"Yesterday, the U.S. Army issued a stern rebuke to the Trump campaign over his visit on Monday to the Arlington National Cemetery...

The incident has blown up into a big issue, but not because the Trump campaign erroneously held a political event at the Arlington National Cemetery."

~ Robert Reich

#Trump #Arlington #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #military #veterans
/1

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/trumps-cemetery-gate

Trump’s Cemeterygate

It was Trump on full display

Robert Reich

"It’s blown up because it’s a microcosm of Donald Trump’s moral squalor. ...

What happened at Arlington National Cemetery earlier this week was much more than an erroneous photo op. It was Trump on full display."

#Trump #Arlington #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #military #veterans
/2

"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'.”

~ Heather Cox Richardson

#Trump #Arlington #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #military #veterans
/3

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-29-2024

August 29, 2024

And now the U.S.

Letters from an American

"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, & 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 & respect the nation’s fallen deserve.'”

#Arlington
/4

“'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.'”

#Trump #Arlington #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #military #veterans
/5

Below is a screenshot of the headline for Josh Kovensky's report today at Daily Kos about the Army's statement re: Trump's desecration of Arlington National Cemetery:

"Army: Thousands of Events Are Held at Arlington. Only Trump Caused an Incident."

#Trump #Arlington #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #military #veterans
/6

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/army-thousands-of-events-are-held-at-arlington-only-trump-caused-an-incident

Army: Thousands of Events Are Held at Arlington. Only Trump Caused an Incident.

The Army issued an extremely rare rebuke of the Trump campaign on Thursday, saying that it was warned not to turn a visit to Arlington National Cemetery into a political event. But he did.

TPM – Talking Points Memo

"The law aside, only a gross lack of manners, decency and humility could incline a person to film a fundraising appeal over the resting places of dead men and women who cannot decline to participate in the coarse spectacle. The photo of a grinning Trump giving a jaunty thumbs up over these patriots’ graves is an indelible image of narcissism risen to the point of sociopathy."

~ Kevin Carroll

#Trump #Arlington #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #military #veterans
/7

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/30/trump-campaign-behavior-military-arlington-virginia

The Trump campaign’s conduct at Arlington is shocking but not surprising

Trump’s staffers filmed political footage at war graves – and allegedly shoved an army employee who tried to stop them

The Guardian

"At Arlington, it’s not a controversy. It’s a crime.

Who are we going to believe, Trump or the United States Army? ...

Assault is a crime, but the criming didn’t stop there."

~ John Stoehr

#Trump #Arlington #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #military #veterans
/8

https://www.editorialboard.com/at-arlington-its-not-a-controversy-its-a-crime/

At Arlington, it’s not a controversy. It’s a crime

Who are we going to believe, Trump or the United States Army?

The Editorial Board.
@wdlindsy But we are a nation of men, not laws. Isn't that what they all died for? A country where criminals get away with crimes, because they're just too scary?
New headline: US Army Cowers Before Overgrown Baby-Man
#Arlington
@SueDiOh I don't see the Army cowering before him — quite the contrary.
@wdlindsy Why won't the Army enforce their own rules?
@SueDiOh I had thought the Army employee who is designated to be a gatekeeper at Arlington and who was shoved aside and threatened was quite specifically enforcing Army rules.
@wdlindsy She tried, but then she was shoved aside and her instructions were ignored. Doesn't sound like enforcement to me. I don't blame her for not making a scene - that's not her job either. But I thought our armed services were sticklers for rules and such. My mistake.
@SueDiOh When someone in any chain of command makes a complaint and then refuses to follow through with it — for whatever reason — that leaves people up the chain of command with a problem. The problem is how you can pursue a matter when the person reporting the infraction does not want to have it pursued.