Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Ask...And You Shall Receive

Speaking of using wounded and dead veterans for personal purposes, I hoped the guy whose photo Trump retweeted to chastise NFL players would object. He did.
Above the photograph of the heavily decorated double amputee was a caption asking what “this BRAVE American would give to stand on his OWN two legs just ONCE MORE for our #Anthem,” along with the hashtags “#MAGA” and “#NFL.”

That veteran, retired Marine Staff Sgt. John Jones, told TPM on Tuesday that he takes no issue with NFL players’ protests—but he’s not enthused about being dragged into the politics of whether someone should stand or not stand for the national anthem.

[...]

[T]he two-tour veteran of the Iraq War explained that while he would not personally choose to protest the anthem in that way, he disagreed with the idea that doing so was “not acceptable,” as Trump has insisted.

[...]

“I went over there and I fought for the rights and freedoms of everybody to do whatever they wanted to do in a lawful manner,” Jones said. “So if the NFL as a whole wants to protest the flag and protest America, then so be it, that’s your right.”

“Keep it peaceful, keep it respectful and I don’t care what you do,” he added.

[...]

Jones, who lost both legs in a landmine explosion while traveling in a Humvee convoy through Anbar province, said this is not the first time the image has been circulated on social media by people promoting their own political agendas.

He likened his experience to the use of the portrait of Pat Tillman, an NFL player and Army Ranger who was killed in Afghanistan in 2002.

  TPM
Which Trump also used to promote his own agenda.
Trump retweeted Tillman’s photo to bash the NFL, prompting Tillman’s widow, Marie, to issue a statement urging “our leaders” not to “politicize” her husband’s service to advance their views (He appears to have since un-retweeted it).
Nope.  It's still there.

And it will ever be thus.  Every administration will use some dead soldier to provide cover for fuck-ups.  Right out of the gate, Trump used Ryan Owens.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.


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