TRUMP'S PHONY PRAISE OF THE MILITARY

Don't believe Trump's bullshit praise of men and women who serve in the military. Trump showed his disrespect for members of the military who have put their lives on the line to serve their country back in June when he blocked the the VoteVets.org group on Twitter. For the small-minded president to attempt to silence a progressive veterans group to preserve his fragile ego shows once again his complete lack of principles and moral core.

Trump's policy-by-tweet banning transgender people from serving in the military, which surprised even the Pentagon, is one more example of his disdain. What are the tens of thousands of transgender members now faithfully serving to think? What will happen to them?

From Trump's speech on the way forward in Afghanistan.

Trump: The soldier understands what we as a nation too often forget, that a wound inflicted upon a single member of our community is a wound inflicted upon us all.

(Especially when the wound is inflicted by the president)

Trump: When we open our hearts to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice, no place for bigotry and no tolerance for hate.

(Except for transgender people)

Trump: Our actions, and in months to come, all of them will honor the sacrifice of every fallen hero, every family who lost a loved one, and every wounded warrior who shed their blood in defense of our great nation. 

(Except for Capt. Humayan Khan and his family and wounded warriors in VoteVets)

Trump: We will push onward to victory with power in our hearts, courage in our souls, and everlasting pride in each and every one of you. 

(Who do you mean "we", Mr President?)

I could go on and on about Trump's nothing speech, delivered in prime TV time, but I won't. I simply want to make my point about his lack of respect for those who serve or who have served in the military.

As far as I can tell, the purpose of the speech was to distract from the fallout from Trump's words about the "very fine people" in the neo-Nazi, white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Mueller's Russian investigation, and various other "challenges" that the president faces.

THEY HAVE NAMES

Total War Deaths: 7787

Iraq: Total Deaths: 4804
-no casualties this past week

Afghanistan: Total Deaths: 2983

WORKMAN, Chris J., 33, SGT, US Army, Boise, ID, 25th Infantry Division
VIRAY, Don C., 25, CWO, US Army, Waipahu, HI, 25th Infantry Division
SHAFFER, Dean R., 23, SGT, US Army, Pekin, IL, 25th Infantry Division
JOHNSON, Nicholas S., 27, CWO2, US Army, San Diego, CA, 25th Infantry Division
METCALF, Michael J., 22, PFC, US Army, Boynton Beach, FL, 82nd Airborne Division
WALSH, Jonathan P., 28, 1st LT, US Army, Cobb, GA, 82nd Airborne Division
FANKHAUSER, Joseph H., 30, SSGT, USMC, Mason, TX, I Marine Expeditionary Force
VASQUEZ, Manuel J., 22, SPEC, US Army, West Sacramento, CA, 172nd Infantry Brigade
GONZALEZ, Moises J., 29, SPEC, US Army, Huntington, CA, 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade
NEAL, Benjamin H., 21, SPEC, US Army, Orfordville, WI, 82nd Airborne Division
BRITTONMIHALO, Andrew T., 25, SSGT, USMC, Simi Valley, CA, 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group
EGGLESTON, Brandon F., 29, SSGT, US Army, Candler, NC, 3rd Special Forces Group
LEE, Jr.,Dick A., 31, SSGT, US Army, Orange Park, FL, 21st Theater Sustainment Command
MOSKO, Christopher E., 28, LT, US Navy, Pittsford, NY, Joint Special Operations Task Force
EDENS, Jason K., 22, SPEC, US Army, Franklin, TN, 1st Armored Division

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

May God give comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to those who love the service members who died.

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer)

Source: iCasualties.org

Note: Estimates of civilian casualties in Iraq range from 105,000 to 1,033,000
For information, click here.

Estimates of civilian casualties in Afghanistan range from 17,000 to 37,000
For information, click here.

List from The Daily Office.

GAY SOLDIER'S PARENTS FIGHT MARRIAGE BAN

The death of Andrew Wilfahrt in Afghanistan moved his parents, Lori and Jeff, to advocate for marriage equality.

H/T to MadPriest at Of Course, I Could Be Wrong... where I first saw the video.

UPDATE: Thanks to Murdoch Matthew in the comments for the link to an article about Andrew in Stars and Stripes.

Lori and Jeff Wilfahrt, Andrew’s parents, have the milquetoast looks of middle-age Midwesterners: gray hair, rimmed glasses, apple-pie ordinary. Yet make no mistake: These lifelong Minnesotans might be the most powerful force to join the same-sex marriage movement.

In a state that has produced GOP presidential hopefuls Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty -- who have made careers fighting gay marriage -- these parents of an American hero present a major challenge to the establishment.

They'll take their battle to the Supreme Court, if that's what it takes. To the Wilfahrts, denying gays the right to marry is discrimination against a group to which their son belonged.

Lori and Jeff look like giants next to the likes of Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty.

UPDATE 2: From Mike in Texas in the comments comes a link to a moving story about Andrew at CNN:

A lover of literature, Jeff always brings a collection of William Wordsworth. He flips the pages to "Expostulation and Reply." He sits on the marble stone commemorating his son and reads aloud. Lori sits on the ground nearby.

He gets to the last verse and chokes up:

"Then ask not wherefore, here, alone,
Conversing as I may,
I sit upon this old grey stone,
And dream my time away."

Jeff stands quickly, touching the grey stone with his hand, as if reaching out to his beloved son from beyond the grave. He trembles and cries. "I can never get through the last paragraph," he says. "What the hell's wrong with me?"

Lori stands, too. The two stare at the headstone. Tears still streaming down his face, Jeff says, "It's just the shits." He whispers again, "It's just the shits."

They want people to know their son wasn't a "gay soldier." He was a great soldier who happened to be gay. Above all, he was a citizen.

A remarkable man, his epitaph reads.