Trump praises Adelson while pummeling America’s heroes

OMG!

I couldn’t think of anything else to say or think at the moment I heard Donald Trump demean, once again, not only the military service of brave American men and women but the ultimate acts of bravery and sacrifice that are recognized by the United States through the rarely awarded Congressional Medal of Honor.

For those of you who may have missed the news Friday about Trump’s continuing effort to denigrate the service to this country of America’s bravest and, oftentimes, most selfless citizens, it came during a speech on, of all things, antisemitism.

From the lips of the man who found “good people” on both sides of a neo-Nazi march that ended in the death of an innocent woman — and, therefore, a person who should never be asked to speak with any authority or with any degree of respect for his opinion on the scourge of Jew-hatred — came the hollow words of condemnation that one should expect from a politician in the business of pandering to his wealthy donors.

Yes, there were wealthy donors to the Trump presidential campaign in New Jersey this past week. Many of them are Jewish. And all of them were treated to an introduction by Las Vegas’ own Miriam Adelson, who praised Trump and belittled any Jewish person who thinks more of America than he or she might think of Trump.

But that was no surprise. Miriam has committed close to $100 million to his campaign this year. Many think the number will approach $200 million by the time Trump is done with her. By the way, that’s a very small drop in the very large billionaire bucket that belongs to the Adelson family.

What does she get in return? Besides the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award in 2018, the simple answer is “anything she wants” when it comes to America’s policy toward Israel and the Middle East if Trump wins in November.

It’s a simple bargain. And we all know that Trump loves a bargain. The key question is, of course, what does Miriam want and is it actually good for the Israeli people and good for America?

Right now, President Joe Biden is doing all he can and a whole lot more to keep Israel safe and find a way to a cease-fire that will bring the hostages home.

I can’t begin to imagine Miriam’s next ask and what that will do to peacemaking in the Middle East for the next 50 years. Well, that’s not completely true. I have a very good idea what she wants because she and her late-husband, Sheldon, told me what they wanted. That was just before they tried to shut down the Las Vegas Sun and shut me up so I couldn’t say the kind of things that I am saying today. In my newspaper. Which is inside their newspaper.

But, I digress. My legal issues with the Adelson family and their efforts to silence the Sun will result in a trial at which time the whole story can be told. Until then, I should stick to the subject, which is Trump’s disdain for the men and women who serve our country in uniform.

He took the opportunity to heap $100 million worth of praise on Miriam last week. In doing so, he belittled every person who has worn the uniform of the United States and every hero who has been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

It was no different than when Trump attacked Sen. John McCain for being captured and held prisoner by the Viet Cong and who refused special treatment and release from captivity until all of the prisoners who had been there longer were released. Trump said McCain “was not a war hero.” He said, “I like people who weren’t captured.”

And it was no different than the time he reluctantly traveled to France in 2018 to acknowledge the anniversary of the end of World War I. That’s when it was reported that he privately disparaged the Marines who died at Belleau Wood. He called them “suckers” and the soldiers who were buried in the American cemetery there — so far from home — “losers.”

What he did Friday was proclaim that those who were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor were either in bad shape because they had been hit so many times by bullets or they were dead. He contrasted those heroes to Miriam — who wrote big checks to Trump on the way to her Presidential Medal of Freedom — and remained a “healthy, beautiful woman.”

Hence the expression at the top of this column. OMG!

It cannot be that Trump is losing it, because he has felt this way about those who have served their country in the military at least since he proclaimed John McCain less than the hero he was.

Maybe Trump has felt this way ever since he did his best — with great success — to avoid his own military service to the United States when it was his turn to step up. He stepped out, even though that must have hurt him greatly, what with bone spurs and all.

I really don’t know why he hates the military — and, conversely, why some in the military love him — but I do know that’s not the attitude I would like to see in the commander in chief of America’s armed forces.

But, hey, that’s just me. I was raised differently. I was raised to love my country, to serve it when called, and to do all I could do to protect it and grow it toward the ideal of making this a more perfect union.

I suppose that’s why the only thing I could say or think about Trump this week was, “OMG!”

And I will vote accordingly.

Brian Greenspun is editor, publisher and owner of the Sun.