No one should be surprised that Donald Trump thinks that advising someone to obey the law should be an indictable offense. But the refusal of a federal grand jury to indict six members of Congress for doing just that shows that common sense can still prevail.
All six are military or intelligence service veterans who made a video that urged current members of those services to “refuse illegal orders” that would be “threats to our Constitution.” That was in response to Trump’s use of the military to punish those who oppose his political agenda.
Trump flipped out over the video and posted this response on his social media site: “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” Then, as he so often does, he turned to his justice department and the FBI to do his bidding.
Pittsburgh area Congressman Chris Deluzio was one of those targeted by Trump. After the grand jury refused to indict, he issued a statement saying that Trump and his enablers “may want Americans to be afraid to speak out or to disagree — but patriotism demands courage in this moment.” Deluzio, an Annapolis graduate and combat veteran, added, “DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP!”
The original video was released in November and, until this latest news, Trump’s histrionics had pretty much slipped from the headlines. That’s a problem for our fellow citizens, because there seems to be a brand-new outrage from the Trump administration nearly every day that pushes the other outrages back in our memory — when they should stay front and center forever.
Trump’s racist post on his social media account depicting President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as primates made worldwide headlines more than a week ago. Trump left the images up for hours and his spokesperson called criticism of his post “fake outrage.” It was finally taken down after bipartisan protests, but Trump still said, “I didn’t make a mistake.” The news media has already moved on, but this deranged post should never be forgotten.
If you are a military veteran or come from a family with a tradition of military service, you’ve had clues about where you stand with Trump from the beginning. Running for his first term as president, Trump insulted the Muslim Arab American Gold Star parents whose U.S. Army captain son was killed in Iraq.
Trump also denigrated American prisoners-of-war during the campaign when he spoke of Sen. John McCain’s time as a Vietnam War POW. “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured,” he said.
For good measure, the man who once said he always felt like he was in the military because he had been sent to a military prep school called McCain “a loser.”
At a 2015 campaign rally, Trump mimicked New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, who suffers from a physical disability that restricts movement of his arms. Disabled citizens and their families have known since then where they stand with Trump.
You might question why it is important to remember all these things. But all these people deserve to be remembered and respected for who they really are, and not for who Trump tried to make them out to be.
The patriots, our military, veterans and their families, the disabled, Americans who have been bullied and disrespected because of their race or religion deserve better. Many of them are the very people we think of when we say we are proud to be Americans.