By Charles Melton
Melton’s Musings
Donald J. Trump is a coward. There, I said it in writing for all the world to see. Yes, Trump is anything but a strong leader, and he’s certainly not the leader our country needs right now.
As an Army veteran, and an Infantryman at that, I have a real problem with someone who dodged the draft five times sending other people’s sons and daughters to war. If it wasn’t for his daddy’s money, Trump most likely would have been drafted and forced to do something he’s never done in his entire life: serve others without getting anything in return. While many of his peers went off to Vietnam to fight a war that they may or may not have agreed with, his “bone spurs” kept him from serving. But now, at almost 80-years-old, he can play golf almost every day with no issues. That sounds like his “bone spurs” magically disappeared, or more likely, he didn’t have any to begin with. He just had enough of his daddy’s money to buy his way out of military service. Most of his peers didn’t.
Since he started war with Iran without notifying Congress or getting approval from Congress first, every military family across the nation and world has to wonder if their husband, their father, the son, their daughter, their wife, their mother, their uncle, their aunt, their brother, or their sister will be put in harm’s way, wounded or even worse make the ultimate sacrifice because of one man’s ego. Notice how Trump hasn’t instructed his kids to join the military and serve on the front lines. He hasn’t because apparently it’s not worth risking his kids’ lives, but his kids matter; yours don’t. Let that sink in. Your kids are simply pawns for his use to do whatever he wants with them for the sake of his ego. Period.
This is a fool who makes a mockery of the most hallowed ground in our nation, Arlington National Cemetery, every time he tries to pull a publicity stunt to show how much he “cares” about our fallen heroes. If he really cared, he would go out there by himself with no cameras, no media, and no advanced notice. Just his security team and himself and pay quiet, solemn respects those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. But he can’t do that, because that doesn’t stroke his fragile ego or get him the attention he needs as much as he needs air to breathe and McDonald’s to fill his ample belly.
Trump is a coward. His Cabinet is a bunch of suckups who make Gorilla glue look like sandpaper as they bow to his every whim and do whatever it takes to look good in his eyes while completely screwing over the rest of us with zero regard to how their decisions impact those of us who live in the real world. A courageous leader wants to have his subordinates ask questions and call him out when he’s wrong, but trump is never wrong, is he? At least not in the bubble in which he permanently resides.
I didn’t vote for Trump because I don’t cotton to cowards. I couldn’t stand him in the ’90s, and I definitely can’t stand him now. I just hope the adults in the room stand up and bring an end to the fiasco in Iran before the war hits home here in Hutchinson. If it does, The Tribune will be here to cover it with all the respect and reverence required. That’s my promise. Not just as the news editor of The Tribune, but as a veteran.
Charles Melton is the news editor of The Hutchinson Tribune. He can be reached at charles@hutchtribune.com.