Trump withdrawing troops from Syria and Afghanistan against the advice of Defense Secretary Mattis and other advisors points to how deranged he is and ignorant about foreign affairs. But he is also chickensh-t and this may somehow impact his thinking. As a Vietnam vet who served my country, I have no qualms about calling Trump chicken-sh-t. Not only did he use a questionable medical excuse to avoid the Vietnam draft, but he continued to engage in physical activities after he got his deferment, showing no evidence of limitations. Daddy’s money probably paid off a doctor and bought him the deferment on the basis of bone spurs in his heels which actually did not restrict him in any way. (There’s an article in 12/26’s New York Times suggesting this.)
To show his disdain for those who served, in an interview on the Howard Stern show in 1997, recounted in a People Magazine article in 2016, Trump described himself as a brave soldier for not contracting STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) during the years that he was single. He said- “It’s a dangerous world out there. It’s like Vietnam, sort of. It is my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave soldier.” These words were in response to questions from Stern. Trump embellished his comments about avoiding STDs by characterizing women’s vaginas as “potential landmines” adding that “there’s some real danger there.”
In another appearance on Stern’s show in 1993, Trump said that men who evaded service in Vietnam but slept around shouldn’t feel guilty, because dating in the 80s during the AIDS epidemic was also hazardous. “You know if you’re young and in this era, and if you have any guilt about not having gone to Vietnam- we have our own Vietnam- it’s called the dating game. Dating is like being in Vietnam. You’re the equivalent of a soldier going over to Vietnam.” Subsequently, when he was running for president, he admitted that he “always felt a little guilty” about avoiding the draft because of his foot problem. However, some believe that nothing that Trump has ever done has generated feelings of guilt.
Now, since he’s been president, unlike his predecessors he has refused to visit American troops in any battle zones. Two years have passed into his term and he has not visited any battlefields or areas of potential danger. Undoubtedly he’s afraid of being a target, but that never stopped past presidents who sent troops into battle, many of whom were killed. The truth is that Trump is chicken-s—t. He doesn’t want to do anything or take any risks that put him in harm’s way, unless perhaps he can derive pleasure from it or make money. I wonder how many of the women he slept with were forced to be tested for AIDS and STDs beforehand, just to make sure he would be safe if he had sex with them.
Trump is also a germaphobe who cannot stand physical contact with other people like shaking hands- not good for a politician. He has in fact admitted to being a germaphobe and has called shaking hands barbaric. Maybe this is just part of his being adverse to any risk taking.
Trump has said that he will travel soon to the battle zones to shore up the morale of the troops, but unlike other presidents he hasn’t done it in his first two years. With Mar-a-Lago calling him, don’t bet that he’s going to be heading to Afghanistan if there’s any way he can avoid it. Hell, he might have to go out in a rain storm. There’s no question that our president, the commander in chief of the military and the ‘leader’ of the free world is chicken-sh-t.
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevinebooks.com
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020