actions represent values opposite of those they have traditionally held dear.