Date: 2024-07-17 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00018736
The Trump Presidency
Trump could not give a damn
Trump's decision to hold an in-person graduation at West Point proves he is unfit
Peter Burgess
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I’ve lived under seven presidents. Never, ever, have I lived in real-world fear for my own safety as a direct result of what a president has done. But that’s exactly what is happening as a result of Trump’s order to hold an in-person graduation ceremony at the U. S. Military Academy. Due to that decision, some 1,000 cadets will have to come back to West Point for the June 13 ceremony. And the great majority of them will have to fly into New York, which is currently the biggest hot zone in the nation and the world for coronavirus.
For Trump to do this so soon after much of the nation is slowly reopening would be reckless in and of itself. But to make anywhere from 700 to 800 Firsties fly back into a region that probably won’t be able to reopen until July, and at a time when air travel is a crapshoot at best, is probably the starkest evidence yet that this man is not fit to be president.
Think about it, folks. Can we trust a man with nuclear codes when he plays fast and loose with the safety of our nation’s future officer corps? Or to decide when to order our troops into battle? The answer to both questions isn’t just no, but HELL NO!
And consider the prospect that someone who comes in contact with a Firstie catches this virus. Even if the ceremony is restricted to Firsties only, there’s still the risk of catching it at JFK, La Guardia or Newark, or at the hotel at some point in the journey. Remember, on the low side, COVID-19’s basic reproduction number is 2 to 2.5—and one person could ultimately result in over 2,000 people getting sick, a rate that is not sustainable for any health care system. Trump damn well knows this. And he’s doing it anyway—in all likelihood, so he can get a photo op or to satisfy his desire to recreate something close to the atmosphere of his rallies. And in so doing, it increases the likelihood that I, or someone close to me, could catch this virus.
A number of commenters say that the chances of someone prevailing in a lawsuit over this are slim, given precedent. I thought about that at first. But this is the sort of thing that new precedent is made of. I thought back to a scene in Harry Markopolos’ book, “No One Would Listen,” in which Markopolos was being interviewed by the SEC inspector general as part of his investigation into how the SEC missed the alarm bells about Bernie Madoff. At the time of Markopolos’ first submission to the SEC, in 2000, Madoff was running anywhere from $3-6 billion. Markopolos’ first submission contained enough evidence that the SEC could have brought Madoff down inside of an hour. When he revealed this, one of the SEC investigators collapsed sobbing. She knew that if anyone sued the government over this, the negligence was so egregious that at some point, a judge was going to tell the government to pay up.
What’s happening here is no different. And even if the plaintiffs aren’t successful, does the government want to be in a position to have to explain under oath why Trump made this decision despite knowing how dangerous this virus is?
In doing this, Trump isn’t owning the libs. He’s putting someone’s son, daughter, grandchild, niece, nephew in harm’s way. And all to satisfy his narcissism. That, more than Russia, more than Ukraine, more than ANYTHING this so-called president has done, should remove any doubt that he is not fit for office.